Chapter 125: Omertà

**Althaia**

My heart was thumping faster, and my nerves were all over the place. But a soft smile from Damiano made me calm down and take a deep breath.

“Come.” He spoke softly to me and led me to a stage that had been set up. We came to a stop in front of a podium, where a goblet, knife, gun, and card were present. My nerves started to spike once again. I had only heard about an oath one had to take, but I had no idea how it actually worked.

To distract myself, I looked at the vast crowd where I spotted his Nonna and his parents, giving me warm smiles as well. I wanted to drop my jaw when it hit me. All these were people present worked for Damiano! And I knew this was not even all of them but those who mainly resided in Italy. I knew he was powerful and had many people working for him, but to see a glimpse of it just now was incredible.

“Famiglia di Bellavia!” Damiano’s voice boomed out, silencing everyone and giving us their full attention. It took everything in me not to shuffle around on my feet, seeing so many pairs of eyes on me.

“I have gathered you all here tonight to witness a new member of the family. My wife, Althaia Bellavia!” A round of applause erupted, and shouting and all kinds of noises were made by the announcement. Excitement, nervousness, and so many emotions were running through me as I waited in anticipation of the next step.

Damiano looked at me.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” I gave a firm nod, shoving my nervousness away, and focused on him.

“Althaia Bellavia, do you swear to be loyal to me as your leader and husband? Do you swear to be loyal to your family, to protect your brothers and sisters, and to honor this code of silence?” His golden-brown looked at me so intently as he spoke out loudly, clearly, and firmly to let me know this was a serious deal.

And I was ready for it.

“I swear.” I said firmly, which earned a slight smirk from him. He grabbed the knife from the podium and took my hand in his. I made a small grimace, knowing blood had to be shed since it was a blood oath. I just hoped it wouldn’t be painful, or deep for that matter. Damiano held my index finger, pinched it, and poked a small hole with the knife. I almost wanted to laugh at how dramatic I had made it up to be in my mind.

He then grabbed the card, and my brows went up when I recognized the image on it. It was the very same Damiano had tattooed on his chest; the hooded skull, the crown, and massive angel wings. It was my favorite tattoo of his. One I had memorized and recreated many times in my sketchbook.

“This drop of blood symbolizes your birth into our family. We are one until death.” My finger was pinched until blood dropped onto the card. He then flipped the card, showing a saint's picture, and repeated the process. The next thing he did was to take out a lighter and lit up the inside of the goblet. He put the card over the flames, letting it burn before turning to me.

“May your flesh burn like this saint if you betray your family and me. Repeat after me.”

“As the flames burn this saint, so let my soul burn with the same flames for eternity. I enter alive, and only death can release me.” I repeated the words he told me. Damiano then kissed both of my cheeks.

“Benvenuta in famiglia, mia Donna.” His golden-brown eyes were bright and filled with pride as he looked at me. I let out a small breath and smiled at him. A new feeling overtook my body.

Damiano grabbed my waist and pulled me into a kiss. Hard, but sweet which let me melt entirely at the moment. I pulled away in surprise when I heard the crowd chanting loudly.

“Viva Don Damiano e Donna Althaia!… Viva Don Damiano e Donna Althaia!….” It was an overwhelming feeling that had me feel incredibly warm inside as I looked at their cheerful faces.

*La mia Famiglia.*

The sounds of multiple gunshots startled me and made me lean into Damiano as I watched what was going on. They had pulled their guns out and were firing in celebratory.

“Join them.” He stepped behind me and took my hand to let me hold his gun with his hand over mine. Together, we fired a few shots over the ocean and had them all erupt in joy again.

“No turning back now. You are bound to me for life.” Damiano spoke. I looked over my shoulder, seeing his expression was soft. I gave a slight smirk.

“Wasn’t that my destiny in the first place, hmm?”

“You’re right. You belonged to me the minute I laid my eyes on you.”

“Hot.” I winked at him.

“Look at them shamelessly flirting in front of us all like that. And even in front of Nonna!” Rafaelle’s voice rang, having me roll my eyes at him.

“Don’t look if you have a problem.” Damiano told him. I chuckled as we made our way back down from the stage. I was immediately pulled into a tight embrace, Cara squealing in happiness.

“I want to be mad at you for not telling me right away you got engaged and even more for getting married in secret. But I’m so damn happy for you that it doesn’t even matter anymore!” I laughed as I hugged her back, grateful she was here to witness this moment.

“When did you even come?” I asked once things had calmed down with the greeting.

“Today! We got the news yesterday and left in a hurry. Thanks for the heads up, by the way.” Cara said to Damiano in a teasing tone.

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a bored look before shaking her head.

“Well, congratulations to you both!” With a teasing smile, Cara opened her arms wide to hug Damiano. A small crease appeared between his brows when she neared him. She wrapped her arms around him, and his arms remained still next to him, not making a move to hug her back.

“Come on, Damiano. I’m your brother’s soon-to-be wife! Gimme a hug!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the amusing sight. Damiano looked at me as if saying I needed to get him out of this situation.

“She has a point. She’s your family too.” He looked down at her before slowly patting her back.

“God… This hurts to watch.” Arianna grimaced as she looked at them, along with Ava and Cecilia. They all chuckled at how awkward Damiano looked at the moment.

“He needs to loosen up a bit, and I’m helping him to do so.” Cara laughed, finally releasing Damiano, and he immediately wrapped his arm around my waist.

Arianna looked at us both with a warm smile.

“Congratulations, big brother. I’m happy you finally found the one.” As she hugged him, Damiano smiled and kissed the top of her head. I smiled big as I witnessed this cute moment before she turned to me.

