Cheering and laughter sounded from many married and unmarried women. Of course, Lily was among them, jumping up and down with a bright smile. Everything was a game for her. I didn’t want Matteo’s eyes on her, I didn’t even want her name in his mind when he thought of marriage. As was tradition, he had to pick an unmarried woman to dance with.
Luca stepped close to me, his arm sneaking around my waist in casual possessiveness. I flinched at the unexpected contact and Luca’s body became rigid.
Matteo extended his hand toward Lily, who looked close to exploding from excitement over being chosen. My chest tightened. I knew it was a joke right now. Nobody took a fourteen-year-old girl seriously.
As Luca and I waltzed over the dance floor, I kept an eye on Lily and Matteo. His hand was high on her back, his expression teasing. He didn’t look like a man who’d set his eyes on his future wife.
“If my brother married your sister, you’d have family in New York,” Luca said.
“I won’t let him have Lily.” The words were fierce. How could I be tough when it came to protecting my sister, but not when it was about me?
“It’s not Lily he wants.”
My eyes flew to Gianna, who stood with her arms wrapped around her chest, eyes like a hawk as they followed us. Father wouldn’t give away another of his daughters to New York. If he wanted to strengthen the position of our family in the Chicago Outfit, he needed to make sure he had enough family around him.
After the waltz was over, a faster beat began and the dance floor was once again flooded with guests. Luca started dancing with my mother, and I used the moment to slip away. I needed a few moments to myself or I’d lose it. I lifted my gown off the ground and hurried to the edge of the garden where the grass met the bay before I walked down the few steps to the dock, where a yacht was lying in wait. To my right a long beach stretched out. The ocean was black under the night sky, and the breeze tugged at my dress and ripped strands from my updo. I stepped out of my high heels and jumped off the dock, my feet landing in the cool sand. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of the waves. The wooden boards creaked, and I tensed before glancing over my shoulder and spotting Gianna. She shook off her own shoes and joined me on the beach, wrapping an arm around me.
“Tomorrow you’ll leave for New York and I’ll head back to Chicago,” she whispered.
I swallowed hard. “I’m scared.”
“Of tonight?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “Of tonight and every night that follows. Of being alone with Luca in a city I don’t know, surrounded by people I know even less, people who might still be the enemy. Of getting to know Luca and finding out he’s the monster I think he is. Of being without you and Lily and Fabiano.”
“We will come to visit as often as Father allows it. And about tonight.” Gianna’s voice turned hard. “He can’t force you.”
I let out a choked laugh. Sometimes I forgot that Gianna was younger than me. These were the moments that reminded me. “He can. He will.”
“Then you’ll fight him with all you’ve got.”
“Gianna,” I said in a whisper. “Luca is going to be Capo dei Capi. He’s a born fighter. He’ll laugh at me if I try to resist. Or my refusal will make him angry, and then he’ll really want to hurt me.” I paused. “Bibiana told me I should give him what he wants, that I should try to make him be good to me, try to make him love me.”
“Stupid Bibiana, what does she know?” Gianna glared at me. “Look at her, the way she cowers in front of that fat fool. How she lets him touch her with his sausage fingers. I’d rather die than lie under a man like that.”
“Do you think I can make Luca love me?”
Gianna shook her head. “Maybe you can make him respect you. I don’t think men like him have a heart to be capable of love.”
“Even the most cold-hearted bastards have a heart.”
“Well, then it’s as black as tar. Don’t waste your time on love, Aria. You won’t find it in our world.”
She was right, of course, but I couldn’t help hoping.
“Promise me you’ll be strong. Promise me you won’t let him treat you like a whore. You are his wife.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Yeah—whores at least get to sleep with other men and don’t have to live in a golden cage. They are better off.”
I snorted. “You are impossible.”
Gianna shrugged. “It made you smile.” She turned and her expression darkened. “Luca sent his lapdog. Maybe he was worried you’d run.”
I followed her gaze to find Romero standing at the crest of the small hill overlooking the bay and the dock.
“We should have taken that yacht and run away,” Gianna said.
“Where could I run? He’d follow me to the end of the world.” I glanced at the elegant golden watch around my wrist. I didn’t know Luca, but I knew men of his kind. They were possessive. Once you belonged to them, there was no escaping. “We should go back. The wedding cake will be presented soon.”
We put our shoes back on and walked back toward the noise. I ignored Romero but Gianna scowled at him. “Does Luca need you for everything? Or can he at least take a piss on his own?”
“Luca is the groom and needs to attend to the guests,” Romero said simply, but of course it was a reprimand in my direction.
Luca’s eyes settled on me the moment I returned to the festivities. Many guests were already drunk, and some had moved up to where the pool was and were taking a swim fully clothed. Luca held his hand
