The Mafia’s Wanted Desires

ASHLEY

A girl’s wedding day is meant to be the happiest day of her life. It’s meant to be the day when she feels as though she was floating in the clouds, filled with so much happiness. But here I was, I couldn’t even bring myself to smile. I was just dead inside. I was so sure the makeup artist could smell my sadness on me. That was how overwhelming it was. I didn’t think I had uttered more than two words to her since she started working her magic on my face.

“That’s enough. I don’t want heavy makeup,” I spoke up, grouchily. I had snapped at her before I realized what I had done wrong.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Gray.” She apologized and I scoffed.

Mrs. Gray my fucking foot!

She wrapped up what she was doing and added finishing touches to my face before adding a setting spray to keep the makeup in place. She knew I just wanted to be alone, so she packed up and walked out of the room to give me the privacy that I needed. I turned to the mirror, sighing at my reflection.

It is safe to say I made a beautiful bride. The artist didn’t have to do much to highlight my face and make me look like a goddess. I loved how she thoroughly kept it nude. I was digging the nude lips a little too much. I didn’t want something flashy for my wedding gown, so I went with a silk dress that had high, low exaggerated sleeves. One stopped at my elbow and the other was hanging a few inches above my elbow.

The pure white material hugged every curve of my body, and right at the side was a dangerous slit that ran up to my mid-thigh, giving away my legs that were clad in silver heels. The other side of the dress had a drape that wrapped around my waist that came to my side in folds, dropping to the floor. My brown hair was in a chignon bun that was adorned with diamond clips and hairpins that made me look like royalty. I exhaled, twirling my engagement ring around my finger, sadness threatening to swallow me whole.

I didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore.

“Hey,” Dawn and Ivana’s voices came up behind me and I whirled around to face them. The duo had tears brimming in their eyes and I looked away from them, not wanting to cry.

“You look beautiful,” Ivana came forward with my bouquet in her hands. The girls were beautifully dressed in cream silk dresses, pairing them with gold heels and flawless makeup. They were adorned in the same color but in different styles.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I grumbled.

“Where is my dad?” I asked them.

“He should be here in two minutes,” Dawn answered, flashing me an assuring smile. I opened my mouth to speak but my dad, stepping right through the door, cut me short. The girls pulled me in for a warm hug and kissed my cheeks before leaving the room.

It was just my dad and me.

My old man sauntered forward and I threw myself in his arms, trying my hardest not to let my tears spill.

“I am so sorry, Princess. I am so sorry. I wish there was a way I could bring an end to all this. I am so sorry.” He sniffed, wrapping his arms around me.

“It’s okay, I will be fine. I promise.” I assured him, pulling away lightly, so I could look him in the eye as I spoke with him. He didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded, nonetheless. He dropped a long kiss on my forehead and I sighed.

“I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you too, Daddy.” I grinned at him.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

Was I ready?

“We can wait until you are, baby girl. I am sure he wouldn’t mind waiting an extra hour by the Altar.” Dad snickered and I chuckled.

“Yeah, let’s do this.” I smiled at him, and he took my hand in his, leading us out of the room to the garden in the house, where the wedding was being held. Left to him, he wanted an extravagant wedding, but I insisted and stood my ground that I wanted small. He had told me he didn’t care, as long as he was marrying me. Anything was okay with him. Yeah, after making me sign those damned papers!! Of course, he would be cool with anything.

Dad squeezed my hand softly, as we approached the garden and the bridal music cued in. The small crowd looked over their shoulders and got on their feet as my father walked me down the aisle, where he and my best friends were waiting. I caught sight of my mother in the front seat, who had a small smile on her face. I managed to smile at her, my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

When we finally got to where he was, I took in the sight of him dressed in a black suit, his signature stone-cold expression glued to his face. I rolled my eyes at him and watched his jaw clench, eliciting a scoff from me.

Oh, he can go to hell.

“Hurt even the smallest strand of her hair, I will find you and haunt you to the ends of the earth. I mean it.” My dad threatened him, sporting a death glare on his face.

“I’ll guard her with my life.” He answered and my dad dropped my hand into his waiting cold ones. I wanted nothing more than to snatch my hand out of his grip, but I knew I couldn’t do that. It was just like crying over spilled milk. I threw him a stink eye and looked away. His cold green eyes lingered on me before he nodded at the priest to proceed.

“Dearly beloveds, we are gathered here today____”

I blocked the priest out. “Please, repeat after me,” The priest spoke, turning to Arden.

“I,”

“I,” he repeated.

“Jaxon Arden Gray,”

“Take you, Ashley Evaline Miller, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

He took the ring from the priest and took my hand in his, looking into my eyes with gazillions of emotions flashing through them.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

“I give you this ring as a token of my abiding love, as a sign that I have chosen you above all others.” His voice was soft, filled with emotions I couldn’t decipher as he slipped the diamond band onto my ring finger, making it a duo with my previous engagement ring.

The priest turned to me, sending me a warm smile, and I fought the urge to snort in his face.

“Please, repeat after me,”

“I,”

“I,” I repeated, my voice starting to break.

“Ashley Evaline Miller,”

“Take you, Jaxon Arden Gray,” The words felt so heavy in my mouth that I choked out a sob.

“To be my__my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward___for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish___” I released a shaky breath.

“Till death do us part.”

I took his hand and collected the ring from the priest, looking up to meet his eyes. They were soft, urging, and filled with a twinge of hurt that had me scoffing.

“I give you this ring as a token of my abiding love, as a sign that I have chosen you above all others.” A tear dropped as I slipped the ring onto his finger.

My heart broke and shattered into a million pieces. All my life, I had dreamt of this day, of doing this with someone I love more than life itself. But here I was, selling my soul to the devil.

“I now pronounce you as husband and wife,” The priest grinned, “You may kiss the bride.” He concluded and Arden, giving me no room for argument, pulled me by the waist to himself and locked lips with me.

An action that knocked my breath out of me, causing my vision to turn blurry, my legs wobbly as I looped my hands around his neck. It felt as though I had been waiting for this all day. The kiss was soft, almost assuring, and made my stomach twist into beautiful knots that erupted into butterflies, leaving me a floating mess.

He pulled away reluctantly, staring down at me as the crowd applauded us.

“Mrs. Gray,” he whispered.

“Mr. Gray,” I answered.

He didn’t break eye contact with me, instead, those green eyes bore holes into me, shedding off layers of my skin, shattering me into pieces, and molding me back into a whole. I couldn’t peel my eyes off him, no matter how hard I tried to.

It felt as though I was hypnotized by those gorgeous green orbs that did nothing but set my entire being on fire. It left my heart a thudding mess, spreading across a slow, warm burn to every inch of the blood that flowed through my veins, in a way that made me utterly breathless.