Before the Storm of Vows

Before the Storm of Vows
The phone vibrated against my thigh.

I glanced at Alessandro, who was standing by the bay window, lost in thought. He was somewhere else. Too quiet for it to mean nothing.

I pulled out my phone, and when I saw the sender — Lorenzo — I understood.

I shot a quick look his way. Alessandro on my right. Fast reading.

“Get him out of the villa.”

I answered immediately:

“Why? You know he’ll start asking questions. He’ll never let you get back in like that.”

I felt Alessandro glance at me from the corner of his eye. He’d noticed I was typing.

A few seconds later — another buzz.

“Because we FOUND THE DRESS. She wants to surprise him on Thursday. But if that control-obsessed idiot is there, he’ll want to see it right away. You gotta get him out before he sniffs something.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing out loud.

That control-obsessed idiot.

She’d dropped that like nothing.

I turned the screen toward Alessandro, grinning.

— So that’s what they were hiding this morning.

He narrowed his eyes.

Read.

Then read again.

— “Control-obsessed idiot,” he repeated with that crooked smile.

— She knows you pretty well, I teased, raising a mocking eyebrow.

He chuckled, quiet but real — and in his eyes…

There was tenderness. Pure. Unfiltered.

— She’s the one who makes me this way, he said. I want to lock everything down, anticipate everything. Because… I’ve never been this scared of losing something.

I held his gaze for a few seconds, then stood up.

— Come on. Get some air with me. I need to show you a new spot for the wedding caterer.

He raised an eyebrow.

— Really?

— I’ve got pictures, but seeing it in person is better. Plus… you could use the distraction.

He looked at me.

But he kept smiling.

— Okay. Lead the way.

We headed out. And while he was slipping on his sunglasses, I typed one last message:

“He’s with me. You’ve got one hour. Hide the dress like your lives depend on it.”

I popped the trunk open.

The dress was there, carefully wrapped. Untouchable.

Lorenzo shot me a sideways look, proud of his move.

— He’s been diverted, he declared smugly. Matteo’s dragging him to check out some venue for the caterer.

— There’s a new caterer? I frowned.

— No. But now there is. We’ll improvise.

I laughed, the weight in my chest a little lighter.

I looked at the dress one last time before closing the trunk.

— It’s crazy. I’m more stressed about him seeing the dress than about telling him I’m pregnant.

Lorenzo gave me a soft look.

— That’s because you want it to be perfect.

And he was right.

The dress was hidden in the back of the villa, in a false bottom in the guest room closet.

The kind of place Alessandro would never dig through.

Especially not if he was busy looking at me.

Lorenzo shot me a conspiratorial wink.

— Mission accomplished, he whispered.

I gave him a quick high five.

— Now handle the decoy. I’ll play the “totally innocent” card.

We walked in.

Everything was calm. Sunlight draped the room in gold.

The villa had that warmth only home can give.

I slipped off my heels, holding them in one hand like I’d just come home from any normal day.

Then I saw Alessandro coming in through the bay windows, Matteo behind him.

My heart skipped.

He looked up. His eyes locked on mine.

Then slid down my body.

Black dress, a little too form-fitting to be purely practical.

Loose hair. Rosy lips.

— Well? he asked, hands in his pockets.

— Well… I’m not telling you anything.

I smiled.

— And no, you won’t see anything either. No box, no bag, no receipt.

He stepped closer.

— You think you can get away with that, princess?

I rose up on my toes, getting close enough to breathe against his mouth.

— I think I can make you forget to even ask.

I kissed him slowly.

He growled into my lips, and behind us Matteo burst into laughter.

— That’s it, it’s official. We’re invisible when they look at each other like that.

Lorenzo groaned dramatically:

— Just a reminder — I spent the whole day with her trying on fifty dresses, only for her to pick exactly the one you knew she’d pick. I need whiskey.

Matteo raised a finger.

— Co-signed. I’m opening a bottle.

Alessandro kept watching me, that flicker of something still in his eyes.

— You… look different. Calmer. More… luminous.

I shrugged.

— Maybe because I’m happy.

But inside…

I was thinking about that small, silent heartbeat.

That new life growing.

That secret glowing under my skin.

I wasn’t just happy.

I was whole.

I watched her walk off toward the bathroom, still barefoot.

She was floating. Literally.

I saw Alessandro follow her with his eyes like she might vanish any second.

Matteo glanced at me, then handed me a drink.

— She really is different, isn’t she?

I nodded slowly.

— Yeah. And it’s just the beginning.

7:30 AM.

I was already up.

The coffee was steaming in my mug, but I hadn’t taken a single sip. Just the smell made me nauseous.

I left it there, untouched, while I reviewed the day’s schedule in my planner.

Confirm the florist.
Final dress fitting at home.
Meeting with the caterer.
Sound system check.
Finish the seating plan with Matteo.
And of course — smile like nothing’s off.

My hand drifted instinctively to my still-flat stomach.

Not today. Today, you don’t get to fall apart, Hope.

I closed the planner and stood with purpose.

— You don’t look great, Lorenzo muttered as he walked into the kitchen, wearing a wrinkled T-shirt and black sweatpants — which made zero sense for a guy living with a military freak like Alessandro.

I took a sip of water, deliberately ignoring my mug.

— I’m perfect. Just… a little nervous. It’s not every day you plan your own wedding.

He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

— You’ve got the same face you had that time you removed your own appendix with a mirror and two aspirins.

I rolled my eyes.

— You promised never to bring that up again.

— And you promised to tell me the truth the day you stopped drinking your favorite coffee three mornings in a row. Guess who won.

I smiled despite myself.

— I didn’t throw up this morning.

— No, but you left your coffee untouched. That’s worse, Hope. Worse.

He looked at me. Really looked. With that soft, worried kind of affection.

— Want me to tell Alessandro you need to slow down?

— No. He’s already got too much in his head. And I need to feel useful.

I put my hand on his.

— For now, only you know. And I want it to stay that way until the wedding. I want him to look at me the way he does now — without worry. I want him to want me… without restraint. Just a little longer.

Lorenzo nodded gently.

— You know we’re not protecting you. We’re protecting him.

I smiled.

— I know.

She was floating through flowers, fittings, and smiles.

She was radiant, untouchable, sovereign.

But something… bothered me.

She avoided coffee.
She barely ate lunch.
She slipped upstairs to sit down for a few minutes alone.
Her lips were smiling, but her eyes… betrayed a new kind of exhaustion.

Matteo was talking about the seating chart.

I wasn’t hearing a damn thing.

My eyes were glued to my
future wife.

Something had changed.

And I was going to find out what.

After all… I’m just a control-obsessed asshole, right?