My Mafia Fiancé's Ex Crashed Our Wedding
On the day I was supposed to get matching tattoos with Zach Cross, I waited at the studio from sunrise until nightfall.
The tattoo artist glanced at me nervously. “Miss Annie, is the Godfather still coming? Maybe we should reschedule.”
I lowered my eyes and forced a smile. “He promised he’d be here. I’ll wait a little longer.”
Two hours later, Zach finally arrived.
He was not alone. Julie Williams walked in behind him.
She was carrying his jacket. When she saw me sitting in the tattoo chair, she offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Annie. I had no idea you two had a tattoo appointment today. Otherwise, I would’ve never asked Zach to pick me up from the airport.”
Zach walked right past me. He glanced around the empty studio and said, “Let's begin.” Before I could say a word, he pointed at the tattoo chair and turned to Julie.
“You first.”
Julie froze for a second. She glanced at me, then reluctantly took the seat.
The tattoo artist turned to look at me.
Standing off to the side, I overheard Zach’s men whispering among themselves.
“After all these years, Miss Julie is still the perfect match for the Godfather.”
“Yeah. It’s a shame things didn’t work out back then.”
I looked at Zach. I knew he had heard every word. However, instead of denying it, he turned to me and said coldly, “Julie’s here today. Watch your attitude. Don’t embarrass me.”
My gaze drifted to his left hand’s ring finger. It was still bare.
He once told me he would hide my name inside the petals of a rose tattoo—a secret only the two of us would ever know about.
I worked with the tattoo artist through seven different revisions to get the design just right.
When he proposed, he held my hand and said, “The most painful mark I’ll ever wear will belong to you alone.”
I put on a bitter smile.
Unfortunately, none of the marks he carried had ever truly belonged to me.