“You need to appear strong. I didn’t want to make you look weak.” I looked up at him, tears gathering in my eyes.
His expression tightened. “You hated it.”
“Of course I did.”
Samuel looked away, glaring. “I hate the thought that you will have to obey Danilo or anyone for that matter.”
“I could do worse than Danilo. He’s a gentleman when he’s around me.”
Samuel laughed darkly. “He is as good as the Underboss of Indianapolis, Fina, and despite his age, he has his men under control. I’ve seen him in action. He is a Made Man like me and Dad. He expects obedience.”
I regarded him curiously. “You never expected obedience from me.”
“I wished for it,” he muttered jokingly then turned serious again. “You are my sister, not my wife. That’s different.”
“Will you expect obedience from your wife?”
Samuel frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“How do you treat the women you are with?” I’d never met any of them. Made Men took outsiders into their beds before marriage, and those women weren’t allowed into our homes.
Quickly and unexpectedly, Samuel’s face seemed to close off. “It doesn’t matter.” He stood. “And it doesn’t matter how Danilo is used to treating his whores. You are a mafia princess, my sister, and I swear by my honor that I will hunt him down if he doesn’t treat you like a lady.”
I smiled up at my twin. “My protector.”
Samuel smiled back. “Always.”
CHAPTER 2
REMO
“Are you ready? We’ve got a wedding to crash,” I said, grinning. Excitement sizzled under my skin, a low fire that burned brighter with every second I got closer to my goal.
Fabiano sighed, checking his gun and shoving it back into his holster. “As ready I as I’ll ever be for this insanity.”
“Genius and insanity are often interchangeable. Both have fueled the greatest events in human history.”
“I think you annoy me the most when you sound like Nino with your own brand of crazy,” Fabiano said. “I can’t believe I’m only a few miles from my father and can’t rip him to shreds.”
“You will get him. My plan will bring him to you eventually.”
“I don’t like the eventually part. I have a feeling this plan is about more than killing my father and punishing the Outfit.”
I leaned back against the car seat. “And what would that be?”
Fabiano met my gaze. “About you getting your hands on Dante’s niece for whatever insane reason.”
My mouth pulled into a dark smile. “You know exactly why I want her.”
Fabiano leaned back in his own seat, expression tightening. “I don’t think even you know exactly why you want her. But I do know the girl will pay for something she wasn’t responsible for.”
“She’s part of our world. Born and bred to be a mother to more Outfit bastards. Born and bred to obey like a mindless sheep. She was brought up to follow her shepherd without hesitation. He led her toward a pack of wolves. It’s his mistake, but she will be torn apart.”
Fabiano shook his head. “Fuck, Remo. You are a crazy fucker.”
I wrapped my fingers tightly around his forearm, over his Camorra tattoo—the blade and the eye. “You are one of us. We bleed and we die together. We maim and kill together. Don’t forget your oath.”
“I won’t,” he said simply.
I released him. My eyes moved to the front of the hotel where Serafina’s parents, Ines and Pietro Mione, had just walked out the door with a young dark-haired girl between them. Dressed in evening wear for the wedding of the year, Ines looked remarkably like her brother. Tall and blond and proud. So fucking proud and controlled.
“It won’t be long now,” I said, glancing down the street where the car with my two soldiers was waiting.
Fabiano put the keys in the ignition as we watched the Miones drive off. “Her twin will stay with her,” he said. “And then there’s the bodyguard.”
My eyes sought out the middle-aged guy behind the wheel of a Bentley limousine parked in the driveway of the hotel. A fucking flower arrangement on the hood. White flowers. I wanted to squash them under my boots.
“They’re making it too easy figuring out the car of the bride,” I said with a laugh.
“Because they don’t expect an attack. It’s never been done before. Funerals and weddings are sacred.”
“There have been bloody weddings before. They should know better.”
“But those weddings became bloody because the guests got into fights with each other. I don’t think anyone has ever attacked a wedding, especially the bride, on purpose. Honor forbids it.”
I chuckled. “We are the Camorra. We have our own set of rules, our own idea of honor.”
