CHAPTER FOUR
"Do you Zeno Silvestri take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in holy matrimony, to have and to hold, to love and comfort her, honor and respect her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, in the good and bad times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her alone from this day forward and till death do you part?"
"I do." His face could tear at any moment, the ear-to-ear smile was just uncontrollably enormous.
"Do you Ara Laurel take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in holy matrimony, to have and to hold, to love and comfort him, honor and respect him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, in the good and bad times—"
"I DO!!" Blurted the blond bride. There was an outburst of laughter as she heaved with joy, obviously not ready to wait for the questions to be completely asked. Not just the colors of the couple's eyes matched, even the way it glistened with happiness was the same. Her grin was almost wider than his.
"Looks like we have a very impatient bride." the Reverend says, causing another round of laughter in the hall. "Well then Mr. Silvestri, please take your ring and place it on her finger, as you do so, repeat after me." Zeno instantly collects the ring from his best man.
"With this ring"
"With this ring"
"I wed thee."
"I wed thee." He said as he slid it on her finger, bringing his lips to her knuckles, and placing a kiss where the ring rested.
"Our almost Mrs.," the Reverend turns to Ara "Take your ring and repeat after me as you place it on his finger."
"With this ring"
"with this ring." Damn! Her smile could kill a man.
"I wed thee."
"I wed thee."
"May the Lord be at the center of your lives, may he grant you all that your heart desires. And by the power vested in me by God and the Church, I now pronounce you... Husband and Wife. Mr. Silvestri, show Mrs. Silvestri the real way to seal the wedding vows with a binding kiss."
And kiss her he did. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he laced their lips together, making a promise in his heart to her and God to love her and her alone for the rest of eternity…
They walked down the aisle together, greeted by family and friends. Everyone was smiling and waving but suddenly, they began screaming and pointing.
Zeno realizes they are pointing at his new bride so he turns to look at her.
"A-Ara!" Her name breaks out of his lips as her once beautiful white dress is now stained red. The familiar scent of blood reaching his nose caused him to tremble and he froze in shock as she staggered.
"Ara!!!"
Zeno's hand reached for the gun underneath his pillow and pointed it up.
"Hey!! It's me, it's just me!" a man dressed in a fine black suit and tie stood next to the bed with his hands up in the air.
Zeno's gun remained pointed at the man, his breathing was hard and heavy. His body was soaked in thick sweat and his eyes red.
On the bed next to him was a bottle of wine with the contents spilled on the white sheets. He had that bottle of wine with him when he went to bed.
"What time is it?" He finally drops the gun on the bed.
"Past seven. I brought you breakfast so get up and eat something." The man pushes the food trolley; the noise of which had pulled Zeno out of his nightmare.
"Your stomach must be cursing at you for all that alcohol."
"Don't nag me, Marco," Zeno says with his hands on his head.
Zeno Silvestri, although runs the underground Mafia world, no one knew what he looked like. No one except his Godfather Edoardo Defalco, Luna Defalco, the nanny of the Defalco household, and Marco Marchetti. No one outside this circle knew what the face of the Mafia king looked like. He always wore a mask whenever he did business so as not to sabotage his identity.
On the surface, in the eyes of many, he was no more than the billionaire owner of Vino Rosato. A wine-producing company that used only the best grapes from their very own vineyard.
Marco is Zeno's personal assistant in his business and also his right-hand man in the Mafia world.
But most importantly, other than Luna, he was the only friend around Zeno Silvestri.
"Fine. Drown yourself in alcohol. But I warn you, I won't clean up your body when you pass out and die." He said and Zeno almost laughed, but at that moment, he realized he was hungover with a massive headache.
…
"What the heck is this?!!" Zeno roared, his voice ringing aloud in every corner of the factory. Not even the clinking and banging sounds of machines grinding grapes could hide the anger in his voice.
"I-I-I'm sorry sir." The factory manager stuttered.
Standing in front of the man who was a bit over six foot five, was rather intimidating. And having to now face him when he was angry was even worse.
Even the most affluent of scholars would be lost for words in the face of his anger.
"T-The fruits didn't arrive on time from the Vineyard sir, that's why things were delayed, b-but we're running double shifts so we can meet the target, sir.'' The man was too terrified to even wipe the sweat from his forehead.
He just stood there trembling, wondering why the owner of the company would come to such a low place as the factory.
He could easily have sent someone, why did he have to personally show up and put terror in the hearts of everyone?
"It seems that this whole factory needs a reshuffling." He simply states, and all eyes go wide with fear of losing their jobs. "Since you cannot keep up to schedule, I'm sure there's someone else who can do a better job as factory manager." The man's breath ceased at that very moment, he was instantly covered in cold sweat, his eyes dilated and his fingers quaked in fear.
"S-S-Sir please, I-I have a wife and three kids, sir. P-Please sir" He had no idea why he was giving out these details, was it fear, or was he hoping the stiff man in front of him would show some mercy after hearing this?
"Well then when you get home, make sure to let them know how useless of a husband and father you are." Zeno deadpanned, and in one breath he said… "You're fir…"
"SIR!! We have a problem." Marco came running in with a tablet in his hand, interrupting and probably saving the factory manager's life.
Zeno instantly turned his attention to him. "It's Luna sir, you need to see this." He says, handing over the tablet to Zeno.
Zeno sighed and groaned as he collected the tab, "What did that diavoletto do this time?" the words stopped right in his throat as soon as he saw the news article in front of him.
His heart raced in a thousand directions, his eyeballs opened wider, his lips shuddered and his fingers trembled. Right where he stood, he was suddenly taken back to that time five years ago when he received the call that his home was under attack.
That fear, that terrified feeling from five years ago, it was all coming back to him as he looked at the tablet in his hand.
"L-Luna_ Luna" his breath choked him, at that point, he couldn't think straight. "L-Luna" was the only word that left his lips as he placed the tablet back in Marco's hands and dashed out of the place with Marco following behind him.
No one knew what was going on, but if anything, the factory manager was grateful, for he was safe. At least for this very moment, he still had a job.