Diana POV
The cathedral doors open and Diana steps into a room full of people she doesn't know.
Cameras flash outside. Security teams stand at every corner like statues protecting a shrine. Two hundred people from two crime families sit on opposite sides of the aisle, separated by distance and centuries of blood feuds. They're here to witness a binding. To watch peace become permanent. To see if a marriage between enemies can hold.
Diana walks alone down the aisle.
Her father is dead. Car accident when she was nineteen. He left her nothing except the understanding that loving someone destroys you. So she doesn't wear white for tradition. She wears white because it makes her invisible. Clean. Untouched.
The symbolism of walking without anyone to give her away isn't lost on her.
She walks toward Alessio Moretti like she's walking toward a contract she's already signed. Her heels click on marble. The sound echoes. Every step is measured. Professional. She is Diana Chen the negotiator today, not Diana the woman who hasn't slept in two days wondering if someone in the Russo family is planning her destruction.
Alessio waits at the altar.
When she reaches him, he takes her hand. The contact is immediate and overwhelming. His palm is warm. His grip is steady. And her body reacts in a way that makes her want to pull away.
But she doesn't.
She keeps her face composed while her nervous system screams. She's supposed to feel nothing. That's the deal she made with herself. She's supposed to maintain distance. Professional distance. Emotional distance. The kind of distance that kept her alive for thirty-three years.
"You came," Alessio says quietly. For only her to hear.
"There are cameras," Diana replies flatly. "Witnesses. I couldn't refuse without destroying the peace."
"You could have," Alessio says. His eyes search hers like he's looking for something specific. "You didn't. That means something."
Diana doesn't respond. The priest steps forward and begins the ceremony. She barely hears him. She's too focused on the fact that Alessio looks different today. His jaw is tight. His eyes keep scanning the room like he's looking for a threat. He's dressed impeccably, but there's something underneath the perfection. Something like fear.
The priest asks if there's anyone who objects to this marriage.
The cathedral holds its breath.
No one speaks. The moment passes.
Diana begins her vows. She's memorized them. She speaks them the way she speaks in courtrooms. Steady. Clear. Professional. She makes promises she plans to keep for exactly four months. She binds herself to a man she's supposed to despise.
When it's Alessio's turn, his voice changes.
He speaks his vows like they mean something. Like they're not words written by lawyers and family consultants. His voice carries weight. Intention. Something that sounds like hunger underneath the formality.
"I promise to protect you," he says, and Diana hears the emphasis. Not as tradition. As warning. "I promise to keep you safe. I promise to be honest with you when it matters most."
Diana's jaw tightens. Honest. As if he's been dishonest up until now. As if he's about to tell her something crucial.
"I promise to love you even when you hate me," he continues. "Even when you realize what I've done. Even when you understand how far I've gone to have you here."
There's a ripple through the room. Both families sense the shift in his words. This doesn't sound like a political arrangement anymore. This sounds personal.
The priest asks Alessio if he takes Diana as his wife.
"I do," Alessio says. "With everything I am."
When the priest asks Diana the same question, she hesitates for exactly one second. It's long enough for the cameras to catch. It's long enough for Alessio to notice.
"I do," she says finally.
The priest pronounces them married.
Alessio pulls her close. Diana expects a quick kiss. Something public but restrained. Something that acknowledges the transaction without admitting the desire.
Instead, he kisses her like she's the answer to a question he's been asking for four years.
His mouth is soft. Demanding. He tastes like expensive cologne and something darker. Intention. Want. His hand moves to her back and pulls her closer, and Diana's entire body responds in ways her mind is screaming at her to control.
Two hundred people watch them kiss.
Cameras capture every second.
And for just one moment, Diana forgets about the threat. She forgets about the mystery person threatening to destroy her. She forgets about the game she's caught in. She forgets everything except the fact that a man who's been obsessed with her is kissing her like she's the only person in the room.
It feels like danger.
It feels like inevitability.
It feels like the beginning of everything she's spent her entire life running from.
The kiss breaks. Alessio pulls back but keeps his hand on her waist. His eyes are dark. Serious. He's looking at her like he's trying to memorize the moment before everything changes.
Which is when Diana notices the security detail shift.
They move subtly, but she's trained to notice small changes. Their formation tightens. Their eyes sharpen. They're responding to something. A threat. An anomaly. Diana's entire body goes on alert.
"Smile," Alessio whispers against her ear. "Someone just tried to breach the perimeter."
Diana's smile becomes automatic. Beautiful. Completely false. But her mind is already calculating. Who. What. When. The threat is real. The threat is immediate.
They walk back down the aisle as newlyweds.
Diana feels like a target.
The cathedral doors open into bright daylight and camera flashes. She keeps smiling while her brain processes that Alessio knew about the threat before the wedding. Alessio prepared for violence. Alessio anticipated that someone would try something today.
Which means he's known more than he's told her.
The car waiting outside is armored. Diana recognizes the security detail immediately. Professional. Military. Trained. More than what's typical for a mafia wedding.
"Get in," Alessio says.
Diana gets in.
The car pulls away from the cathedral and moves through streets that suddenly feel dangerous. Alessio sits next to her without touching her. His jaw is clenched. His hands are fists.
"Someone tried to get through security," Diana says. Not a question.
"Yes."
"Did you know before the wedding?"
Alessio turns to look at her. "Yes."
Diana feels something break inside her chest. "Why did you let me walk down that aisle if you knew there was a threat?"
"Because walking down that aisle was the safest place for you," Alessio says. "Two hundred people. Security everywhere. If someone wanted to move against you, the ceremony was the hardest moment to do it."
"So you used me as bait."
"I protected you," Alessio corrects. His voice is sharp. "And it worked. Security identified the threat before anything happened. But Diana, you need to understand something. Someone wants you dead. Someone wants the peace to fail. Someone in the Russo family is willing to kill you to restart the war."
Diana's mind moves through the implications. "Victor."
"Possibly. Or someone working for Victor. But yes, someone who profits from the war continuing. Someone who sees your marriage to me as a threat to their plans."
The car turns onto a bridge. The city falls away below. Diana watches the water and thinks about drowning. About how easy it would be to disappear. About how she walked down an aisle toward a man she doesn't trust while someone was hunting her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asks.
"Because if I told you before the wedding, you would have refused. The wedding wouldn't have happened. The peace wouldn't hold. And I would lose you before I ever really had you."
Diana turns to face him. "You prioritized having me over keeping me safe."
"No," Alessio says. "I prioritized keeping you safe in the only way that would work. If you'd refused the wedding, you would have been a loose end. Someone to eliminate. Someone who knows too much. Marrying you puts you under the protection of the Moretti family. It makes you too valuable to kill. It makes you untouchable."
"You married me to protect me from a threat you knew about and didn't disclose."
"Yes."
"That's not protection," Diana says coldly. "That's manipulation."
"It's both," Alessio agrees. He reaches for her hand. She pulls away. "Diana, I know you're angry. I know you feel trapped. But right now, being married to me is the only thing keeping you alive."
Diana looks out the window at the city passing beneath the bridge. She just married a man who orchestrated their meeting, who's been obsessed with her for years, who let her walk into a cathedral knowing someone wanted her dead.
She's not just trapped.
She's married to her trap.
And somewhere in the Russo family, someone is already calculating their next move.