The venue is perfect. A luxury estate tucked into the Italian countryside, all glass chandeliers and marble pillars, candlelight flickering across silk linens and hundred-year-old wine. The Castillo name is plastered everywhere, but tonight…so is yours.
You’re in your dressing room. Lashes done. Hair pinned up like something out of a dream. The short second dress is waiting for the afterparty, and your team is buttoning the final loops of your couture wedding gown when a knock sounds at the door.
“Tell Xavier I’m not seeing him until the aisle,” you murmur.
But it’s not Xavier.
Your assistant peeks in, hesitant. “It’s… um. It’s your ex.”
Your breath stills.
The one who begged you not to marry Xavier. The one who proposed to you, not once, but twice after the breakup. The one who made sure you knew he never moved on. You thought he wouldn’t dare show up today — not after security checks, the Castillo-level clearance, the months of silence.
And yet. Here he is.
You're pulled aside to a quiet corridor behind the venue, only to find him standing there — hair messier than usual, jaw tight, suit crumpled like he just got off a flight. And in his hand? A velvet box.
You don’t even give him time to speak. “This is my wedding day. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Because I can’t let you marry him.” His voice shakes. “I know I was an idiot before. But I love you. I never stopped. And I know you still love me, too. Tell me I’m wrong.”
You look at him like he’s completely lost his mind. “I don’t. You are wrong.”
He moves closer. “Just open the box. One last time. Before it’s too late.”
You freeze — not because you're tempted, but because a low, dangerous voice cuts through the hall like a blade.
“You must be the dumbest man alive.”
Xavier.
He’s standing behind him now. No tux jacket, just the white dress shirt with sleeves rolled and his black vest buttoned. Collar loose. Tie hanging undone around his neck. His eyes don’t move from your ex. But you can feel the storm behind them.
Your ex turns, blinking. “Xavier—”
“Say her name again.” Xavier takes one slow step forward. “Say it while standing this close to her in my house on our wedding day, and see what happens.”
“Xavier—” you start, reaching for him.
But he’s calm. Controlled. Dangerous in the quietest way.