They want to pay me to marry him?
“But why do you need to marry now?” I ask Romeo. “If your father… if he dies, then don’t you become the Boss?”
He shakes his head. “In name only until I marry.”
“Wow, your family was super traditional.”
Mario rolls his eyes. “You have no idea.”
They’re an organized crime family. By the world’s standards, they are not good people. I have no place in this family, I have nothing to gain from this… at least in the eyes of the world.
Rosa continues. “But we will all be good to you, Vittoria. We would welcome you as a sister among us. We would provide for you, and you would reap the benefits of being part of this family.”
I blink, startled. “You still want me? Knowing that what we thought isn’t true? Knowing what we do, you still think I have anything of value to bring to the Family?”
“Vittoria,” Romeo speaks up. “You have everything to bring to this family.” He leans forward and frames my face with his hands. “And I don’t want any more talk. I want to know. Will you marry me? Will you marry me right now, tonight?”
I’m bewildered by everything that’s happened, but the only thing that’s clear to me is that I belong here. There may have been lies, there may have been betrayal, but there are some things I know with certainty.
One of them is that I love Romeo. The other is that he loves me.
“I have nothing to bring to you.” I don’t bring an inheritance, I don’t bring an established family behind me, I don’t bring anything with me but… me.
“I don’t wanna hear you say that again,” Romeo says. “Don’t you ever negate who you are.” Marialena sighs and swipes at her eyes again. “You’re everything to me.”
I nod. “Then… yes. Yes, Romeo. So much yes.”
Rosa doesn’t miss a beat. “Bring in Father Richard,” she cries out to the uniformed staff who wait by the doors. There’s still soot on Romeo’s face. Tavi is bruised and bloodied. Marialena’s hair is a mess, and she only grabs another slice of pizza and grins at me.
I look down at my ripped and tattered clothing, I look down at who I am. And I know who I want to be. I nod. “Let’s do this.”
It’s the least romantic, most pragmatic, fastest wedding in the history of all weddings, defying even a Vegas Elvis chapel wedding to be more efficient than this.
But in the end, I take my vows. In the end, I become Romeo’s wife.
Chapter Twenty-One
“The more I give to thee, The more I have.” ~ Romeo and Juliet
Romeo
The man who wronged my wife sits in a windowless, cold dungeon, awaiting justice. He’s earned what happens to him next, but I’ve earned the night with my wife.
I sent her to my bedroom… our bedroom.
If I had my way, we’d be in my home in Tuscany, surrounded by flowers, good food, and rivers of wine. Instead, we’re in The Castle. But now I am the king of the castle, and she is my bride.
“Get ready for me, sweetheart,” I tell Vittoria. “Take a bath. Shave your legs. Wash your hair, and when you’re done, put on a robe and lie in bed.”
I kiss my way down the length of her body until her skin is pink, and her hips rise to meet me.
“Where are you going?” she asks, a little breathless, but I suspect she already knows.
“I’m putting an end to the life you left. I’m seeking justice for the wrongs done to you.” She nods. I brush my thumb over the soft hollow in her cheek and kiss her. “As Don now, my job is to protect you and make sure you’re not harmed again.”
She doesn’t ask any more questions. Good girl.
My brothers wait for me in the dungeon, where the man who hurt my wife sits waiting for me. I remember the night I met her, the night I killed for her.
I killed for her once. I’ll do it again. I close the door to the dungeon with a resounding bang.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Thus with a kiss I die.” ~Romeo and Juliet
Vittoria
An hour later, I’m ready. I lay in bed, waiting for Romeo. My Romeo.
The door opens and he enters, weary, but determined. I don’t want to ask what he’s done, why his knuckles are lacerated and bloodied.
“Stay there.” His word is absolute. I know this now.
“Can I help you?”
“No, bella.” He walks to the bathroom and turns the shower on. “My brothers are dealing with the aftermath of everything we’ve been through, Vittoria. I’m washing off the memory of this night. I want a shower, and then I want to bed my new wife.”
It’s time for them to rebuild. It’s time for them to defer to their new Don.
He turns on the shower, and I lay in bed, thinking. Processing. I think I hear him crying in the shower, but I can’t tell for sure. Tears wet my own cheeks.