My breath clouded as it left my lips. Even my thick coat couldn’t protect me from Chicago’s winter. Snow crunched under my boots as I followed mother along the pavement toward the brick building, which harbored the most luxurious wedding store in the Midwest. Umberto trailed closely behind, my constant shadow. Another of my father’s soldiers made up the rear, behind my sisters.
Revolving brass doors let us into the brightly lit inside of the store and the owner and her two assistants immediately greeted us. “Happy birthday, Ms. Scuderi,” she said in her lilting voice.
I forced a smile. My eighteenth birthday was supposed to be a day for celebration. Instead it only meant I was another step closer to marrying Luca. I hadn’t seen him since that night he’d cut off Raffaele’s finger. He’d sent me expensive jewelry for my birthdays, Christmas holidays, Valentine’s days and the anniversary of our engagement but that was the extent of our contact in the last thirty months. I’d seen photos of him with other women on the internet, but even that would stop today when our engagement would be leaked to the press. At least in public he wouldn’t flaunt his whores anymore.
I didn’t kid myself into thinking he wasn’t still sleeping with them. And I didn’t care. As long as he had other women to screw, he’d hopefully not think about me in that way.
“Only six months until your wedding if I’m correctly informed?” the shop owner piped. She was the only person who looked excited. No surprise really, she would make a lot of money today. The wedding that marked the final union of the Chicago and the New York mafia was supposed to be a splendid affair. Money was irrelevant.
I inclined my head. 166 days until I had to exchange one golden cage with another. Gianna gave me a look that made it clear what she thought of the matter, but she kept her mouth shut. At sixteen and a half, Gianna had finally learned to reign in her outbursts, mostly.
The shop owner led us into the fitting room. Umberto and the other man stayed outside the drawn curtains. Lily and Gianna plopped down on the plush white couch while Mother began browsing the wedding gowns on display. I stood in the middle of the room. The sight of all the white tulle, silk, gossamer, brocade and what it stood for, corded up my throat. I’d be a married woman soon. Quotes about love decorated the walls of the fitting room; they felt like a taunt considering the harsh reality that was my life. What was love but a silly dream?
I could feel the eyes of the shop owner and her assistants on me, and squared my shoulders before I joined my mother. Nobody could know that I wasn’t the happy bride-to-be but a pawn in a game of power. Eventually, the shop owner approached us and showed us her most expensive gowns.
“What kind of gown would your future husband prefer?” she asked pleasantly.
“The naked kind,” Gianna said, and my mother shot her a glare. I flushed, but the shop owner laughed as if it was all too delightful.
“There’s time for that on the wedding night, don’t you think?” She winked.
I reached for the most expensive dress in the collection, a dream of brocade; the bustier was embroidered with pearls and silvery threads forming a delicate flower pattern. “Those are platinum threads,” the shop owner said. That explained the price. “I think your groom will be pleased with your choice.”
Then she knew him better than I did. Luca was as much as stranger to me today as he had been almost three years ago.
***
The wedding would be held in the vast gardens of the Vitiello mansion in the Hamptons. Everyone was already abuzz with the preparations. I hadn’t set foot into the house or even the premises yet, but my mother kept me up-to-date, not that I’d asked her to.
The moment my family had arrived in New York a few hours ago, my sisters and I had huddled together in our suite in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan. Salvatore Vitiello had suggested we live in one of the many rooms in the mansion until the wedding in five days, but my father had declined. Three years of tentative cooperation and they still didn’t trust each other. I was glad. I didn’t want to set foot into the mansion until I had to.
Father had agreed to let me share a suite with Lily and Gianna, so he and mother had a suite for themselves. Of course, a bodyguard was stationed in front of every of the three doors to our suite.
