Twisted Hearts (The Camorra Chronicles 5)

Diego glared, then he sent me a hard look. I walked over to them and pushed Mick. “How about you lick your fucking wounds and get over your bruised pride. Stop being a fucking pussy about it. So what, you lost your fiancée, there are a million more fish in the water.”

A muscle in Diego’s throat twitched. Mick moved to the benchpress, bringing some distance between us, which was probably for the best.

Diego got into my face. “I want you to swear that you won’t touch her before the wedding.”

“Don’t you worry, Diego. Gemma will lose it after we’re married, but not because you feel like it’s your fucking right to determine when she’s supposed to lose it, and certainly not because a few fucking Traditionalists would look down on her if she wasn’t a virgin in her wedding night. She’s going to lose it in the bond of holy fucking marriage because that’s what she wants and that’s the only goddamn reason that matters to me.” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “And if she changes her mind and wants to lose it before, then I sure as hell won’t ask you for permission, because it’s only her fucking decision, got it?”

He looked like he considered smashing my head in with the kettlebell, but he’d just have to learn to deal.

A few weeks later, I was still so angry at Savio, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Back at school, I’d hardly paid attention in classes and was glad for recess.

It’s not that I’d never considered going to college. Toni was determined to attend, so of course it had crossed my mind to join her. I didn’t have a dream of becoming a doctor or a lawyer. My life had always revolved around family life, so I’d never really given a day job more than a fleeting thought, and if I did, it was helping out in our restaurants. What really got to me was that Savio acted as if he was doing me a favor. Did he really think I was that clueless?

I knew what this was really about, him trying to postpone our wedding as long as possible. He wanted to keep up his male slut life while I waited for him to be ready to wed.

Toni slanted me a look. “You’re going to break that fork in half.”

I loosened my hold and took a deep breath.

“He might as well announce your engagement. It’s probably already making the rounds anyway. Savio Falcone willing to marry a girl is too hot of news not to get out quickly.”

I scanned the surrounding tables. Most of them were occupied by kids from Camorra families, or families who were by some degree associated with the mafia. They might as well call it Camorra High.

I’d caught the occasional curious glance as well as conspiratorial whispering in the last few days. Maybe the news about Savio and me was already making the rounds like Toni said. It wouldn’t come as a shock. Several Camorrista had watched Savio’s fight against Mick. Even if Remo had asked them to keep the reason to themselves, some of them had probably let something slip to their wives, and most of them were scandalmongers. I caught Noemi’s eyes across the room and groaned inwardly. She’d taken it upon herself to annoy me. Only yesterday she’d made some stupid comment about riding Savio’s bull, which could only mean she’d heard something about me and him. She turned away and said something to her crony Will. For a while, I’d thought they were an item, but now I wasn’t sure anymore.

He got up and came toward our table.

“Oh no,” Toni murmured. “Don’t let him rile you up.”

“Don’t worry.” Will thought he was some kind of VIP student, only because his parents were filthy rich and owned half the Strip.

He stopped beside me and perched his ass on the edge of the table, running his hand through his reddish hair. My mouth curled in disgust. “It isn’t Halloween yet, but nice Raggedy Ann outfit.”

I ignored the jab at my dress. Diego had dragged his feet this morning, which meant I was too late to change into other clothes in school. Because I had been too immersed in my anger at Savio, I hadn’t done it before recess.

His grin became even more obnoxious and I braced myself for what would follow. “So are the rumors true that you’ll become the next Falcone whore?”

How the hell had he found out? Even if the wives had started talking, it shouldn’t have left our circles and Will, no matter how rich, wasn’t part of the mafia. His parents were, however, friends with Mick’s parents. Maybe my ex-almost-fiancé had let something slip, probably because of his bruised ego. Mick was a nice guy, but he was also a Made Man, and those didn’t deal well with rejection in any form.