Chapter 8 - The Contractual Vows
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The wedding was devoid of romance, exactly as promised. It took place in Luca’s heavily guarded, wood-paneled study at exactly eight o'clock in the evening.
There were no flowers. There was no white dress. Norah wore a dark green silk blouse and black trousers, holding her hands tightly together to stop them from shaking. Luca wore a completely black suit, standing tall and imposing next to a very nervous private judge who had been heavily paid for his absolute discretion.
Leo stood between them, holding Norah’s hand with a tight, desperate grip.
The judge rushed through the legalities, clearly eager to leave the syndicate boss's house.
“Do you, Luca Castellano, take this woman…”
“I do,” Luca interrupted, his voice firm and absolute.
“And do you, Norah Bennett, take this man…”
“I do,” Norah said, looking down at Leo instead of the man standing beside her.
“Sign here,” the judge instructed, pushing the leather-bound book toward them.
Luca signed first, his signature sharp and aggressive. Norah took the pen and signed her new legal name. The ink sealed her fate, tying her irrevocably to a criminal empire.
“You may kiss the bride,” the judge muttered, packing up his briefcase as quickly as possible.
Norah froze. Kissing was not in the contract.
Luca turned to her. He looked at her tense posture, her wide eyes, and the terrified thumping of a pulse at the base of her throat. He didn't force her. He didn't assert his dominance.
Instead, Luca raised his hand, gently brushing his knuckles against her warm cheek. He leaned down and placed a soft, completely chaste kiss on her forehead.
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“Welcome to the family, Norah,” Luca whispered against her skin.
The gentleness of the gesture was so completely at odds with his terrifying reputation that it left Norah entirely breathless. She looked up into his steel-gray eyes and realized, with a sudden jolt of panic, that surviving the mob boss might be significantly easier than surviving her growing attraction to him.
