Erased From The Frame: Runaway Bride

. The photographer then took ninety-nine pictures-of my fiancé and my adopted sister. When I refused to give up the master suite meant for a wife, the man I loved call

waiting for me on the same road where he once left me behind. He promised to wait f

pte

a

the boutique's grand mirror, the weight of the bespoke gown pressing down on my shoulders. I turned my hea

cture and casually asked me to step out of the fr

en in my heavy, be

uddenly feeling less like a celebr

he Don of o

entire rival cartel at the age of

that made grown men drop their ga

ively extinguish their cigars and stare down at the toes of their own shoes. His weal

ark, consuming attention was

ands delicately smoothing the

as visibly trembling from Dante's overwhelming presence

red the tray dir

passed me as if I

ony, future Queen?" the stylist asked S

d not cor

of onyx cufflinks and held t

a slow, indulgent smile touch

hat used to belo

ial photographer, was entirely consumed by his task. He stepped backward, his sho

registered nothing, his eye pr

er clicke

Fifty. N

blinding fla

hot featured S

rased from the fra

hin, and a familiar, dull

en when I'd shoved her out of the way of a falling vase, taking the shards of porcelain in my own skin. T

ad and noticed me standing

my wedding dress, but the

a cold, detac

ly pulled my bridal bouqu

e told me, his voice a low, authoritative rumble. "Sienna

fingers still curled around s

me with a vague, distant air, his focu

o asked, his tone calibrated only to the needs of his lens.

h to speak, but

haunting my ow

ound and walked towa

elf, my fingers clumsy and nu

nto my everyday

air and walked toward the heavy glass

rang loudly as I pu

n the cold

te's deep voice

lvio to run out

looked through the ex

of them we

osing intimately against Dante's chest,

t I saw the imperious gesture, the smooth, commanding shape her mouth made.

n noticed

UV and locked the doors, th

rated in the

m the Consigliere's

floor plan for the venue. Shall I proceed with her

e a response, anot

d make the final selection. Her taste in

screen, the harsh ligh

ck a singl

er han

e, knowing the planner was lik

otification from our enc

he high-resolution ph

ed the

of Sienna and Dant

hey looked exactly like

ugh that scraped against

m of this gran

th would secure my plac

yalty would finally be

nd pulled away from the

y minutes later, the first thing I sa

note was pressed agai

to the W

e kitchen bin. It landed softly on a bed of coffee grounds, its brigh

s, and for the first time, the countdown did not fill me wi

crack-and I did not yet know if I