Not that there was any way he could look that would make her not hate him right now.
“You look beautiful,” he said, moving to the stairs and ignoring the shock on her family’s faces as he reached out his hand.
She slowly came down and took it, ignoring their gasps.
“But where’s Dante?”
“Ella and I got back together last night,” Cliff said.
“But…” Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“But things were going so well with Dante,” Grace said, looking between Cliff and Ella. She bit her lip. “Did something happen?”
“Yes, something happened. Ella hired that stupid date, and then she found out she had a real man that loved her and decided to stop playing charades.”
“You mean Dante was hired?” Grace asked. “I thought we—”
“Oh my gosh, can we deal with this later?” Melanie cut in, annoyed. “It’s my day!”
Ella ground her teeth together. “Fine. We’re going anyway.” She went out with Cliff, knowing he would at least expect her to accompany him to the wedding site.
“We’ll follow after,” Grace said. “Melanie still has to get dressed. Can’t let the groom see the bride!”
Ron was still staring at them in open-mouthed shock. “Ella, are you sure about this?”
Her heart thudded in the direction of her toes. “Yes.”
“Then fine,” Ron said. “I’ll drive with the two of you.”
Secretly, her heart leapt with relief. As long as they weren’t alone, maybe she could put him off. The three of them got in Cliff’s car, and the drive to the venue was uneventful.
When they got there, Cliff waited for her dad to get out of the car to go talk to relatives and then pulled her aside. “Don’t even think about leaving me,” he said. “I know you’re probably planning to get sneaky, but I’m not going to give you even a second.”
“I could put up a fight right now,” she said. “Scream bloody murder. Would your ‘friends’ really want to create a fight right here in the middle of a gathering?”
“Not a big gathering,” he said. He had a point, there were only close friends and family there. Melanie had wanted something bigger and flashier, but as Ben was still trying to get his career off the ground, she’d had to settle for small.
“Either way, would you really hurt people just for me?”
“Not if you don’t make me,” he said. “All you have to do is behave and be calm. Soon you’ll be mine, and there won’t be anything to fight about. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
He grabbed her by the hand before she could protest and fairly dragged her to their seats in the front row. Before them was a wooden stage made for the ceremony. It was draped with white material to make it look like a podium, and behind it was a huge, wooden arch covered artfully with roses and other flowers.
It would have been a beautiful scene if Cliff wasn’t next to her.
How had life taken such a one-eighty in just a few days?
And would things have gone even worse if Dante hadn’t come home with her, or would she be better off not knowing she had a love out there that she couldn’t be with?
She zoned out until the music started and her sister came out in a veil and a beautiful dress, looking radiantly happy to have all eyes on her. Despite her own predicament, Ella tried to be happy for her sister.
But it wasn’t fair. Her sister got to choose and she didn’t. She’d thought she’d escaped the horror of her childhood, but it had come back to haunt her.
She’d been right to stay away from her hometown.
Tears bit the corners of her eyes as the minister stepped forward between the bride and groom to start vows.
It should be a beautiful moment, yet…
She gasped as she felt herself jerked forward out of her chair. She hadn’t even felt Cliff take her hand, and now she was being dragged toward the podium, even as she tried to fight him, pulling back.
“No,” she hissed. “Don’t do this.”
“Ella!” Grace said as Ron stood to stop them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Melanie spat, throwing her veil back to show her beautiful face was bright red with fury. “You’re ruining my moment.”
“Let me go!” she said, tugging back on Cliff.
“You release my daughter,” Ron said, trying to come between her and Cliff.
Cliff swung and caught her dad on the jaw, to the shock of everyone present. Ron stumbled back, and Cliff looked at the crowd as he gestured to his friends to come forward. She counted at least ten, dressed in suits, as they came up to the front of the podium to stand by them.