“Do we really have to attend the bridal shower tomorrow?” Lily asked, her bare legs swung over the backrest of the sofa. Mother always said Nabokov must have had Liliana in mind when he wrote Lolita. While Gianna provoked with her words, Lily used her body for that. She’d turned fourteen in April, a child that used her tentative curves to get a rise out of everyone around us. She looked like the teen model Thylane Blondeau, only her hair was a bit lighter and she didn’t have a gap between her front teeth.
It worried me. I knew it was her way of rebelling against the gilded cage that was our life, but while Father’s soldiers regarded her flirting with amusement, there were others out there that would love to misunderstand it.
“Of course, we have to,” Gianna muttered. “Aria is the happy bride, remember?”
Lily snorted. “Sure.” She sat up abruptly. “I’m bored. Let’s go shopping.”
Umberto wasn’t enthused about the suggestion, even with another of my father’s bodyguards at his side, he claimed it was almost impossible to keep us under control. Eventually he relented as he always did.
***
We were shopping in a store that sold sexy rocker-chick-like outfits that Lily desperately wanted to try on when I got a message from Luca. It was the first time he’d contacted me directly and for a long time I could only stare at my screen. Gianna peered over my shoulder in the dressing room. “’Meet me at your hotel at six. Luca.’ How nice of him to ask.”
“What does he want?” I whispered. I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to see him until August 10th, the day of our wedding.
“Only one way to find out,” Gianna said, checking her reflection.
***
I was nervous. I hadn’t seen Luca in a long time. I smoothed my hair down, then straightened my shirt. Gianna had convinced me to wear the tight black skinny jeans I’d bought today. Now I wondered if something that drew less attention to my body might have been better. I still had fifteen minutes before Luca wanted to meet me. I didn’t even know where yet. I assumed he’d call me once he arrived and ask me to come down into the lobby.
“Stop fiddling,” Gianna said from her spot on the sofa, reading a magazine.
“I really don’t think this outfit is a good idea.”
“It is. It’s easy to manipulate men. Lily is fourteen and has already figured it out. Father always says we’re the weak sex because we don’t carry around guns. We have our own weapons, Aria, and you’ll have to start using them. If you want to survive a marriage with that man, you’ll have to use your body to manipulate him. Men, even cold-hearted bastards like them, have a weakness and it hangs between their legs.”
I didn’t think Luca could be manipulated that easily. He didn’t seem like someone who ever lost control, unless he wanted to and I really wasn’t sure I wanted him to notice my body like that.
A knock made me jump and my eyes flew to the clock. It was still too early for Luca and he wouldn’t really come up to our suite, would he?
Lily dashed out of her bedroom before Gianna or I could even move. She was wearing her rocker-chic outfit, tight leather pants and a tight black tee. She thought she looked so adult with it. Gianna and I thought she looked like a fourteen-year-old trying too hard.
She opened the door, jutting her hip out, trying to look sexy. Gianna groaned but I wasn’t paying attention to her.
“Hi Luca,” Lily piped. I walked closer so I could see Luca. He was staring down at Lily, obviously trying to figure out who she was. Matteo, Romero and Cesare stood behind him. Wow, he’d brought his entourage. Where was Umberto?
“You are Liliana, the youngest sister,” Luca said, ignoring Lily’s flirty expression.
Lily frowned. “I’m not that young.”
“Yes, you are,” I said firmly, walking up to her and putting my hands on her shoulders. She was only a couple of inches smaller than me. “Go to Gianna.”
Lily gave me an incredulous look but then she slinked away.
My pulse was racing as I turned to Luca. His gaze lingered on my legs, then slowly moved up until it arrived at my face. That look hadn’t been in his eyes the last time I’d seen him. And I realized with a start it was want. “I didn’t know we’d meet in my suite,” I said, then realized I should have greeted him, or at least tried to sound less rude.
“Are you going to let me in?”
I hesitated, then I stepped back and let the men walk past me. Only Cesare stayed outside. He closed the door even though I would have preferred to keep it ajar.
