Chapter 80: Chapter Eighty

Camilla POV

I don't know how she pulled it off, but between my Nonna and Nick's mother, we'll be married in just a couple of hours. It took them four weeks to pull everything together, including taking me to get a dress and Mrs. Carmine threatening the tailor that I better have the best dress he's ever made. The poor man looked like he was going to lose the last of his hair, but he pulled it off.

I'm standing in Nicholas's bedroom, well, now ours, watching as the hairdresser puts the finishing touches on my hair. There’s a light knock on the door, and then it swings open to reveal Natalia standing there in a beautiful emerald green bridesmaid dress. "Are you ready or what?" she asks in her Spanish accent. She gives a little shimmy as she walks up. "I look good in green, no?"

"You do," I say with a laugh. "I didn't think you would make it, but my Nonna said not to worry, you'd be here to be my maid of honor."

"Of course, not like you had a backup plan," she laughs. I give her my best look of indifference, and she slaps my arm. "Stop it."

"It's almost perfect," I say. "The only thing missing is Michael. He promised he'd walk me down the aisle but then called two days ago and said something came up."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Natalia says with a funny look on her face. "How absurd he would do such a thing."

"Yeah well Mr. Carmine says he can do it, right after he called my brother an asino."

"A what?" Natalia asks.

"Jackass," I say as I add lip gloss to my lips and pucker in the mirror.

"Oh, a burro," Natalia says with a laugh. "It sounds so much more aggressive in English, jackass," she laughs again.

"Are you ready for this, Camilla?" Natalia asks. "I can't believe you're getting married," she leans closer and whispers, "To the mafia man." My friend has no idea how deep all of this goes. She found out the hard way that my family is connected to the mafia, and she's standing in the home of what will now be the most connected mafia in the world.

"Natalia, I need to tell you something. A lot of somethings."

"Okay," Natalia smacks her lips together. "Talk Chica."

I tell the hairdresser that I'm good and she can go, but to ask one of the housekeepers to bring me some water when they have a minute. I have a feeling I'm going to need more than water, so I reach over and pour both of us a glass of champagne from the bottle on the table. I hand Natalia a glass, we do a little toast, and we take a drink.

"I've found out a lot about my family I didn't know. You found out some of that, but it was minimal. I can't get into the details now; there's just not time. But what you need to know is that Nicholas is not just the mafia man you thought he was back in New York and I'm not the woman you thought I was either." Natalia looks at me to continue but says nothing. "My family is far more connected than even I realized at first. In fact, there is some contract that's over a hundred years old that states that whatever mob boss marries into my family, will become the capo of all the mafia families. Like the boss of the bosses or something," I say with a sigh. "And I'm apparently worth a shit ton of money once they marry me as well."

"Oh my god, what?" Natalia says sharply. "Is Nicholas marrying you for power and money? You don't have to marry him, Camilla; you know that right?"

"You misunderstand, Nat. He almost died trying to make sure I was free to marry who I wanted or not at all. I could walk away anytime. He loves me and I love him. He never wanted the power and has more money than he knows what to do with already. It's truly not about that. In fact, he and his parents all agreed that the power was not worth it. It puts him in danger. It puts us both in danger. But the only other family out there who could potentiate \[DA1\] \[DA2\] a marriage with me and cause a similar reaction, they are all dead. So truly, I am free to marry who I want. And I want to marry Nicholas, with all of my heart."

"Okay, I was about to freak out," Natalia said as she pulled me into a hug. "Now I think I need to tell you something too," she says.

"What is this, confession day?" I say with a laugh. "I already spoke to the priest yesterday."

"Very funny," Natalia says with a smile. "No, it's about Michael."

"My brother?"

"Yes," she grits her teeth. "You know how you were saying he wasn't going to make it because something came up?"

"Yes," I draw out.

"I'm that something. He came to New York to get me and bring me here for the wedding. My flight was canceled. I was supposed to be here two days ago. Your brother saved me so I could make it here." She pauses. "He has a really nice plane, by the way."

"Well, that's great, but if he flew you here, where is he?" Just then, the door flies open, and my brother barges in with my soon-to-be mother-in-law at his heels, cursing him out in Italian. "I guess that answers that."

