The Vine (39 page)

My chest rises and falls in a hard and fast rhythm the more turned on I become. I think of how forbidden it is for me to see him and the more thoughts I have like that, the more my heart races. Suddenly, I am left bereft and panting as my beautiful man’s lips and hands leave me and I hear the door snap shut. I stand there semi-decent, swallowing hard and waiting for my heart to slow to a natural rhythm, when Katy and Stefano barge back through the door all suited and booted, and armed with hair and beauty products.

I turn to them both and smile falsely at them, still trying to compose myself. Stef carries on as if nothing is amiss, but I see Katy stop and study my rosy red face.

“Are you okay?” Katy asks wearily.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I all but stutter.

She laughs at me and says, “You just look like you’ve got a bit of F.F.F. going on there with the flushed cheeks.”

I look at her in complete confusion, wondering what on earth she’s going on about now when she clarifies, “You know, Freshly Fucked Face.” Katy totally cracks up at her attempt at comedy and I just roll my eyes at her, and fortunately, Stef saves me from having to say anything.

“Come on, Katy, stop larking about, will you? Let’s get some makeup on this beautiful girl’s face.”

Katy, still chuckling, seats me comfortably and starts applying my makeup. I keep still, only moving when instructed to, but this whole high-maintenance thing doesn’t come easily for me.

When she has finished, I look in the mirror Katy is holding in front of me. I look at my flawless skin and soft, smoky eyes and I have to admit, she has done a great job. I look fantastic. As soon as Katy is out of his way and off applying her own makeup, Stefano moves in to start on my hair. I don’t have much hair to style with my short, pixie look, but what Stef does with it is a work of art anyway; the man is a genius.

As a finishing touch, he adds my tiara and it sparkles, along with unfortunately my glistening eyes. I wave the tears away; it’s going to be hard to keep my no-crying pact with myself. Stef does Katy’s hair next and she looks like a goddess; all her blonde curly hair is pinned up on top of her head with the odd curly tendril hanging down. She may be wearing a suit to give me away in, but there is certainly nothing masculine about her; she looks stunning.

“You’re not meant to outshine the bride, you know,” I say to Katy in a mock-anxious tone.

“Not possible, not even if I wanted to,” Katy says sweetly to me.

Just as I am saying ‘aww’ to her compliment, Stef screeches out, “Dress!” They both look at me, and now my excitement hits an all-new level. It’s time for the dress…my dress…my wedding dress. I’m practically shaking in anticipation. It is much easier work getting the dress on with the three of us helping, and as I
stand and look in the mirror, I refuse to even thinking about the last time I had this dress on.

“Thank you, Stef,” I say and I see him raise his eyebrows up in question, “for going against everything I said and getting me the wedding dress of my dreams.”

I see tears in his eyes as he says, “I loved Ella from the moment I met her, but I love Lizzy even more, and you deserve the best of everything, baby girl; you really do.”

As I wave more tears away, I look to Katy who is mirroring me, waving at her eyes to stop her tears from falling, all because we don’t want to ruin our makeup.

“Okay, peeps, it’s time to go. Your carriage awaits, madam,” Stefano says, holding the crook of his arm out to me. I nod, take his arm and we leave the room.

“You mean our car awaits,” I correct him smiling. I didn’t want a photographer in our room while we got ready, but we booked one to be in the lobby of the hotel so I could be photographed getting into the car, and then they’ll be at Juliet’s house when I arrive.

In the lobby, everybody’s heads turn to look and admire me. Katy stops to talk to the photographer while Stefano and I head out to the drive. I stop dead in my tracks and my mouth drops open as I distantly hear Stefano say, “I did tell you that your carriage awaits,” and there, parked in the drive, is the most gorgeous horse-drawn carriage I have ever seen. There are two beautiful, white horses, and the most magnificent gold and glass carriage standing before me and it takes my breath away.

There’s a footman to help us in, and as I enter the carriage, on the cream velvet seat is a note in Luke’s scrawl which simply says,
You deserve the fairy-tale. X

As our carriage makes its way through the streets of Verona, I really do feel like a princess, and I am most definitely on the way to meet my prince charming and I can’t wait.

