Chapter 9 - The Wedding Nobody ExpectedTwo years later, the Moretti mansion looked completely different.
The guns were gone from the dining room.
The locked doors had been opened.
The forbidden garden became a playground.
And the little girl who had once wandered barefoot through the mansion now ran through it wearing a yellow dress.
I was five when I first knocked on Moretti's door.
I was six when I became his daughter officially.
And I was seven when Clara finally walked down the garden path toward him.
She wasn't wearing diamonds.
She didn't need them.
Moretti stood beneath the old oak tree.
Nervous.
Actually nervous.
I had never seen that before.
Marco whispered:
“Boss has faced armed men without blinking.”
I giggled.
“He's scared of Mommy.”
Marco nodded.
“Very.”
When Clara reached him, Moretti took her hands.
“I spent most of my life believing I had to control everything.”
She smiled.
“You still try.”
“I know.”
He took a breath.
“But then a little girl knocked on my door.”
I laughed.
Everyone else did too.
“She reminded me that a home isn't a fortress.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“It's the place where people come back to you.”
Clara cried.
Then she said yes.
I stood beside them holding Mr. Buttons.
And when they kissed, I covered his eyes.
Because Mama had told me some things were private.
After the ceremony, we ate cake in the garden.
Moretti sat beside me.
“Do you remember the first night?”
“Yes.”
“What do you remember?”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
I looked at him.
“You were scared?”
He nodded.
“Terrified.”
“Of what?”
He smiled.
“That I'd promise you something and fail.”
I leaned against his shoulder.
“You didn't.”
He kissed the top of my head.
“No.”
May you like
Then he looked toward Clara.
“I didn't.”