Matteo sauntered over to Gianna who quickly sat up and gave him her nastiest look. Lily of course smiled at him. “Can I see your gun?”
Matteo grinned at her but before he could reply, I said. “No, you can’t.”
I could feel Luca’s eyes on me, lingering on my legs and butt again. Gianna gave me an I-told-you-so-look. She wanted me to use my body; the problem was I preferred Luca ignoring my body because everything else terrified me.
“You shouldn’t be here alone with us,” Gianna muttered. “It’s not appropriate.” I almost snorted. As if Gianna gave a damn about appropriateness.
Luca narrowed his eyes. “Where is Umberto? Shouldn’t he be guarding this door?”
“He’s probably on a toilet or cigarette break,” I said, shrugging.
“Does it happen often that he leaves you without protection?”
“Oh all the time,” Gianna said mockingly. “You see, Lily, Aria and I sneak out every weekend because we have a bet going who can pick up more guys.” Lily let out her bell-like laugh.
“I want to have a word with you, Aria,” Luca said fixing me with his cold stare.
Gianna rose from the sofa and came toward us. “I was joking, for god’s sake!” she said, trying to step between Luca and me, but Matteo gripped her wrist and pulled her back. Lily watched everything with wide eyes and Romero stood against the door, pretending this didn’t concern him.
“Let go of me, or I’ll break your fingers,” Gianna growled. Matteo raised his hands with a wide grin.
“Come on,” Luca said, his hand touching my lower back. I swallowed a gasp. If he noticed, he didn’t comment. “Where’s your bedroom?”
My heartbeat stuttered as I nodded toward the door to the left. Luca led me in that direction, ignoring Gianna’s protests. “I’ll call our father! You can’t do that.”
We stepped into my bedroom and Luca closed the door. I couldn’t help but be afraid. Gianna shouldn’t have said those things. The moment Luca faced me, I said, “Gianna was joking. I haven’t even kissed anyone yet, I swear.” Heat crept into my face at the admission, but I didn’t want Luca to get angry for something I hadn’t even done.
Luca’s gray eyes held me with their intensity. “I know.”
My lips parted. “Oh. Then why are you angry?”
“Do I look angry to you?”
I decided not to reply.
He smirked. “You don’t know me very well.”
“That’s not my fault,” I muttered.
He touched my chin and I turned into a pillar of salt. “You are like a skittish doe in the clutches of a wolf.” He didn’t know how close that came to what I thought of him. “I’m not going to maul you.”
I must have looked doubtful because he released a small laugh, lowering his head toward mine.
“What are you doing?” I whispered nervously.
“I’m not going to take you if that’s what you’re worried about. I can wait a few more days. I’ve waited three years after all.”
I couldn’t believe he’d said that. Of course, I knew what was expected on a wedding night, but I’d almost convinced myself that Luca wasn’t interested in me that way. “You called me a child last time.”
“But you aren’t a child anymore,” Luca said with a predatory smirk. His lips were less than an inch from mine. “You’re making this really hard. I can’t kiss you if you look at me like that.”
“Then maybe I should give you that look on our wedding night,” I challenged.
“Then maybe I’ll have to take you from behind so I don’t have to see it.”
My face fell and I stumbled away, my back colliding with the wall.
Luca shook his head. “Relax. I was joking,” he said quietly. “I’m not a monster.”
“Aren’t you?”
His expression hardened and he straightened, drawing up to his full height again. I regretted my words, even though they were the truth. “I wanted to discuss the matter of your protection with you,” he said in an emotionless, formal voice. “Once you move into my penthouse after the wedding, Cesare and Romero will be responsible for your safety. But I want Romero at your side until then.”
“I have Umberto,” I protested, but he shook his head. “Apparently, he’s taking too many toilet breaks. Romero won’t leave your side from now on.”
“Will he watch me when I shower too?”
“If I want him to.”
I raised my chin, trying to quench my anger. “You would let another man see me naked? You must really trust Romero not to take advantage of the situation.”
