Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 839 : Mr. and Mrs. Valentino

*Elio*

Long fingers wrapped around the silver silk paisley tie hung around my neck, expertly folding it into a sturdy knot as the image of the man in the mirror followed my movements perfectly. I took a deep breath, tucking in the end of the tie into my dark coat before folding the matching square handkerchief into the pocket on the right side of my chest.

The layers of my suit were simple, but indulgent, a matching theme of black and silver dotted even down to the buttons of the vest, made of a pure silver quality. Every inch of me was dripping in luxury.

I smirked at the man in the mirror, more confident than I had ever felt before in my life. I’d been waiting for this for so long and in a few hours, I would finally be able to call Cat my wife.

“Finally ready to get hitched, man?” Leo grinned, clasping his hand over my shoulder, and I brushed him off with an annoyed look, smoothing out any wrinkles that might’ve developed. “Jeez, you are nervous.”

“Everything needs to be perfect,” I said in response, glancing over at my family, who had accompanied me. Franky was out doing the last few rounds of security detail, which left me, Leo, and Al.

Alessandro smirked, leaning against the wall as he waited patiently. As one of my few groomsmen, he was a silent support I needed to keep a level head. So many times, he or Franky talked me out of running over to see Cat and eloping out of the wedding.

But she deserved this.

“Is everything going smoothly?” I asked Al.

“No sign of any interruptions. We have the whole street locked down just in case,” Al reported calmly like it wasn’t a big deal.

I nodded, satisfied. If Junior decided to crash my wedding, I’d put a bullet straight through his forehead, no matter how many people were watching.

This was our wedding day. No one was going to ruin it.

“And the rings?” I turned to Leo, questioningly.

“Please, who do you think I am?” Leo scoffed, immediately pulling out a black velvet box. He flipped it open, showing us the matching wedding bands.

I breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling secure. “Then it’s time to go,” I said determinedly.

Leo and Al turned to leave first. I was taking one last glance in the mirror, making sure every piece of hair was in its proper place when I heard the soft call from behind me.

“Elio....”

I stiffened, but my heart had already softened. I couldn’t ignore him, not on my wedding day.

“Dad,” I said calmly, facing him straightforwardly.

My father, Giovani, stepped toward me, a sad and reproachful smile on his face as he looked me over with a nod of approval. “I just wanted to say....”

He hesitated but finally took the last few steps forward to close the distance between us.

“Congratulations, son. Even if we’ve had our differences, I still want you to know–” He reached out a hand, patting my shoulder, eyes shiny with emotion. “You’ve become a fine man, Elio. And you’ve chosen a wonderful woman to be by your side. I couldn’t be prouder to have you as my son.”

As a child, my father’s approval had meant everything to me. I’d always been chasing after his footsteps, striving to be even half the man he was but standing here, on the cusp of my wedding, and hearing those words....

It meant everything to me.

“Thanks, Dad.” I clasped his hand, struggling to keep my composure.

He grinned, looking more like the youthful, strong father from my memories than he had in the past few years. “Come on then, let’s not keep your beautiful bride waiting.” Dad patted my shoulder, gesturing for me to follow along.

I did so, grinning widely.

The courtyard was decorated to the nines–fairy lights decorating the evening sky, just enough sun to keep it bright but also keep the mystery of the sun about to set. Trellises and arches full of colorful flowers were set up all around, and chairs full of our guests pointed straight to the white liner we’d chosen as the aisle.

At the end of the aisle, where Leo and my groomsmen stood with the officiant, was a large gazebo full of vines and other flowers that made it look like we were standing underneath a garden itself. Everything was perfect.

The lanterns came on as the sky darkened above, giving an almost ethereal glow to the aisle and the music began to play.

Natalia came out first with Tallon’s smile widening as she walked down the aisle. She was beautiful, smiling brightly as she waved to their children in the crowd. Then came Mia, and finally, Anna.

Then out came my mother, Olivia, carrying my little girl. Emilia caught a glimpse of me immediately and excitedly waved her arms up and down, which included dumping the basket of flowers on the floor right away. Mom scooped up a few of them and kept walking.

