Throttled(31)

She walked arm and arm with her father, slowly moving down the aisle, facing forward. I rubbed my hands together, the last bit of nerves leaving my body, replaced by excitement and a calm that I hadn’t expected. When she stopped in front of the first step, our eyes connected. Through the thin veil, I could see the smile on her face as the priest approached her and her father.

The priest stepped down and said, “Who gives this bride away today?”

“I do,” her father said, releasing her hand and lifting her veil. He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before stepping back.

Suzy ascended the stairs, stopping in front of me with teary eyes.

“I love you,” I whispered, trying not to become misty eyed myself.

With a smile on her face, she tilted her head and said, “I love you too.”

Sophia reached around and grabbed the flowers from her. Suzy held her hands out to me and I grasped them with both of mine and squeezed. With one last smile, we turned toward the priest and waited.

We stole glances at each other as he spoke; his words were lost on us. With our hands in each other’s, we faced forward and tried to pay attention, but it was impossible. I leaned over; close enough for only her to hear. “You look beautiful, sugar.”

She blushed, squeezing my hand. The priest cleared his throat; clearly, we missed something, as we were so lost in each other.

“The rings,” the priest repeated.

I turned to Michael, my best man and brother, and held out my hand. He placed the two platinum bands in my palm and I closed my fingers around them. I had hers engraved with – You’re mine, sugar. A simple statement and she was from the moment she walked into my life. I handed him the rings and we watched him bless the metal, saying a prayer over them before returning his attention to us.

“Suzette, repeat after me,” he stated, turning toward her.

“I, Suzette McCarthy, take you, Joseph Gallo…” She repeated his words, never breaking eye contact with me. She slid the ring on my finger, a smile on her face, as we both felt the power in the moment. Her voice never wavered as she finished with “Until death do us part.” She wiped a tear from her eye as she finished. I had to fight every urge I had to wrap my arms around her and kiss her.

“Joseph, repeat after me,” the priest said, holding her ring in his hand.

I repeated the words, without missing a single one, letting the powerfulness behind the statement seep into my veins. We were connected, a single soul in front of the eyes of God, joined in holy matrimony. We never broke eye contact, keeping each other grounded in the moment.

As I slipped the ring on her finger, I held her hand in mine, running my fingertips against her dampened flesh. We stood there for a few more minutes after I finished my part of the vows and stared at each other. He could’ve said the church was on fire and we wouldn’t have known. I always looked at Suzy, usually watched her sleep, but to stand here and just look into each other’s eyes was some heady shit. I loved this woman, more than I loved anyone or anything in my life, including myself.

“I give you Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gallo,” he said as we both turned to him. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Without needing another word, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to my body. Stopping briefly above her lips, I searched her eyes and could see only joy. I crushed my lips to hers as the crowd began to whistle and holler in the background. They’re voices faded away as I kissed her, my wife and bride.

When we backed away from each other, we both had watery eyes. As we turned toward the people, now on their feet, I grabbed her around the waist and held her to my side. Our friends and family clapped and cheered as we made our way down the aisle and out of the church doors to the small bridal suite.

As soon as I closed the door, I pulled her into a kiss. Not the small kiss I gave her in front of the family, but one that left us both breathless and needing more.

“We did it, sugar. You’re mine forever,” I said, as I swiped my fingers against her cheek.

“No, baby, you’re mine.” She smirked, a devilish expression on her face as she leaned in and captured my lips.





Chapter 11 ~ The Reception



After we greeted the guests at the door, my feet were on fire. The shoes I picked were beautiful and made me feel almost the same height as City, but the damn things were like torture devices. I loved how the satin ribbon of the high heels intertwined and laced up my feet, stopping around my ankle with a bow. It was too bad the dress was so long that no one could see them. I grabbed City’s arm, leaning over to rub my ankles.

“You want to go change your shoes?” City asked, watching me with a concerned look.