"Hey sis," he says with a smirk. "Call off Mrs. Carmine, please, she's ripped me a new asshole. Where is Nonna? Oh, hi," he says to Natalia. And then he completely blows my mind when he walks up to Natalia and pulls her into his arms and gives her a very passionate, mind-blowing kiss in front of both me and Mrs. Carmine.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," Mrs. Carmine says in her accented English. "Enough." She swats him in the back of the head with a hand towel, "Basta!"

I looked at the ground, half embarrassed for him. It's like when our mother was alive and he was in trouble for teasing me. "You are late Michael, and we need to get this show on the road! Can we do that?"

"Yes," Michael says with a laugh as he pulls away from Natalia. She looks at him like a lovesick puppy as she wipes her lips and then reapplies her lipstick in the mirror. "I just wanted to greet my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" I say rather loudly. "What is going on here?"

"She didn't tell you?" Michael asks.

"Tell me, she's been here for probably half an hour. It's not like we have had days to catch up. And in case you did not know, I'm about to get married, Michael," I remind him.

"Right, yes. Well, the condensed version is: I went to your apartment, stayed a few days, and Natalia was there and refused to leave. You were in the hospital and probably didn't remember or even know. At any rate, we hit it off, and we like each other. When her flight was canceled, I made a stop in New York to get her, and it reminded me," he looks over at Natalia, who is standing with her hands on her hips staring at him as he babbles on. "Seeing her reminded me that the truth is, I'm crazy about her. So, I asked her to be my girlfriend—end of story. Now let's get you married, sis," he holds out his arm for me to take. "We can give you details later on the whole thing, or not," he says when he sees me wrinkle my nose up.

"Many things I want to hear, but I do not want to hear about my best friend and my brother hooking up. Okay?" I say.

"Right," he winks at me. "Noted."

Mrs. Carmine motions to Natalia to follow her, and we trail slowly behind them. Natalia will walk down the aisle with Jimmy, Nicholas's cousin and best man. Michael will walk me now that he has arrived. I am left in the foyer with Michael, and Mrs. Carmine goes out to the backyard to be seated with her husband up front.

"You sure you want to do this?" Michael asks once we are alone. "You don't have to marry him, you know. You really are free to do what you want."

"I'm aware, Michael. Nicholas told me several times that I didn't have to marry him. But Michael, I love him, and he loves me, and that's what's important."

Michael nods. "Yes, but you know about the rest. Nonna filled you in on everything?"

"Not just her, but Nick's parents too. I am aware of everything, and I'm aware that this puts us in danger in some cases, too, but also, we are the most protected couple alive. I am still free to complete my law degree and practice if I choose to. Or I'm free to do nothing at all."

Michael stares at me before he replies, "Which of course, you won’t do nothing at all, right?"

"Of course not. I want to be a lawyer. But you know what else I want?" Michael shakes his head no.

"I want to be Nick's wife and the mother of his children. I want to travel to all the places in Italy that our family owns and I never knew about. I want Nonna to teach me everything she knows about the businesses and everything that I need to know."

"What about the things you don't want to know?" he asks.

"Nick kind of knows what that part entails, so does Nonna."

Michael nods. "Okay then. Are you ready to become Mrs. Carmine?" He gestures toward the man standing in the doorway, clearly waiting for us.

"Yes, I most definitely am." I loop my hand in Michael's elbow, and we turn to follow the usher outside to our waiting guests. The wedding is small, with the closest family and friends, primarily for safety reasons. The Carmine's don't let many know where their primary residence is, for one. For two, I don't know a lot of people and wouldn't want them here anyway. Everyone I know and love is here.

As we walk down the aisle, I recognize a few of my brother’s soldiers and am glad to see Liam has recovered and sitting in the back row, a big grin on his face as I pass by. As we approach the front, Nicholas waits for me, a massive smile on his face. Jimmy is at his elbow, and Natalia stands on my side of the small, elevated stage that was constructed just for this event. My Nonna sits in the front row with Enzo at her side, dabbing at her eyes.

Standing before Nicholas, I'm vaguely aware of the priest reciting some words and my brother answering. Then Michael removes my hand from his elbow, kisses my cheek, and places my hand in Nicholas's. I have eyes only for him as the priest presides over our exchange of vows and we acknowledge that we are entering into this marriage freely, wholeheartedly and are prepared to love and honor each other for life. We exchange rings and the priest announces, "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Nicholas holds my face in his hands and before he kisses me, whispers softly, "I love you so much Camilla Carmine, forever." I know he means every word, and this man right here was most assuredly the right man for me, mafia or not.