“You are so very beautiful,” Giulia said quietly.

Egidia clasped her hand in front of her stomach, regarding me with more affection than I’d ever seen before. “You are.”

The stylist left the room with a small smile, which I returned even as my facial muscles felt ready to burst from tension.

Egidia smoothed out the veil lining my neckline again before she faced me, touching my shoulders. “As women, we have to fulfill our duty to our husbands …” she began, and I tensed because I knew where she was going with it. “You don’t have to be—” She stopped herself. Don’t have to be scared? Those were the words every mother spoke to her daughter on their wedding day. I knew because Giulia had told me Egidia said the same thing to her on her wedding day. I met Aunt Egidia’s gaze and the guilt I’d seen in her eyes before was back. “Make him treat you like a lady.”

Giulia stepped up to Egidia. “Mother, let me talk to Kiara, okay? I think she will feel more comfortable around me.”

Aunt Egidia nodded, looking relieved. She patted my shoulder then walked out, leaving me alone with my stepsister.

Giulia sighed as she regarded me in the mirror. “I don’t like this, Kiara. You shouldn’t be marrying a Falcone. You are the last person who should.”

“Why? Better than someone innocent.”

Giulia gripped my hand hard. “Stop it. You aren’t dirty or less or whatever you think you are because of what he did to you. And you don’t deserve this.”

“Who deserves this? I don’t wish this fate on any other girl. I will survive.”

Giulia perched on the vanity. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Don’t say anything. There’s nothing you can tell me that will set me at ease,” I told her quickly. I knew what was going to happen tonight, and I had lived through it before. I swallowed. “I won’t fight him. I will do what he wants. Then surely it will be endurable. I’m not thirteen anymore.” My words were hushed, broken vowels strung together.

Giulia breathed deeply. “My God, Kiara. Tell Luca. He can still find a way out of this for you.”

“Cancelling the wedding today? That would be a slap in Remo Falcone’s face. He isn’t a man who will turn the other cheek. He will seek revenge, no matter the price.” I took a deep breath. “No. I will marry Nino. Did you get the pills I asked you for?”

She held out a small package to me. “One should do the trick, but I really don’t think you should drug yourself to be calm.”

“It’s a light sedative. It won’t knock me out.” Although, I would have preferred that effect, but Nino would not appreciate it if I were unconscious when he claimed me. My stomach pinched sharply, and I pressed my palm against it.

“Kiara—”

“No. I’m doing this. Many choices have been taken from me throughout this life, but I choose to salvage my honor, choose to hold my head high no matter what happens. Let this be my choice.”

Giulia nodded and got up. “Because the Falcones are feared, because they rule without mercy, doesn’t mean Nino won’t treat you with kindness. Some men don’t bring violence home to their wives. Some men can distinguish between the ones they need to protect and those they need to break. I think Nino might be one of them.”

I wondered if she really believed her words or if they were just to console me, but I didn’t have the courage to ask her. I stuffed the pills into the small white purse that matched my dress. “Can you give it to me at the party? I can’t carry it down the aisle.”

Giulia took it and hugged me briefly. “Of course.”

NINO

My brothers and I weren’t religious, so we had refused to marry in church, much to the Famiglia’s disapproval. I wasn’t sure why they clung to their beliefs when they broke every rule established by their religion on a daily basis. Every man would end up in Hell, if what they believed was truth.

I waited at the altar that had been set up in front of the tent in the gardens. Remo stood beside me as my best man, his eyes undressing Kiara’s bridesmaid Giulia in a way that made her husband Cassio scowl. I sent Remo a warning look but he ignored me. He probably would have preferred a bloody wedding, and from the look on Matteo’s face as he sat in the first row, he would too. Adamo and Savio sat a few seats away from the Vitiellos. To my surprise, Luca had allowed Aria to sit beside Leona. They seemed to be getting along well, and even Fabiano exchanged the occasional word with his sister.

Remo rolled his eyes when he followed my gaze. He should have been happy that his insane plan was working. A truce between the Famiglia and Camorra seemed like a valid possibility.

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