Luca’s eyes blazed. “Romero is loyal.” He leaned close. “Don’t worry I’ll be the only man to ever see you naked. I can’t wait.” His eyes traveled over my body.
I crossed my arms over my chest and averted my eyes. “What about Lily? She and Gianna share this suite with me. You saw how Lily can be. She will flirt with Romero. She will do anything to get a rise out of him. She doesn’t realize what she could get herself into. I need to know that she’s save.”
“Romero won’t touch your sister. Liliana is playing around. She’s a little girl. Romero likes his women of age and willing.”
‘And you don’t?’ I almost asked but swallowed the words and nodded instead.
My eyes darted toward my bed. This was a horrible reminder of what would happen soon.
“There’s something else. Are you taking the pill?”
Color drained from my face as I stared at him. “Of course not.”
Luca scrutinized me with unsettling calm. “Your mother could have made you start it in preparation for the wedding.”
I was pretty sure I was going to have a nervous breakdown any moment. “My mother would never do that. She won’t even talk to me about these things.”
Luca raised one eyebrow. “But you do know what happens between a man and a woman in a wedding night?”
He was mocking me, the bastard. “I do know what happens between normal couples. In our case, I think the word you’re looking for is rape.”
Luca’s eyes flashed with emotion. “I want you to start taking the pill.” He handed me a small packet. It was birth control.
“Don’t I need to see a doctor before I start taking birth control?”
“We have a doctor who’s been working for the Familia for decades. This is from him. You need to start taking the pill immediately. It takes 48 hours for them to start working.”
I couldn’t believe him. He seemed really eager to sleep with me. My stomach tightened. “And what if I don’t?”
Luca shrugged. “Then I’ll use a condom. Either way, on our wedding night you are mine.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to move. As if in trance, I walked into the living area of the suite. I hadn’t meant to make him angry, but now it was too late. It probably wasn’t the last time anyway.
Umberto stood beside Gianna and Lily, looking annoyed. He frowned at Luca. “What are you doing here?”
“You should pay better attention in the future and keep your breaks to a minimum,” Luca told him.
“I was gone for only a few minutes and there were guards in front of the other doors.”
Gianna smirked. Matteo’s eyes were locked on her. “What are you looking at?” she snapped.
Matteo leaned forward. “At your hot body.”
“Then keep looking.” She gave an one shoulder shrug. “Because that’s all you ever get to do with my hot body.”
“Stop it,” Umberto warned.
I wasn’t looking at him, but at Matteo who had a calculating expression on his face.
“Romero will take over the watch duty until the wedding,” Luca said. Umberto opened his mouth, but Luca raised a hand. “It’s done.” He turned to Romero who straightened at once. They walked a few steps away from us. Gianna pressed up to me. “What does he mean?”
“Romero is my new bodyguard.”
“He just wants to control you.”
“Shh.” I was watching Luca and Romero. After a moment, Romero glanced at Lily, then nodded and said something. They finally returned to us. “Romero will stay with you,” Luca said simply. He was so cold since I’d as good as called him a monster.
“And what am I supposed to do?” Umberto asked.
“You can guard their door.”
“Or you can join our stag party,” Matteo suggested.
“I’m not interested,” Umberto said.
Luca shrugged. “Suit yourself. Scuderi is coming with us.”
My father would go with them? I didn’t even want to know what they were up to.
Luca turned to me. “Remember what I told you.”
I didn’t say anything, only clutched the pill packet in my hand. Without another word, Luca and Matteo left. Romero held the door open. “You can leave too,” he told Umberto who glared but walked out after a moment. Romero shut the door and locked it.
Gianna gaped. “You can’t be serious.”
Romero leaned against the door, arms clasped in front of him. He didn’t react.
“Come, Gianna.” I pulled her with me toward the couch and plopped down. Lily was already kneeling on the armchair, watching Romero in rapt attention. Gianna’s eyes flitted down to my hand. “What’s this?”
