Chapter 6 Dresses - Lily
I'm getting married.
The thought still feels surreal in my mind, but I have no time to think of my freedom when I'm being told by my father that one of the most prominent wedding dress designers will come to our house so that I can try some on.
"The DiCassios have requested the wedding should be in Chicago." Pappa informs me before the dress people are supposed to arrive.
"And you're telling me this why?" I study my nails which still looks perfect after the makeover I had to meet said DiCassios.
It's pretty, but I hate it. I like my hands stained with paint instead, but I know it will be a problem before the fucking wedding of the century in the mafia world.
"It's not like I have a say in my own life." I continue, making Pappa wince.
Good, he deserves that.
"You always have a say, little girl."
I practically jump from the couch when I hear Nana's voice.
I almost burst into tears as I run to her and fall into her arms. I would have too if I didn't know she would scold me for crying over nothing. She takes my face into her hands, a sheen of moisture in her worldly eyes. "Look at you, the most beautiful girl in the world."
I'm not the most beautiful girl of course, but she's always said it. Nana is the closest thing to a mother I ever had, and I hated that I had to leave her when I was sent to boarding school.
"What are you doing here?" Nana never leaves her life on the farm in the countryside. Ever. She always said she doesn't care for city life.
"My girl is getting married." She pats my cheek. "Where else would I be?"
"I don't want to get married." I tell her immediately, and I don't care if Pappa heard or not. "I want to go to college, Nana."
She raises her eyebrows at my defiance. "Now, now, you know sometimes we have to do things for family. Family comes first, I taught you that."
I don't know why I thought I could make her an ally. Nana may live on a farm, but she's as mafia as they get. And she taught me how to shoot a gun, and gave me my first drink, things I thought was really cool at the time. I realize now that it might have been to prepare me for becoming another mafia guy's wife.
"This is the time you choose what you want, this might be an arranged marriage, but you can still set demands." She nods at her helper, Nora, who hands her her cane.
Nana is badass. She was shot in the knee the night my gradfather died, but not before she single handedly killed ten men. I overheard someone once said that people in the underworld speak of her with respect.
I follow her to the couch.
"Do you want to get married in Chicago?" She asks. "It's time to state your demands."
"I've never even been to Chicago." I know I have to move there after the wedding, that's a choice I have no say over.
"So we tell the wedding planner you will have the wedding here." She points her cane at Pappa. "You let the Italians know we decline Chicago."
I hug her briefly. " I'm so happy you're here."
It makes me feel less alone, and more in control. She sits with me when the designer arrives with dresses in all shapes, making me feel like a show pony every time I have to parade in a dress.
"Everything is wrong." Nana tells her when she dresses me in another gown of lace and tulle. "Lily is a princess. Make her look classy and timeless."
Even though I'm hating the whole spectacle, I do end up feeling like a princess when we find the right dress.
Then I have an appointment with an interior fucking designer who was flown all the way from Chicago.
"Mr. DiCassio said you can have anything you want." He smiles nervously. "Granted, it's done in time before the wedding. He did have one request, though."
I look through the pictures of what will become my home.
"What request?"
"He wants white bedding."
I blink. Why the fuck would he want that?
"I don't really care how you decorate, all I want is my own studio, please." I do as Nana told me, demand. "It has to have as much natural light as possible."
The interior designer makes notes as I talk.
"And more thing." I say before I forget. "A new bed, that is essential."
I'm not sleeping on a bed that he fucked other women on. I'm still a virgin, he's the first man that has ever touched me, I deserve at least that respect.
I blush when I think back to that night when they were here.
I didn't know my first kiss would feel like that.
It was electric.
Girls always told me the first time was so awkward, they didn't know what to do, but I didn't feel awkward at all. Unsure, yes, but not awkward. I didn't want it to end.
And the way he touched me.
Vincent DiCassio is no college boy who fumbles his way through the sheets. No, he knows exactly how to touch a woman.
I'm feeling very..... Intrigued.
I might not want to get married, but I certainly want to know what else my future husband is capable of.