The door opened and Giulia slipped in. She was beautiful in her bold violet dress with her light brown hair. She carried herself with confidence and had for as long as I could remember. That was probably how she had managed to make her marriage with Cassio work despite their age difference.
She came toward me and touched my shoulder, her brows drawing together. “Are you okay? You left the party.”
“I’m not feeling well. You know I’m not good around so many people.”
Her eyes softened further, and I knew what was coming. “Luca would kill him if you told him what he’s done.”
“No,” I croaked, my eyes darting to the door, afraid someone would come in and overhear us. I often regretted that I’d confided in Giulia shortly after it had happened, but I had been broken and confused, and she was always kind. “You swore not to tell anyone. You swore it, Giulia.”
She nodded, but I could tell that she didn’t like it. “I did, and I won’t tell anyone. It’s your decision, but I think Uncle Durant needs to pay for what he did.”
I shuddered, hearing his name. Turning my back on her, I washed my hands again. “You know that I will be the one to pay, Giulia. This world isn’t kind, least of all to a woman like me. I can’t go through this. I will be worse off than I am now. Your parents already have trouble finding a husband for me. If the truth got out, I’d die a spinster. They would never forgive me.”
Her lips formed a thin line. “My parents never treated you the way they should have. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. They took me in. They never hit me, never punished me harshly. It could have been worse.”
“I could ask Cassio if one of his men would be a good match for you. There are many decent men in his ranks.”
Decent. Cassio ruled over Philadelphia with an iron fist. What he considered decent probably didn’t qualify as decent for other people, but I had no right to be choosy or judge others.
“No. That would offend your parents. You know how they are.”
“Yeah, I know …” Her brows tightened.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m in no hurry to marry,” I said. Marriage would be my final ruin.
CHAPTER 2
NINO
“I assume you will hold back during our meeting and not offend Vitiello,” I said as Fabiano and I boarded the plane.
“I’m not a genius like you, but I’m no imbecile either. Don’t worry, I know when to shut up.”
I nodded as I sank down into one of the comfortable leather seats. Fabiano usually had a good handle on his emotions, unlike my brother. “That Luca even agreed to meet us at all is a good sign.”
Fabiano sat in the seat across from me. “It might be, yes, or Luca wants to put a bullet in our heads.”
“No,” I said. “He won’t risk war with the Camorra. Remo would attack, and he wouldn’t do it with subtle tactics like Dante Cavallaro. He’d go to New York and go on a killing spree they haven’t seen in the Famiglia before.”
Fabiano smirked. “Yeah, he’d do that. But I hear Luca has gone on a few impressive killing sprees in the last few years to get the Famiglia under control and shut up the Bratva. He and Remo are pretty similar when it comes down to it.”
“To some extent, but Remo doesn’t have wife and children he needs to protect.”
Fabiano raised an eyebrow. “Remo protects Savio and Adamo, and even you and me by some degree.”
“That’s different,” I said.
Fabiano regarded me carefully. “You really think marrying is a good idea?”
“It’s—”
“Don’t say it’s the logical choice,” Fabiano muttered. “I want to know if you really think you can be with a woman like that. You are messed up, Nino. Not in the same way Remo is messed up, but still fucking messed up. Fuck, even I’m messed up, and it almost cost me Leona. And it’s still fucking difficult sometimes to make this relationship work because I keep saying or doing things that unsettle her. And let’s be real: I’m the fucking epitome of normalcy compared to you. Women aren’t like us. They want their fucking knight in shining armor. They want roses and all that emotional shit. They want declarations of love. That’s not something you’re going to give your future wife. To be honest, I think most women would kill themselves within a few weeks of marrying you rather than live under a roof with all you Falcone fuckers.”
“From what I know, arranged marriages aren’t based on emotions. They are based on tradition and rationality. A woman who’s given to me in marriage knows what’s expected. She’ll know it’s business. She’s a chess piece. And I can assure you, I will prevent her from ending her life for as long as her survival is required for peace.”