What can be better than an extravagant evening with my best friend and the wonderful food that comes by like it’s transported on a magic carpet? The champagne is light and exquisite as the flavor lingers on my tongue and pairs nicely with the fancy finger foods. I can’t get enough of it, or the mystery man that makes me tingle. I sneak another look his way, but he’s gone.
Mama’s voice pierces my thoughts, “Act like a grow-up, Valentina. I swear, we indulged you too much as a child. You should have been engaged to be married instead of attending that overpriced college you insisted on. You’re lucky your father saw your point and agreed it was good for business. An education makes you more attractive and school was cheaper than paying for round-the-clock bodyguards.”
“I’m a grown-up, and I don’t drink much,” I reply. I eat another crostini with ricotta and quail eggs and chase it with a sip of bubbly.
“Oh, my,” Laura moans like she’s having an orgasm as she slips the toasted bread with honeyed figs and goat cheese mousse past her lips.
Mama turns on her heel and can’t walk away from the spectacle fast enough. Laura and I exchange a mischievous grin.
“Well played, Laura.”
“Um, really, it was by accident but seriously, your mother needs to pull that stick out of her ass.” She speaks low enough that not even a bug planted in our boobs would pick up the words.
“The mystery man is gone,” I murmur.
“It’s for the best.” She slips her arm through mine, and we head off to take in more art.
Even though she’s in the family, Laura can’t show outright disrespect for my mother without it reflecting poorly on her father. It wouldn’t be pretty, not even a splitting of his fingers by Papa’s goons would get him off the hook.
“Why is the tattooed man staring at me?” I ask.
“I don’t know. What I do know is he’s an enforcer. I’d be careful around him. I hope he isn’t going to be your match.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? Your family is looking to marry you off tonight. Time is running out, you’re getting older, school is over, you’ve run out of options.”
“Not if I run away.”
“Like you could,” she jokes.
She’s only telling me what I already know. I’ve never been given enough room to run anywhere other than the beach. No one is meeting me there to rescue me from a world of preconceived notions, where I am obligated to be a model housewife or be slaughtered in effigy to pay for the sins of my father.
“Shit.” She’s right. My destiny is set in stone. There is no escaping the fact I’ll be married within the year.
“I should have put it together sooner. It’s the only reason I was allowed to wear this fancy dress, and I suppose you’re here to keep me calm while my father takes one of his calculated risks.”
“Right.”
How foolish of me to think I was special. Maybe that’s why he loved me from a distance, knowing this day would come.
I was foolish to think he loves me as much as Giovi. In this world, sons are the future kings, daughters are the pawns.
“I wonder what he’s gaining out of my match.”
“No clue, normally you’d be promised to a Sicilian to keep the bloodline. There are others here, I suppose I don’t know them all. Tattoo Man visits your father’s restaurant from time to time.”
She’s referring to the restaurant that launders money, and we have a store that sells lottery tickets, takes bets and collects protection money.
“Let’s just sit here,” I suggest, finding an empty bench in the main room.
I’m beginning to think the mysterious man disappeared down a roped off section. Earlier, I saw a shadow heading that way. Maybe he’s an art thief, chuckling at the irony. If I love anything as much as freedom, it is art.
My freedom, such as it is, is running out and I long to breathe fresh air in the garden. Looking around, I check the doors and the security in the room. I wonder if I could slip out without anyone noticing.
9
Massimo