Emilia claimed every heart all at once and I beamed brightly, standing a little prouder as the guests were awed at how adorable she was.

Mom took her seat next to Dad, holding Emilia in her flower girl dress in her lap. My daughter didn’t seem to enjoy it much as she wiggled around her arms, clearly trying to be put down. I chuckled to myself but stayed put, no matter how much I wanted to run and carry her myself.

The familiar song played its notes as the courtyard darkened above, a soft glow cast across the entire ceremony in a brilliant specter of lights. A swirl of violet and orange and pink mixing into the blue of the night sky stretched across the sky like that of a vivid painting coming to life above us.

It was the second most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

And the first finally entered.

Holding an angelic beauty that could put even a goddess to shame, my bride stood parallel from me down the aisle, holding her mother’s arm and holding a sunset itself in her arms as a bouquet. Under the glow of the radiant sky above, she was like heaven itself.

The chorus to every love song and the center of every poem, there was nothing in this world that could even match her in my eyes.

But underneath all of that beauty and allure, it was still Cat.

Cat, the woman I loved.

I wasn’t ashamed of the tears that slipped from my eyes nor of the intense emotions that seemed like they might burst out of my chest. It was my very honor to even behold her for a single moment like this.

My sweet, lovely, beautiful Cat.

She glowed with a brilliant shade of rose as Matilde gently handed her daughter’s hand to me an age-old practice that meant even more to me as I could see the tears in her mother’s eyes. The love of a mother was unmatched, and I knew both the sentiments of her parents were contained in this single gesture.

Take care of her. Love her. Cherish her, her eyes seem to say.

I would never break that promise.

Cat’s hand was warm in mine, our fingers intertwining on instinct as we shared an emotional bright smile. Her veil still covered her face but I could see her bright green eyes from across the world.

We took our places and the ceremony began but I didn’t hear a single word, my eyes were fixated on Cat, filled with a love so intense and indescribable that it was painful. I was so focused that I almost missed my cue. Leo coughed behind me, giving me an elbow straight to the ribs.

I winced but came back to life and Cat had pressed her lips together, silently shaking with laughter as I embarassedly said, “I do.”

The officiant repeated his line to Cat, who gave me a tear-filled look.

“I do,” she whispered.

Next was the ring exchange, and I inhaled a deep breath as Leo passed over the box full of our wedding rings. I gently pulled her ring from the box, etched with my name and message of love on it, but I paused as I realized I’d all but forgotten the vows I had written.

But as I looked deep into her eyes, taking her hand in mine, I knew I didn’t need them. I slid the ring onto her finger as I spoke straight from the heart.

“Caterina Leone,” I declared, and her eyes went wide at my use of her full name, but I plowed on. “You are my everything–the sun that guides me through my life, the moon that shines through my darkest moments. You are my heart and soul and my universe. I have been revolving around you since the moment we met and I will do so until eternity ends. You have given me the life I have now, loved me for everything that I am, and given me our beautiful baby girl. You and Emilia are everything to me, and I will spend every moment of the rest of my life making sure you know how much you mean to me. I love you, Cat.”

I felt like I could go on and on, but the tears running down Cat’s face were more than enough. I smiled lovingly, gently leaning forward to press our heads together. Even through the veil, I could feel her warm breath across my face.

Cat pulled back, giving me a stunning smile as she gently took the last ring out of the box, holding my hand and slipping on my ring as she took a shuddering breath.

“Elio Valentino–” She grinned, matching my own as I realized she’d copied me by going off the rails. There was an adorable flush across her cheeks as she declared, “I’ve been in love with you for nine years.”

My eyes widened and a room fell dead silent as all eyes and ears fell on Cat.

She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I tried my best to ignore it, to bury it beneath all of my grief after losing my father, but from the first moment we met, I always knew it would be you. It had always been you. You have been my protector, my friend, the only comfort in my life when everything else had turned upside down. You were my first love and you will be my last as well.”

