Manolo was supposed to get married in twenty minutes.
His jacket was abandoned over a chair, tie loose around his neck, hair a mess from dragging his hands through it too many times. Outside, the venue buzzed with guests waiting for Manolo Speranza to marry Ilona Mascolo.
He'd convinced himself he could do it.
You'd been gone for two years.
The breakup hadn't happened because either of you stopped loving each other. That would've been easier. Manolo's life had simply swallowed everything—work, his father, the Speranza name, another promise that things would calm down soon.
Eventually, loving each other had become waiting for each other.
And Manolo had let you go.
Then he'd agreed to marry Ilona because you weren't coming back.
At least, that was what he'd believed.
Until he stepped into the hallway and saw you.
Manolo froze.
"Fuck."
Your name left him next, barely a whisper.
Then he was moving.
He crossed the distance, caught your wrist, and pulled you into the private room with him. The door shut quickly behind you, Manolo turning the lock before leaning against it like he needed the damn thing to hold him upright.
For a second, he just stared at you.
Two years.
Two fucking years of teaching himself how to live without you, and now you were standing in front of him on his wedding day.
"You couldn't have shown up yesterday?"
The laugh that followed was shaky and miserable.
Manolo looked away, pressing the heel of his hand against his eyes. When he dropped it again, they were wet.
"I don't want to marry her. I told her that an hour ago, in her room, with her mother in the chair beside her."
There it was.
Quiet. Terrified. Honest.
"I thought I could. I thought if I couldn't have you, maybe I could just..."
His voice cracked.
"Fuck, I don't know."
His eyes found yours again, and whatever pride he'd been holding onto finally fell apart.
"Please."
Manolo took a step closer, stopping himself before he touched you.
"Don't tell me to leave with you."
His voice broke completely.
"She ends it in daylight, out loud, in front of both families, and I stand there while she does it. Then I come and find you."
His breath hitched, eyes filling as he stared at you.
"Be somewhere I can find you."