“Yes.” She gripped his back, her fingers pressing against the small indentations of the scars.

He searched her eyes and must have found the truth because he kept going. The tears were relief. It was nothing like that night, and in that moment with the sunlight streaming in and their guests waiting, she knew she could face anything with him.

* * *

Faith stood at the back of the rows of chairs with her veil in place, a bouquet of white roses in her hands. The wedding was all white. White chairs. White flowers. White candles. A white runner on the ground for her to walk on. The only thing besides the tuxedos that weren’t white were the clothing of the guests and her bright red hair.

The reception, by contrast, had been planned under large tents with Japanese lanterns and bright jewel tones. It reminded Faith of the Wizard of Oz where everything went from black and white to color, and it gave her the smallest shred of hope that her life with Leo would be in color.

Uncle Sal had offered to walk her down the aisle. He stood next to her looking more like an aging bodyguard than a father figure.

He leaned close to her ear. “I think you know a lot more about this family than you should.”

She tensed. Uncle Sal was the type of man who would shoot you on any day of the year, be it your birthday, your graduation, or your wedding day. So the occasion might not save her.

He let out a short grunt. “That’s what I thought.”

She kept her voice low. “I don’t care what anybody is involved with. I want to stay out of it.”

Sal nodded, displaying a sinister half-smile. “Keep that attitude. It’s safer for everyone.” After a beat he said, “You really have no family?”

“What little I have, I don’t want here,” she said. Then possibly foolishly she added, “There’s no one else you can threaten.”

Pachelbel’s Canon in D started, and the bridesmaids began to walk down the aisle wearing white sundresses and carrying daisies. They were followed by two of Leo’s nieces, Mariella and Noelle, in fluffy dresses that made them look like colorless cotton candy. They took their time scattering white rose petals on the ground, causing the orchestra to have to loop the music. The ring bearers wore white tuxedos and carried a white satin pillow on which was tied the ring.

Faith glanced back at the house, then at the wedding stretched before her, and Leo standing at the front waiting for her. Even if it wasn’t the full fairy tale, wasn’t it more than what most women got? Did it matter if he returned her love? Was it enough that she loved him and that he wanted her?

It had to be.

Sal offered his arm, and she gripped it like a lifeline as the orchestra changed to the traditional wedding march. Some of the guests she recognized—family she’d met over the holidays—but there were many more people she didn’t know. She wondered how many of them thought it odd that the entirety of the guest list was composed of Leo’s family and friends with nobody there for her.