She smiled tearfully, leaning up to cup my cheek as I was still in shock from her revelation. “I love you for everything you are and everything you can be–your kindness, your compassion, your strength, and your loyalty. There has never been a single moment that I have ever regretted loving you and there never will be. You say that I’m your everything but everything that I am is because of you, Elio. I have always loved you and I always will so thank you for loving me back.”

It took a moment before her words sunk in and once they did, tears sprung to my eyes. She beamed, nervously biting her bottom lip, and I couldn’t wait a moment longer.

With trembling fingers, I threw back the veil, gravitating toward her as I kissed her with everything that I had. I barely heard the officiant announcing us as husband and wife, only formalities as I was so focused on pouring every ounce of love I held for this woman into her lips.

She sucked in a harsh breath, parting only for a moment before I wrapped my arms around her waist, taking her swollen lips once more. I knew I would never breathe again if I could just continue kissing her, to have her in my arms like now.

But eventually, I knew it was time to let go. We both panted as we broke, her lipstick now smudged on the corner of her lips, which I chuckled at, gently brushing my thumb over the mess to fix it.

“You smudged it, didn’t you?” she huffed, still breathing like she’d run a marathon.

“Sorry,” I lied.

“Mr. Valentino, the ceremony,” the officiant coughed behind us, catching our attention.

Cat blushed a deep red.

I gave the officiant a sheepish grin as he stood there with an embarrassed look, and then I shook my head at Leo’s wink. Congratulations were thrown, cheers echoing as we walked down the aisle together as husband and wife.

As soon as we were out of sight, I pulled her into a deeper, more passionate kiss, and I would’ve continued even further but Cat had more of a conscience than I did, pulling back so we could go into the hall for the reception.

Cat only complained about her smudged makeup once before I silenced her. There was a smug smirk on my face once we made our grand entrance to the reception, met with applause and cheers.

We made our rounds around the tables, thanking everyone for coming and engaging in chit-chat. When we finally made it back together, we settled down at the tables for the toasts.

From Matilde to Anna to Leo, everything was touching and filled with well-wishes and good sentiments that I knew Cat would remember word for word. I leaned my head on my hand, watching her through the corner of my eye with a smile as her eyes drifted from each family member and landed on the food.

I laughed, finding it cute as she stuffed her face full of the food, even tearing up a bite as she ate the gourmet pizza that Al had assured us he’d flown over from Italy.

Next, was our first dance and I stood, offering my hand to my wife which she gladly took, laughing joyfully as I pulled her onto the sea of stars that the dance floor was now projected with.

It felt like walking on a galaxy and I twirled her around as long as I could. Once she was panting and too tired to dance anymore, I took her over to the massive seven-tiered cake. The cake-cutting also went smoothly and of course, Cat had to have a little taste, dipping her finger in the frosting of the slice we cut.

I also couldn’t resist either, dotting her button nose with a dollop of frosting. She wrinkled her nose at me and I laughed as I kissed it, licking my lips at the sugary taste. We celebrated late into the night, our family and friends all around us.

Eventually, though, it was time to leave on the honeymoon. In more comfortable clothes, we said our goodbyes to Emilia, thanking Matilde for watching her while we were gone, and then we headed to the airport.

“So, are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” I asked her once the plane lifted off with a smirk. She was buckled up next to me, still holding my hand as he sent me a huge smug grin.

“Nope!” she said playfully. “You hide it from me every time we go somewhere, so it’s my turn now! You said I could pick, remember?”

“I know, I know,” I laughed, leaning over to give her a quick kiss. It was hard to separate, my hands wanting to drift lower and wander, but we were both exhausted.

She sighed, leaning her head on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head as we cuddled together. It wasn’t long before we had both drifted off into sleep, our exhaustion from the wedding getting the better of us.

I slept lightly, the rumble of the plane helping me drift off but once I heard the speaker start up, we both jolted awake.

“We’re starting our descent now. Welcome to St. Lucia, Mr. and Mrs. Valentino.”

Mr. and Mrs.

I smirked.

I liked the sound of that.