Chapter 7 - The Bride Who Almost Died Before the Wedding
They planned a small wedding.
No politicians.
No gangsters.
No dramatic headlines.
Just family and a few close friends.
Elena wanted flowers everywhere.
Matteo pretended to hate flowers.
He secretly ordered twice as many.
She discovered it.
“You lied.”
“I negotiated.”
“With a florist?”
“Yes.”
“You're ridiculous.”
“You love me.”
“I do.”
A month before the wedding, Elena collapsed.
Her blood pressure dropped suddenly.
She woke in a hospital.
Matteo was beside her.
His face was pale.
“What happened?”
The doctor explained that Elena had a previously undiagnosed heart condition aggravated by stress and exhaustion.
It was treatable.
But she needed rest.
Matteo canceled the wedding.
Elena objected.
“No.”
“You're sick.”
“And?”
“We wait.”
“I don't want to wait.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because life doesn't promise time.”
He sat beside her.
“You don't have to prove anything.”
“I know.”
She reached for his hand.
“I just want to marry you while we have the chance.”
His eyes filled.
They married in the hospital chapel.
Marco cried.
Dante pretended he had allergies.
Isabella laughed.
And Matteo looked at Elena as if the entire world had disappeared.
When they exchanged vows, Elena said:
“I cannot promise there will never be fear.”
Matteo replied:
“I can promise you will never face it alone.”
They kissed.
Then he whispered:
“Mrs. Rossi.”
She smiled.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
Life after the wedding became surprisingly ordinary.
Breakfast.
Arguments about coffee.
Laundry.
Movies.
Garden work.
Matteo discovering that Elena hated ironing.
Elena discovering that Matteo could not fold fitted sheets.
Their house became warmer.
Photographs appeared on the walls.
Flowers appeared in the garden.
Music returned to rooms that had been silent for decades.
Then Elena found a small nursery being prepared in the east wing.
She stared at Matteo.
“What's this?”
He looked nervous.
“I thought…”
“You thought?”
“That maybe someday.”
She smiled.
“Someday.”
He relaxed.
“Good.”
Months later, Elena discovered she was pregnant.
She told him at breakfast.
He stared at the test.
Then at her.
Then back at the test.
“Is this real?”
She laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
He stood so quickly the chair moved backward.
He picked her up.
“Matteo!”
He immediately put her down.
“Sorry.”
She laughed.
He knelt and placed both hands over her stomach.
“You're going to be a father.”
He looked up.
“You're going to be a mother.”
“I am.”
He kissed her belly.
“I don't know what to do.”
“You'll learn.”
“I know how to negotiate with armed men.”
“Useful.”
“I know how to manage a criminal enterprise.”
“Formerly.”
“Yes.”
“I don't know how to change diapers.”
“You'll learn that too.”
He smiled.
For the first time, Matteo Rossi looked genuinely terrified.
Not of death.
May you like
Of love.
Because now he had something precious enough to lose.