“Oh, I see, Damiano!” Cara squinted her eyes at him. “Don’t worry. We will get there!” She promised.

“I will stab him if his lips go anywhere near you.” Lorenzo made an appearance with Dom, who went to wrap his arm around Arianna. It looked like the brothers had finally accepted their relationship.

“Is that a threat, brother?” Damiano smirked.

“A promise.” Lorenzo retorted, mirroring his smirk.

“Cara, come here.” Damiano called after her, and her eyes lit up.

“Althaia.” Lorenzo looked at me, and Damiano’s head snapped to look at Lorenzo so fast with a warning look.

“Now, that’s a death wish, brother.”

“… I don’t understand… Are they joking, or are they really trying to kill each other?” I asked as I looked at them, trying to understand their relationship as they continued making threats to one another.

“Just their usual pissing contest.” Arianna sighed.

“You will see a lot of that.” Cecilia said, amused as she came up to me with Ava to congratulate me.

“I guess.” I chuckled.

The evening continued with more people coming up to greet and congratulate us, and I loved every single moment of it. They all made me feel warm and welcome. It also surprised me that many women were working for Damiano as well and were part of this family. It wasn’t a traditional all-male organization. He really was a man with his own ways, and I loved that so much about him.

At some point, Nonna and his parents made an appearance. His mother was happy that all of her children were gathered, and his father took me by surprise by saying he was wrong about me, and I had shown I was fit to be Damiano’s wife. Nonna was busy telling the others to hurry up and get married because she wanted great-grandbabies, and she continued to state she was not getting any younger.

I took a break from the crowd and went up to the bar to grab another drink when I noticed Rafaelle was also there, glaring into the crowd.

“What’s up with the glaring?” I asked him and grabbed a glass of wine. He didn’t respond as he continued staring daggers at someone. I followed his gaze and saw Ava talking to another man, laughing as she touched his arm.

“Oh…” My brows went up, and I looked at Rafaelle.

“I don’t like that. I fucking hate it. Why the fuck is she touching him?” He snarled, and I rubbed his back in comfort.

“Are you still being very explicit with your words, or…?” He gave me a blank look before sighing.

“No. At least, I don’t think so…” He muttered out and rubbed the back of his head in frustration. I felt sorry for him because it was obvious he wanted her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be feeling like this. I let out a small sigh as I tried to comfort him. Then I saw Damiano making his way toward me.

“Oh, my God!” I started to laugh as I realized what Ava was doing.

“Yeah, thanks for laughing….” He sulked out, and I shook my head at him as I chuckled.

“You have it wrong, honey. She is trying to make you jealous.” This had his attention, and he straightened up.

“What?”

“Remember when we first met, and I flirted with you and touched your arm and all that stuff?”

“How can I forget.” He wiggled his brows, and I rolled my eyes at him. I looked at Damiano, who had reached us, before turning my attention back to Rafaelle.

“I did it solely to make him jealous. And it worked.” He gave a surprised expression.

“You almost had me kill him.” Damiano said.

“That’s on you. No one told you to be jealous.” I grinned.

“Okay, so what do I do? Punch the shit out of him as Damiano did to me?” Rafaelle asked impatiently.

“You can. If you’re sure you can win the fight.” Damiano said as he pulled me into him. Rafaelle scoffed.

“Are you saying I'm weak?”

“No, but Renzo is a cage fighter. He has never lost a fight.” Rafaelle looked back at Renzo and rubbed his chin.

“I could always shoot him….”

“Okay, that’s enough. No one is punching or shooting anyone.” I gave a stern glare to both of them.

“I just tried to help.” Damiano shrugged.

“Yeah, by sending him to his death.” I replied.

“So far, I’m only getting insults from you both.” Rafaelle gave us a sarcastic smile.

“Listen, she’s obviously doing this to get a reaction from you because she has been glancing in your way throughout the evening. You don’t need to fight him or freaking kill him. Just go up to her and show him she’s yours. And show her you’re serious about her.” I smiled at him, and he nodded a few times, taking in the information.

“Okay. How do I look?” He straightened out his dress shirt and made sure his hair was in place.

“Handsome! Now, go get her tiger.” Rafaelle looked in the direction of where Ava was, still talking to Renzo.

“Ava!” He shouted out, attracting attention to him, and practically stormed towards her. I dropped my jaw as this was not what I meant he should do. Ava turned around to look at him, and Rafaelle grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. It didn’t take long before Ava wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

“Huh… I guess he could do it like that.” I said in surprise and chuckled.

“Took him long enough.” I nodded in agreement as I watched them. They were a perfect fit for each other, and their personalities were much alike.

Something caught my eye as I looked across the other side of the water, and to the mountain that curved around.

“Damiano, look!” I gasped and pointed to where I was looking. Luca was down on one knee! I waited in anticipation as we could only see them and not hear them. It felt like the longest moment before we finally saw Cecilia saying yes to him. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was such a cute moment!

“About time. But I still did it better.” I burst out in laughter at Damiano’s comment.

“Not everything is a competition.”

“You’re right. No one can compete with me.” He looked at me with a teasing look as I shook my head at him and leaned into him. I let out a blissful sigh.

“Are you happy, my love?” Damiano asked softly, caressing my cheek.

“I couldn’t be happier.” I smiled. “And you, my love, are you happy?”

“Always when I’m with you. You are my happiness.” He gave me his soft, beautiful smile that had my body tingle, my heart flutter like crazy, and have me helplessly blush.

I put my hands on his cheeks, leaning closer to him until our lips met in a sweet kiss.

*Everything was perfect.*

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