When we arrive at Juliet’s house and I step carefully out of the carriage, the nerves kick in. I’m not nervous of marrying Luke,
as I want nothing more, but I feel shy about seeing him like this and having all eyes on me. Shy Lizzy is back with a vengeance, and as butterflies take over my belly, my hands with my gorgeous French-tips start to shake.

I am chewing on my lip while I make a conscious effort to breathe; in through my nose and out through my mouth is my mantra as my chest heaves in and out noticeably with the long, deep breaths I am taking. Sabrina adjusts my dress, Stefano faffs with my hair and Katy does small last-minute touches to my makeup; mainly a reapplication of lip-gloss to the lip I’ve been chewing on. I remain still, trying not to pass out.

Then I hear the harp change to my entrance music—the traditional bridal march—and holding Katy’s arm, I hear her say, “I’m so happy for you, Lizzy. Are you ready?” I nod, and we make our way forward and through the doorway. I am aware of the presence of people, our guests, but I can’t pick out faces or names because all I can see now is the back of Luke’s head, and that’s where I am focused. I see Smyth and Cole whisper something to him, and at that moment, he turns around. As my eyes meet his, I am instantly calmed; all that’s left is excitement that I am about to marry the man of my dreams, who I would follow to the ends of the earth, and who I will love for eternity. Although I now want to run to him, I manage to keep a slow, steady rhythm on the short walk toward the captor of my heart.

My eyes continue to stay locked with his, and I smile as he grins at me, noticing he is off the chart sexy today. His grin, accompanied by my memories of his secret visit to my room earlier, and the fact that he’s looking mighty hot in that suit—
Mmm, I could just eat him up.
In this instant I know I will truly remember this moment for the rest of my life.

We are now face-to-face and Katy has to physically remove my hand from her arm and place it into Luke’s hand, but as soon as my hand is in his, it’s like I’ve come home and my nerves diminish into thin air.

So captured in the moment are we that the minister has to clear his throat gently to retrieve our attention. At this subtle gesture, Luke and I turn to face him while he does his introduction to our ceremony. I am trying to take every moment in, but the ceremony is a blur, so I memorise the most memorable parts, like the reading of our vows, the exchanging of our rings and being pronounced man and wife.

When we say our vows, I look right into Luke’s eyes and hold his hand as I sincerely say from my heart to his, “Lucas, you certainly didn’t have to fight your way into my heart; in fact, I truly believe a tiny bit of my heart was always missing because of the way you slotted so perfectly into it. We have been through so much tragedy, but instead of splitting us in two, it is like it’s been glue for us, and it has made us stronger. I have learnt so much too; you have taught me to love again, to trust and to be strong. You are my prince charming, the captor of my heart and undoubtedly the love of my life, for now and eternity. My heart was not made for anyone else but you.”

When I finish, Luke squeezes my hand, kisses my cheek and then locks his gaze back to mine before his face turns solemn and he begins.
“
Lizzy, I call you my Angel because that is exactly what you are. Before I met you, I now realise I was miserable. Then one day, this Angel from heaven came crashing into my life, and in an instant, I realised I could live without anything in my life, but what I couldn’t live without for one second is you. You are the reason my heart kept beating when it should have given up. You are the reason I kept breathing when I should have taken my last breath. You are the reason I’m alive, and that is how I feel, baby, every second I’m with you—
alive
—and it’s the most incredible feeling in the world. You are beautiful inside and out, and I am proud to say you are mine, and I’ll be even prouder when I can call you Mrs. Elizabeth Castle. Being yours is a privilege and an honour; I can’t believe you chose me, but I’m eternally grateful you did. I love you, Angel.”

Luke wipes a tear off of my cheek.
So much for my no-crying pact
, anyway, happy tears are okay, and in all my life I’ve never been happier. We both look back to the minister, then Luke delicately places my ring on my finger, and I push his on firmly with very little grace.

Finally, we are pronounced man and wife, and Luke is given the all-clear to kiss his new bride, and he certainly does just that as I hear him say, “Come here, Mrs. Castle.” He pulls me into an embrace and presses his lips to mine. We forget time, we forget our guests, we forget everything, and for that moment, there’s just us…Luke and Lizzy…Mr. and Mrs. Castle…man and wife.

