Always There

Chapter Eighty-Three

Mateo leans in to whisper in my ear. "She invited them but she didn't think they would come. I think that's one of the things that she was so anxious about."

I nod at him in acknowledgement, and we then both turn back to face Elena and her sons.

They're no longer hugging, and are now having a conversation in English.

"You really are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Mama," Samuel says quietly.

Nicholas nods his head in agreement with his brother's statement. "I agree. We're very sorry that we couldn't be here earlier, but we were just running a bit behind schedule today. We're very glad that we didn't miss the wedding itself. Even though I know that it's hard to believe, we're very happy for you, Mama."

I hold my breath as Nicholas then turns to face Mateo and I. He looks me over once, disapprovingly, before staring at Mateo. "Mateo? Can we talk to you for a moment, please? In private?"

Mateo narrows his eyes, but just as he makes a move to walk towards his brothers, I grab his arm and hold him in place beside me.

He inhales deeply and gives me a look that makes me drop my grip on him, but once I do, he remains in place this time.

"Later. After the ceremony. I don't want to get into a fight right now and ruin everything. But I promise that we can talk later," Mateo says calmly.

He glances towards me, and I grin at him.

"All right," Samuel says, placing a hand on Nicholas's shoulder. "We'll find you later. For now, we should go find our seats. Goodbye, Mateo."

Mateo gives his brothers a curt nod, and the two of them leave the room as simply as that.

As soon as the door swings shut behind them, Mateo turns around to face me. "Christ. They look like twins, and I look so much more like you than I do them. I'm really starting to question my sanity."

I beam at him. "I was just thinking the same thing, actually. I think your hair is what threw me off. It's a disgusting colour."

Mateo reaches up to run his fingers through his hair, his eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean? I thought that a lot of girls like blond hair."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Maybe some girls. But why do you care what the general population of women thinks about blond hair? All that matters is what your girl thinks, and she seems to like it or else she wouldn't be dating you."

Mateo blinks up at me. "She's not really my girl."

I tilt my head to the side at him. "And whose fault is that?"

Mateo huffs. "Oh, shut up. If you really want to know, I don't think Nessa has a thing for blondes because she's sort of in love with you. It's honestly pretty funny, actually. I caught her drooling while scrolling through photos of you last night. I think she may be your biggest fan."

I roll my eyes, doing my very best to hold back a smile at that bit of information.

"I don't blame her. I would also stare at photos of me for several hours if I was anyone other than myself," I respond.

Mateo hits me in the arm.

I hit him back just as the wedding planner pops into the room.

"Ten minute warning, everyone!" she exclaims. "I'll start getting everybody lined up to walk down the aisle in five minutes. We don't want our beautiful bride to be late, and so I expect you all to be ready to go by then!"

🌸🌸🌸

As soon as Elena enters the room, my dad starts to cry.