When the priest comes back with another, shorter and more portly man in tow, he comes to stand in front of us, clearing his throat. He’s wearing his robes and stole now and gestures for us to come to the altar.
“Father Morales will witness the marriage,” he says firmly. “The paperwork can be completed at the town hall in the morning.”
“Perfect.” Niall gives the priest a tense smile. “Thank you for obliging us, Father.”
“And what is your name, son?”
“Niall Joseph Flanagan.” Niall squares his shoulders, standing parallel to the altar as I stand in front of him, suddenly feeling very small and shy in my white dress. This is nothing like the wedding I imagined—but I’d neverwantedthe wedding I imagined.
We’d started with a spontaneous, forbidden night together, and we’re marrying in the same way. As Niall takes my hands, his rough, hot palms encircling them, I feel a shiver go through me. It’s hard to feel like this is wrong, even after everything, hard not to feel like it’s all been leading us here. Even admitting my part in this, the wrong I’ve done, tonight feels like we were meant to be standing here. As I look up at Niall, my mouth forming the wordsIsabella Lupé Santiagoas Father Hernandez asks my name; I don’t want to be anywhere else.
I wish more than anything that he felt the same.
The priest stiffens, and I feel a jolt of fear. “Santiago?” he asks suspiciously, and I have to fight not to react.Of course, he would know who my father was.
Niall lets go of one of my hands for a moment, reaching into his pocket and handing the priest two more folded bills. “Carry on, Father,” he says tersely, and the priest frowns. For a moment, I think he’s going to take the bribe and tell us to get out anyway, but then his shoulders relax.
“Nothing to do with Ricardo Santiago, I gather?” Father Hernandez eyes me, and I grab it for the opening that I know it is.
“No relation,” I assure him quickly, and he nods.
“Well then, I don’t see any problem.” The priest glances between the two of us. “Niall and Isabella, have you come here to enter into marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?”
“We have,” Niall and I say in unison, and I feel my heart flutter in my chest at the sound of his voice, strong and sure. Without coercion, perhaps, butwholeheartedly?I can’t think what could be further from the truth.
“Are you prepared, as you follow the path of marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?”
“We are.” My voice falters this time as we speak, my pulse speeding up.
“Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his church?”
This time, Niall’s gaze catches mine as we speak in the affirmative. Something in his piercing blue eyes makes me feel breathless, as if maybe this all means something after all. As if maybe it’s not all just a show to keep Diego’s hands off of me.
“Since it is your intention to enter into the covenant of holy matrimony, join your right hands, and repeat after me as you declare your consent before God and his Church.” The priest looks pointedly down where Niall is holding both of my hands already. Niall clears his throat, letting go of my left as he begins to repeat after Father Hernandez.
“I, Niall Joseph Flanagan, take you, Isabella Lupé Santiago, to be my wedded wife.” His blue gaze holds mine, unwavering, and I feel faintly dizzy as I cling to his hand. The church suddenly feels too warm, all of it too much, and my pulse is racing as Niall speaks the vows aloud, clearly and without hesitation. “I promise to be true to you in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
I feel my heart cracking open anew as I start to repeat my own vows, forcing back the tears threatening to well up in my eyes. I wish, more than anything at that moment, that this was real. That Niall meant all of it and that we were really happy. That I’d never lied, and he could love me…all the days of his life.
“I—” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat softly. “I, Isabella Lupé Santiago, take you, Niall Joseph Flanagan—”I’m only just learning his middle name. He heard mine at the gala, but I didn’t know his.I can feel my stomach churning, something almost like hysterics threatening to bubble up, but I force it down with every last bit of strength of will that I have.I can be strong. I can get through this—I’ve already been through so much worse. What’s a little heartbreak compared to what I’ve put Niall through?
“—to be my wedded husband,” I continue, my voice still shaky. “I promise to be true to you in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
“Do you have rings?”
Niall nods, reaching into his pocket and fishing out the velvet boxes. Father Morales takes them both, handing Niall the thin band for me and handing me the thicker one.
Father Hernandez clears his throat. “Repeat after me.”
Niall holds out the band, my left hand carefully held in his right. “Isabella Lupé Santiago, accept this ring as a token of my love and fidelity, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The ring feels cool sliding onto my finger, brushing over the cuts left by Diego, and it almost feels as if Niall squeezes my hand lightly before he lets it go, although I can’t be sure.
I reach for Niall’s left hand, feeling the roughness of his fingers, trying not to remember how they’d felt sliding over my skin, inside of me—
“Isabella?” Niall asks softly, and I feel myself blush.
“Niall Joseph Flanagan, accept this ring as a token of my love and fidelity,” I say quickly, sliding the ring onto his finger. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”