Then she found the dress. It hung inside the closet, simple and breathtaking. No dramatic train. No ridiculous beads. No heavy fabric. Just a clean, elegant white dress that looked soft enough to breathe in, beautiful enough to make her chest ache.
Pinned to it was a tag.
Wear this. 9am tomorrow.
Vee smiled then laughed then sobbed. Then all at the same time. She had given up choosing one emotion. She lifted her hand, fingers trembling as she twisted the engagement ring on her finger.
Stupid, stupid Luca.
Of course he would decide that in the middle of whatever madness was currently circling them, the logical next step was marriage.
Typical idiot.
Her idiot.
Her terrifying, damaged, impossible man.
The tears gathered faster. She was happy. God help her, she was so happy. It didn’t matter that their life wasn’t perfect in any way. It didn’t matter that he currently thought himself less. It didn’t matter that there was a storm around them. This was what made them Luca and Veronica.
They always came out of everything stronger together. No matter how badly the world tried to split them open, no matter how much blood, fear, betrayal, or family drama got thrown at their feet, somehow she and Luca always found their way back to each other.
Always together.
Vee stared at the dress hanging in the closet and pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. She really couldn’t believe they were finally doing this.
Getting married.
Tomorrow.
She would become his wife tomorrow. Her fingers caressed the dress, tracing the soft fabric as tears dripped down her face. The gown was so simple, so beautiful, so painfully her that it made her chest ache. Luca had chosen this.
If she had known from the very first second that Luca was the man who would eventually own her heart, maybe she would have been easier. Maybe she would have been less difficult. Maybe she wouldn’t have fought him so hard, challenged him so much, pushed him to the edge every time he stepped too close.
Maybe everything wouldn’t have turned out so disastrous. Then again, knowing them, it probably still would have.
Luca could turn a peaceful breakfast into a power struggle. Together, they had the emotional calm of two storms.
Maybe disaster was not what happened to them. Maybe disaster was just how they loved.
She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and turned away from the dress before she completely dissolved into the hotel carpet.
On the dresser, beside a small tray of gold-wrapped chocolates and a vase of white roses, sat a decorative notepad and pen.
Vee stepped closer. On the front of the notepad was a sticker.
You may want to write your vows, Bambola. – Luca
She sniffled out a chuckle. "You romantic psycho," she whispered. She reached for her phone in her bag, her heart suddenly too full to sit quietly in her chest. She needed to hear his voice. She placed the call.
He picked up immediately like he had been expecting her call.
"Is it safe to talk?" she asked as soon as he answered.
"Yeah. Its our wedding eve. We should be."
"You have the most disastrous timing," she sniffled, smiling through tears.
"Are you crying?"
Vee wiped at her face with the heel of her hand, which did absolutely nothing except smear tears across her cheek. "Yes, you idiot. I am crying."



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