Page 58 of Single Malt Drama
When we broke the kiss, she tilted her head as if confused.
Hildie clapped and sniffled and clapped again. “Congratulations. May I take your picture?”
Father Brian excused himself, likely to avoid any blowback from my folks. Not that his presence in the photos would matter—his name was on our marriage certificate. The entire affair would become part of city records in thirty days, give or take.
I pulled Nico to my side and smiled for the cell phone.
Hildie snapped several pics before hugging us both. “I’m honored you invited me. You two make a lovely couple.”
Nico nuzzled closer. “Thank you.”
I nodded toward the back of the chapel. “You should probably get out of the dress before we go.”
My bride gave me a quick smile and hurried to the changing room.
Hildie said, “There’s a change of clothes for you in the dressing room. Your bags are in the back of the SUV. I sent enough food to get you through the first few days—bottled water, wine, and a little something special.”
“Thank you.” Once again, a feeling of disappointment settled over me. It seemed wrong to be going into hiding instead of to a reception to dance the night away with my bride.
“You know where you’re going? Those roads down in Terrebonne can be tricky at high tide.”
“I have a map and GPS to get us to the marina.” I pulled the frail woman into an embrace. “I don’t know if we’ll have cell reception at the cabin, but I’ll call to let you know we made it to the boat.”
She cocked her head. “That seemed awfully real up there.”
“It was for me, but I can’t speak for Nico.”
“You can’t speak for her, but you should speak to her.” Hildie patted my cheek. “And don’t be sad about your brothers not being here. I have a feeling you two will do this again one day.”
“I hope you’re right.” I cleared the emotions from my throat and wiped my eyes. “You should get home. It’s late. You know how Enzo worries.”
“Mmm hmm.” She nodded toward the changing room. “You might want to go help your wife out with that zipper. It stuck on my wedding day, and that was sixty some odd years ago.”
My eyes widened. “You loaned Nico your wedding dress?”
“Who else is gonna wear it?” She squeezed my arm. “Besides, the look on your face when you saw her in it made me glad I kept it all this time.”
I followed Hildie to the back of the church and gave her one last hug before I knocked on the door. “Nic? Need some help?”
“Yes. Please.” The exasperation in her voice made me laugh.
However, my laughter faded when I opened the door to find Nico with the dress unzipped to her waist. There was nothing sexier than a woman in the process of taking off her clothes—or in Nico’s case, attempting to.
I shut the door behind me and closed the distance between us. Pressing my chest to her bare back, I slid my arms around her and placed a line of kisses from her earlobe to the cap of her shoulder.
“Marco, we are in a church. Thunder will strike us.”
“Lightning. Lightning will strike us.” I chuckled.
“My point exactly.” Her body language told me she wasn’t worried about lightning or thunder, at least not the heavenly kind. She rolled her head to the side and reached behind herself to cup my ass.
My dick hardened instantly.
“It’s a good thing we’re married.” I brushed my lips over the shell of her ear.
A knock at the door spoiled the moment.
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. “Yes?”
“Mr. Marchionni, we’ve called ahead to the marina. We need to leave in the next five minutes, or we’re going to miss your guide,” Stuart said.
“We’ll be out in two.” I wasn’t overly thrilled about hiding out in the bayou to begin with, but getting there in the middle of the night put the fear of God in me much more than getting naked with Nico in a holy place. I damned sure didn’t want to spend our wedding night lost in the swamp.