When we finally pull apart, we clutch each other’s hands and turn to our guests, where we are met with a room half-full of smiles and half-full of gaping mouths. We laugh as we walk through our guests to a rapturous round of applause.

Our guests are escorted outside and down below the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet; Katy and Smyth stay with us to sign the register before they too are escorted downstairs. Luke and I wait for our cue, which is Cole introducing us as man and wife.

Suddenly, we hear him loud and clear. “Everybody, please put your hands together and welcome Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Castle!”

We smile at each other excitedly as we hear clapping and cheering from down below. Our hands meet and our fingers entwine around each other’s like a vine, then we both step out onto the iconic balcony. The cheering and clapping hits a crescendo as Luke and I wave. I giggle shyly like a schoolgirl, while Luke wears the biggest, proudest smile on his face. The photographer is in his element snapping away, and I lean up to whisper into Luke’s ear, “Best. Day. Ever.” If it is possible, Luke’s smile widens even more; I know how much it pleases him when I’m happy.

He leans into me, whispering, “You deserve a happily ever after, Angel.”

“Yes,” I agree, “
we
do.” And then the breath leaves my body as Luke kisses me, and the only noise I am able to make is a contented sigh.

When we arrive at our wedding reception at The Vine Palazzo, we are both handed a glass of champagne and join our guests in the stunning gardens. I look around at the incredible architecture of this great building and it is breath-taking, much like my new husband. I smile to myself. I know it should sound alien saying the word husband, but it doesn’t; it just sounds right, how it should be—perfect.

I have been kissed and congratulated by almost everyone when I see Luke and Katy talking to someone, but I can’t quite make out their identity. Just as I move my head to the side, Luke steps out of the way and I see a familiar face, nearly unrecognisable all suited and booted, but the messy blond hair and cute, lopsided grin he gives me totally gives him away. My mouth is still open in shock as my champagne glass slides from my hand to the grass, and I run as fast as I can in my huge dress and throw my arms around him.

“Jett!” I say in his ear, and he holds me to him for as long as I need. When I eventually pull back and look at him, I scream at him excitedly, “How are you here?” but before he can answer, in my excitement I continue, “I mean, I’m glad you are; I’m
so
glad you are, but you told me it just wouldn’t be possible with your tour and everything.”

“I made time, Lizzy. In truth, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, and your wedding ceremony was amazing—even brought a tear to my eye.”

“Wait a minute; you were there?”

“Yeah, I slipped in at the back and left before you saw me. My band mates are here too, as they fancied a break. We had to keep it on the down low or you could have ended up with a whole bunch of groupies crashing your wedding.” He sniggers, but I know it’s the truth.

I take his arm and walk off with him, running through all that’s been happening and finding out what’s going on in his life. I also catch up with Luca, who even though is still bruised and battered, still manages to look nothing short of perfection in his suit.

After the million and one photographs we have taken, the hours fly by, and before I know it, we’re about to sit down to the most gorgeous meal. Luke and I are ravenous and eat everything put in front of us, until eventually it’s speech time. Katy does a lovely speech where she talks about us growing up, her hopes and dreams that my future will be nothing short of blissful and how she knows that Luke is the man who will fulfil her wishes for me and how we are both and so perfectly suited. There are giggles when she admits she hadn’t always felt that way about him though. She also pays homage beautifully to my mum and dad, saying what wonderful people there were and how they are so sadly missed, especially on a day like today.

Katy then sings my praises when she says my parents had brought me up perfectly, and they would have been so proud of the wonderful woman I have turned into and the wonderful choice of husband I have made. I dab a tear from my eye, and Luke squeezes my hand he’s holding on his lap.

Luke does a quick speech thanking everyone for coming and playing their part in such a momentous day. He then takes my hand and looks deep into my eyes when he speaks of what this day means to him, mentioning the words significant, amazing and meaningful. He also speaks about what marrying me means to him, how joyous I make him feel, how blissfully happy he is now that he can call me his wife and how he’s looking forward to every second of our future together, which causes even more eye-dabbing from me. He sits down and cuddles me to him to soothe me.