Page 47 of Poison and Wine
“Exactly.” Taking her hand in mine, I led her over to my brothers. They stared at Caterina in wide-eyed reverence. “Isn’t my bride stunning?”
“Aye,” Dare replied while Quinn and Kellan merely bobbed their heads in agreement.
She smiled genuinely at them. “I look forward to having you as my brothers.”
“You’ll never want or need for anything, lass,” Quinn proclaimed.
Tilting her head, she teasingly asked, “Does that mean you’ll knock Callum around for me every once in a while?”
As my brothers chuckled, I gritted out, “Dream on.”
Caterina grinned. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“Come, let’s meet the priest and get this show on the road,” I instructed. After she slipped her hand in mine, I began leading her over to the terrace doors. Although I hated myself for it, I couldn’t stop the racing of my heart. The rational side of me argued it was only normal since I was about to bind myself to a woman I barely knew while vowing to love, honor, and keep her until death parted us.
Of course, in my line of work that wasn’t always that long.
Motioning to the glass doors, I explained, “I thought it might be nicer to have the ceremony out here.”
At the sight of the newly decorated terrace, her mouth gaped open in surprise. Under my directions, the stone patio and railing overflowed with vibrant wildflowers. The path to the makeshift altar was littered in red and pink rose petals.
The self-respecting mafia boss within me couldn’t believe I’d given such ridiculous orders. I commanded men to kill and torture not festoon fecking altars with flowers. If any of my enemies got wind of such a thing, I’d be fighting to keep my territory. I’d even gone so far as to lie to my brothers that it was Seamus’s idea.
All the regret faded when Caterina stared up at me with a beaming smile. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s all for you.”
Eyeing me skeptically, she asked, “You really did all of this for me?”
Nodding, I replied, “I knew that with your faith, you would be disappointed not to be married in a church, so I tried to make up for it.”
Caterina’s expression softened. “That’s very kind of you, Callum.”
“You’re welcome.”
At the makeshift altar, Seamus stood with Father Leahy. At Caterina’s surprised expression, I could only imagine she wasn’t expecting a very Irish looking priest with red hair that was practically orange and bright blue eyes. Turning to me, she asked, “Where did he come from?”
“You know as well as I do that Sicilians can have red hair and blue eyes.”
“Not hair like that,” she huffed.
I laughed. “Aye, lass, you’re right. After the initial trouble of finding a trustworthy priest, Seamus finally resorted to flying one in from Belfast this morning.”
I knew she didn’t bother arguing with me that not all priests were trustworthy. She knew as well as I did that crooked priests were often bought by mafia families. At the sight of us in the doorway, Seamus and the priest ceased talking.
Seamus walked over to us. “You look lovely, Caterina,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you, Mr. Kavanaugh.”
He shook his head. “Please call me, Seamus. I won’t be pretentious in asking you to call me uncle, but I certainly hope you will look at me as one.”
“I would like that,” she replied. I couldn’t hide my surprise at her words to him. Especially after the way she’d spoken to him on her first day.
Motioning to the table, I said, “I have the contract for you.”
An appreciative look filled her eyes as she made her way over. Once she’d read through the points she’d requested, she picked up the pen. “Once again, I can’t thank you enough for doing this, Callum.”
“You’re welcome.”