“I think they will realize that today,” he said tightly.
My eyes scanned the front of the hotel. Somewhere behind its windows, Serafina was getting ready for her wedding. She’d be groomed to perfection, an apparition in white. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her, stain the perfectly white fabric blood-red.
SERAFINA
“You don’t have to be scared, sweetheart,” Mom said quietly so Sofia wouldn’t hear her. My little sister was busy tugging at the pins keeping her hair in place on top of her head, grimacing.
“I’m not,” I said quickly, which was a lie. It wasn’t that I was overly scared of sleeping with Danilo, but I was nervous and worried about embarrassing myself. I didn’t like to be bad at things, and I would be bad given I had no experience.
She gave me a knowing look. “It’s okay to be nervous. But he’s a decent man. Dante always talks in glowing terms about Danilo.” Mom tried to sound casual but failed miserably. She stroked my hair like she used to do when I was little.
We both knew that there was a difference between being a decent man and a loyal soldier to the Outfit. Uncle Dante was probably basing his judgment of Danilo on the latter. Not that it mattered. Danilo had always been a gentleman, and he would be my husband in a few hours. It was my duty to submit to him, and I would do it.
My hairdresser took Mom’s place and began pinning up my blond hair, arranging pearls and strings of white gold in it. Mom noticed Sofia fighting with her hairdo and quickly moved over to her. “Stop it, Sofia. You’ve already untangled a few strands.”
Sofia dropped her hands with a resigned look. Then her blue eyes found mine. I smiled at her. Avoiding Mom’s tugging hands, she came to my side and peered up at me. “I can’t wait to be a bride.”
“First, you will finish school,” I teased her. She was only eleven and hadn’t been promised to anyone yet. For her weddings were about looking pretty and the chivalrous knight she would marry. I envied her the ignorance.
“Done,” the hairdresser announced and stepped back.
“Thank you,” I said. She nodded and quickly slipped out, giving us a moment.
The dress was absolutely stunning. I couldn’t stop admiring myself in the mirror, turning left and right. The pearls and silver embroidered threadwork caught the light beautifully, and the skirt was a dream consisting of several layers of the finest tulle. Mom shook her head, tears blurring her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Mom,” I warned her. “You’ll ruin your makeup. And if you start crying, I will cry too and then my makeup will be ruined as well.”
Mom nodded, blinking. “You are right, Fina.” She dabbed her eyes with the corner of a tissue. Mom wasn’t the emotional type. She was like her brother, my Uncle Dante. Sofia beamed up at me.
A knock sounded and Dad poked in his head. He froze and slowly stepped inside. He took me in without saying a word. I could see the emotion swimming in his eyes, but he would never show it openly. He came toward me and touched two fingers to my cheeks. “Dove, you’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”
Mom raised her eyebrows in mock shock. Dad laughed and took her hand, kissing her knuckles. “You were, of course, a breathtaking bride, Ines.”
“What about me?” Sofia asked. “Maybe I will be even more beautiful?”
Dad lifted a finger. “I will keep you as my little daughter forever. No marriage for you.”
Sofia pouted and Dad shook his head. “We need to go to church now.” He kissed my cheek then took Sofia’s hand. The three of them walked out. Mom turned once more and gave me a proud smile.
Samuel appeared in the doorway, dressed in a black suit and blue tie. “You look dapper,” I told him and felt a wave of wistfulness. He would be hundreds of miles from me once I moved into Danilo’s villa in Indianapolis.
“And you look beautiful,” he said quietly, his eyes taking me in head to toe.
He pushed off the doorframe and moved toward me, his hands in his pockets. “It’ll be strange without you.”
“I’ll tell Sofia she needs to keep you on your toes.”
“It won’t be the same.”
“You will marry in a few years. And soon you’ll be even busier with mob business. You won’t even notice I’m gone.”
Samuel sighed then glanced down at his Rolex that Dad had given him for his initiation five years ago. “We need to go too. The ceremony is supposed to start in forty-five minutes. It’ll take at least thirty minutes to reach the church.”