“Birth control.”
“Don’t tell me that asshole gave it to you just now so he can screw you on your wedding night.”
I pressed my lips together.
“You aren’t going to take them, right?”
“I have to. It won’t stop Luca if I don’t. He’ll only be angry.”
Gianna shook her head, but I gave her a pleading look. “I don’t want to argue with you. Let’s watch a movie, okay? I really need the distraction.” After a moment, Gianna nodded. We picked out a random movie, but it was difficult to focus with Romero guarding us.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” I asked eventually. “You’re making me nervous. Can’t you sit down at least?”
He moved toward the vacant armchair and sank down. He shrugged off his jacket, revealing a white shirt and a holster holding two guns and a long knife.
“Wow,” Lily breathed. She stood and walked over to him. He kept his attention on the door. She stepped in his way and he had no choice but to look up at her. She smiled. She quickly slipped into his lap and he tensed. I leaped off the sofa and wrenched her off him. “Lily, what’s matter with you? You can’t act like that. One day a man is going to take advantage of you.” Many men had trouble understanding that provocative clothes and actions didn’t mean a woman was asking for it.
Romero straightened in the chair.
“He won’t hurt me. Luca forbid him, right?”
“He could steal your virtue you and cut your throat afterward, so you can’t tell anyone,” Gianna said off-handedly. I shot her a glare.
Lily’s eyes grew wide.
“I wouldn’t,” Romero said, startling us with his voice.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Gianna muttered. “Now she’s going to fawn over you.”
“Lily, go to bed,” I ordered and she did under loud protest.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
Romero nodded. “Don’t worry. I have a sister her age.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“And how long have you been working for Luca?” Gianna turned off the TV to focus on her interrogation. I settled against the backrest.
“Four years, but I’ve been a made man for six years.”
“You must be good if Luca chose you to protect Aria.”
Romero shrugged. “Knowing how to handle myself in a fight isn’t the main reason. Luca knows I’m loyal.”
“Meaning you won’t paw at Aria.”
I rolled my eyes at Gianna. Romero probably regretted ever leaving his spot at the door. “Luca knows he can trust me with what’s his.”
Gianna’s lips thinned. Wrong thing to say. “So if Aria came out of her room naked tonight and you got a hard-on because you can’t really help it, Luca wouldn’t cut off your dick?”
Romero was obviously taken aback. He stared at me, as if he actually worried I would do that. “Ignore her. I won’t.”
“Where are Luca and the other men going for stag night?”
Romero didn’t reply.
“Probably a strip club and afterward one of the whorehouses the Familia has going,” Gianna muttered. “Why is it that men can whore around while we have to save our virginity for the wedding night? And why can Luca fuck whoever he wants while Aria can’t even kiss a guy?”
“I didn’t make the rules,” Romero said simply.
“But you make sure that we don’t break them. You aren’t our protector, you are our warden.”
“Have you ever considered that I’m protecting guys who don’t know who Aria is?” he asked.
I frowned.
“Luca would kill anyone who dared to touch you. Of course, you could go out, flirt with a guy and move on, because you wouldn’t be the one Luca would gut.”
“Luca isn’t my fiancé,” Gianna said.
“Your father would kill any man that got near you, because he wouldn’t want anyone to spoil his most prized possessions.”
For the first time, I realized that only because I’d been given to Luca that didn’t mean Gianna wouldn’t be forced to marry someone else. I felt suddenly very tired. “I’m going to bed.”
I lay awake most of the night, thinking of ways to get out of the wedding, but the only option would be to run, and while Gianna would definitely come with me, what about Liliana? I couldn’t keep them both save. And what about Fabiano? What about my mother? I couldn’t leave everything behind. This was my life. I didn’t know anything else. Maybe I was a coward, though marrying a man like Luca probably required more courage than running away.
