Chapter 2 - The Ring on My FingerBefore I could digest his words, the song drew to a quiet, elegant close.
The applause that followed was hesitant, polite, and laced with an underlying tension that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Giovanni didn't release my hand. He tucked my arm securely through his, guiding me toward the raised VIP dais where the bride, my sister Sophia, stood beside her new husband, Julian.
Sophia’s face was pale. She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, completely forgetting her wedding bouquet.
"Jessica..." Sophia whispered as we approached, her voice trembling. "What... how do you know Mr. Fierro?"
Before I could construct a plausible lie, Giovanni stepped forward, dipping his head respectfully toward my sister.
"Congratulations on your nuptials, Mrs. Vance," Giovanni spoke smoothly, his voice carrying clearly across the surrounding tables. "Forgive us for making a quiet arrival. Jessica insisted we refrain from overshadowing your special evening."
"Quiet arrival?" my Aunt Evelyn—Vanessa's mother—interjected, pushing her way through the crowd wearing an oversaturated mauve gown. "Jessica, what is the meaning of this absurdity?! You arrived alone! You told the caterer you couldn't afford the secondary valet fee!"
Tyler stepped up beside Aunt Evelyn, his face flushed with a mixture of bitter humiliation and frantic jealousy.
"She's lying," Tyler spat, pointing an angry finger at me. "She's playing some pathetic game to get back at me! Giovanni Fierro doesn't even live in Illinois! He runs the entire shipping logistics network out of New York and Miami!"
Giovanni didn't flinch. He didn't raise his voice.
He slowly turned his amber eyes onto Tyler. The absolute, freezing temperature in his gaze made Tyler’s hand freeze mid-air, his finger dropping as if he had touched hot iron.
"You speak loudly for a man who abandoned his pregnant wife five years ago, Mr. Reed," Giovanni said. The words weren't raised, but they dropped into the quiet group like a heavy anvil.
Vanessa gasped, clutching her current pregnant belly, her face turning crimson.
Giovanni reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a sleek, velvet-lined jeweler's box, and opened it with a soft CLICK.
Inside rested a magnificent, five-carat flawless cushion-cut diamond ring set in platinum, surrounded by micro-pave emeralds that caught the chandelier light like liquid fire.
The entire group let out a collective, breathless gasp.
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Without breaking eye contact with Tyler, Giovanni took my right hand, slipped the heavy, ice-cold platinum band over my ring finger, and brought my knuckles up to his lips, pressing a slow, lingering kiss against my skin.
"We were married in a private civil ceremony in Manhattan three weeks ago," Giovanni announced cleanly, his dark voice carrying clean across the silent circle. "And if anyone in this room ever addresses my wife with disrespect again... I will personally ensure their financial holdings cease to exist by Monday morning."
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