“Four weeks from now. October twentieth. Your father didn’t want to wait and I agree. He’ll marry Maria the week before our wedding.”
I stared at him, then toward my father who was leering at Maria like she was a piece of candy he wanted to devour. I was going to be sick. Any moment now, my dinner would come up again.
“Liliana, are you listening?” There was a hint of impatience in Benito’s tone and something less kind shone in his eyes.
I shivered. “I’m sorry. I was only surprised.” Surprised? Surprised? God, surprise didn’t even begin to describe my feelings. If there was already a date, how could Romero possibly convince my father to choose him as my husband instead? He couldn’t. I wasn’t naïve. Father would never agree to it. He wanted Maria, and for him to get her, he needed to sell me off to Benito in turn.
Benito smiled but somehow that made him look even scarier. Maybe it was my imagination. “It’s short notice of course, but people won’t want to miss our weddings so I’m confident that we’ll pull off a grand feast.”
I nodded. I clasped my wrist, feeling my pulse and surprised to find it at all. I felt so numb, I might as well have been dead.
Benito talked about guests we needed to invite and food we needed to serve but I couldn’t focus. I needed to talk to Romero. Benito touched my knee and I jerked out of my thoughts.
“You’re jumpy,” he said accusingly. He didn’t take his hand off my knee.
“I’m glad you’re getting along so well,” said Father as he came up to us from behind, Maria trailing a few steps after him like a good dog. I’d never been so glad to see my father. Benito removed his hand from my knee and I quickly got up. I needed to get away before I lost it.
Thankfully, Benito and his daughter left shortly after that.
Father looked incredibly satisfied when he closed the door after them. When he turned to me, his smile dropped. “Don’t give me that look. Benito is an important man. He’s one of our most influential Captains with a big number of loyal soldiers. To have him on our side is important.”
“Can I fly back to New York so I can go wedding dress shopping with Aria?” I didn’t mention Gianna, even though I felt bad about it, but I couldn’t risk Father getting angry again, and I definitely didn’t want to remind him of Gianna’s flight.
Father laughed. “You can go shopping here. I won’t let you leave Chicago again. There’s too much to do, and I don’t trust you not to do something stupid if I let you out of my sight. I know you and Gianna aren’t too different. I won’t let you ruin this. You will marry Benito.”
Once I was back in my room, I dialed Romero’s number with shaky fingers. He picked up after the first ring. “Are you okay?” he asked immediately.
“The wedding is in four weeks.”
“Fuck,” Romero growled. I could hear him hitting something and then the sound of something shattering. Romero had always seemed so in control. “Your father has lost his fucking mind. I won’t allow it. I don’t give a damn that he’s Consigliere.”
“Please calm down.” Part of me relished in his fury because it showed how much he cared for me but the other part was terrified of the consequences he might face if he acted on his emotions.
“How can you be this calm, Lily? Do you realize what that means?”
“Of course,” I whispered. “What about Aria and Luca? Can they do something?”
“I don’t know. Aria’s talking with your father right now.”
“Good,” I said half-heartedly, but I knew it was no use. Father had looked determined.
“Will you be allowed to return to New York?”
“No, Father doesn’t want me to leave Chicago. He wants to keep an eye on me until the wedding.”
“Damn it. I’m going to talk to Luca. We’ll find a way.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“I won’t lose you, Lily. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you. I swear it.”
“I know.”
“I’ll call you once I’ve talked to Luca.”
“Okay.” I sounded like a broken record. I hung up and sat cross-legged on my bed. I wasn’t sure how much time passed until Romero called again. I picked up at once. I was oddly calm.
“And?” I said.
Romero released a harsh breath, and I knew everything was over. A bone-deep sadness overcame me. “Your father will go through with this wedding. Aria tried to talk him out of it but he got really mad and accused her of trying to weaken the Outfit. He warned her not to get involved or he’d see that as an attack on the Outfit and advise Dante to cease relationships with us.”
“So there’s nothing to stop this wedding.”
“I can fly over to Chicago tomorrow and get you. I doubt your father’s men could stop me.”
“And then?”
“Then we’d figure something out.”
“Could we return to New York? Would Luca protect us?”
Romero was silent for a long time. “Luca won’t risk war over this. We’d be on our own.”
“Would that mean Luca would hunt us too?”
Romero sighed. “Lily, we could make it. I could keep us both safe.”
I didn’t doubt it, but what kind of life would that be? I’d never see Aria and Gianna again, never see Fabi again, never be able to return to New York or Chicago, and we’d always have to live in fear.
“Can I talk to Aria?”
“Of course. What’s the matter, Lily? I thought you wanted us to run away together.”
“I did. I do. But you love the Famiglia, and you and Luca are like brothers. You’d lose all that if you ran away.”
“You are worth it.”
I wasn’t sure that was true. “Can I talk to Aria now?”
“Sure. We’ll talk later again, okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
Aria’s voice sounded on the other end. “Oh, Lily, this is such a mess. How are you?”
“I feel like I’m
