I could hardly force food down my tight throat during dinner. Cassio didn’t talk to me, only to his father and Luca. I sat beside him like arm candy.
Maybe it was for the best. Every time he’d talked to me so far, he ordered me around and intimidated me only more. Considering that I’d have to share a bed with him tonight, I preferred his silence. The chances of me passing out were high anyway.
I slanted a look at Cassio. His facial features were attractive in an edgy way. Sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and the dark stubble. I’d never seen him in less than a three-piece suit, but his muscles were unmistakable.
“My brother played football in high school,” Mia whispered, surprising me. I hadn’t said much to her yet. We were strangers, despite being sisters-in-law, not to mention she was ten years older than me.
Heat rose into my cheeks, realizing she must have noticed me staring at Cassio. I couldn’t even imagine Cassio going to high school.
“You finished this summer, right?” Mia asked.
I nodded with a small smile. “Yes. I thought I’d go to college, but…”
“But you had to marry my brother.”
“I would have had to marry either way, but as a wife of an Underboss, going to college is out of the question,” I said quietly. My mother would have had a heart attack if she’d heard me being this honest with Cassio’s sister, but I was tired of trying to pretend.
“That’s true. You’ll be busy raising his kids, so you won’t be bored.”
My heart sped up like it always did thinking of being responsible for two tiny humans. I had absolutely no clue about kids. I’d read countless articles about raising kids in the last four months, but reading and doing were two very different things. Most of the time I felt like a girl, not a woman, much less a mother.
Mia touched my hand. “You’ll be fine. I live close by. I can help if you don’t know what to do.”
Cassio must have heard because he frowned. “You have two small kids of your own with a third on the way. You’ll have your hands full. Giulia can handle everything.”
He seemed to know me better than I did. Or maybe he’d just order me to be a good mother?
Mia sighed, but she didn’t talk back to him. My stomach knotted even more.
I was wound so tightly when it was time for the first dance, I hardly noticed Cassio leading me to the center of the ballroom. The guests gathered around it, watching. My smile was in place. If I’d learned one thing from my mother, it was to smile in the face of adversity.
With our difference in height, dancing wasn’t easy. If we’d been a real couple, I could have rested my cheek against his sternum. Right now we were casual acquaintances at best. Cassio led me over the dance floor without a hitch, sure in his leadership like in every other aspect of our life. My mind was spinning a hundred miles an hour, imagining our future, imagining tonight.
“Why are you trembling?” Cassio asked, startling me.
I regarded his emotionless eyes. Did he really not know? “Why don’t you order me to stop? Maybe my body obeys your command.”
Cassio’s expression hardened. “I expect you to choose your words more carefully in public. I’m your husband and you’ll respect me.”
I lowered my eyes to his chest, the smile still frozen on my face.
Cassio’s mouth pressed to my ear as the dance ended. “Understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
Cassio’s grip on me tightened, but he didn’t get the chance to say more because it was Dad’s turn to dance with me. He kept asking what was wrong, but I really didn’t see any reason to tell him. There was nothing he could do, nothing he would do. Mom’s lips were moving nonstop during her dance with my husband. From her delighted expression, you’d think she was the happy bride.
“It’s my turn,” Christian said.
My smile became less stiff as my brother took over. He gave me a quick smile as we began to dance. I rarely saw him anymore since he’d moved out five years ago at eighteen. Unlike many sons from Underbosses, he’d chosen not to work under Dad in Baltimore until he inherited the title himself. Christian had wanted to make a name for himself and had gone to work under the Morettis.
“It’s so good to see you,” I said, hugging him tighter.
He gave a terse nod. “It is.”
“You don’t look happy that I’ll live in the same city as you soon.”
Christian shook his head. “Not at this price.”
“You mean me being married to Cassio?”
Christian looked around, but Cassio was dancing with one of his sisters a good distance away. “He’s not the right man for you.”
“Because he’s too old.”
Christian let out a derisive laugh. “That’s only a small part of why.”