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“Call if you get lonely,” he says, voice softening as he turns away. “I’ll be back as soon as possible, I promise.”
“Take your time. Really, I’m all good.”
He leaves, and as the door shuts, regret slams into me.
I can’t believe I just did that.
The room feels tiny as I pace back and forth, even though we’re in a massive, gorgeous three-room suite at the top of a tower overlooking the Strip. I can barely breathe as I stare down at the simple gold band on my finger, the memory of the flowers still playing in my mind, the taste of his kiss still locked onto my lips.
This ring is the symbol of my marriage to Gian Rossi.
Two weeks ago, I hated this guy. Heck, two days ago, I still despised him.
Now he’s my husband.
This is such a huge mistake.
There’s something brutally wrong with me. He made a mistake somewhere and all his assumptions about how this will play out with our families are all totally wrong. My father’s going to lose his shit, force us to get divorced, and my life will be immeasurably worse. Then when I have to marry Saul, he’s going to punish me for betraying him like this for the rest of my life, and honestly, I think I’ll deserve it.
This is the second time I did something stupid and drastic to get myself out of a marriage situation. I got away with the first one, mostly because Renzo ended up finding a wife he actually fell in love with. But this time, I won’t be so lucky.
I change into more comfortable clothes, some sweats and a t-shirt, but I can’t take it. I make it through maybe ten minutes of some serious existential spiraling before I pull out my phone and call Sophia. I video chat with her, which isn’t something I normally do, but I’m so messed up and I really need to see her expression when I break this news.
It’s like I’m torturing myself, but I can’t help it.
My cousin’s face pops up onto the screen. She’s sitting in the solarium back home. I recognize the glass ceiling, the meticulously cared-for plants, and the patio-style furniture. “Allegra? Where the hell are you right now? Your dad’s looking everywhere and I’m pretty sure he’s like ten seconds from calling in the whole Famiglia. Is that a freaking hotel room?” Her eyes widen. “Don’t tell me you did it again. I’m serious, if you did it again?—”
“I didn’t run away. Well, I sort of did. But it’s worse,” I say, interrupting her. I walk over to the window and show her the view. “I’m in Vegas.”
“Vegas? What are you doing there?”
“Gian Rossi brought me.”
I turn the phone around to see her expression. She’s confused like she’s trying to make sense of it. “Are you on some kind of trip with the Rossi Famiglia or something like that? Are you out there with Saul? If you’re with them, just call your dad and tell him what’s up before he burns down the freaking city trying to find you.”
“I really screwed up, Soph.” I lower myself onto the couch and pull my knees up to my chest. “Really, really bad.”
“What’s wrong?” She’s very still, frowning into the screen. “You’re pale, sweetie. Just say it, okay? I’m alone, it’s fine, nobody can hear you.”
“I married him.” I whisper the words because I’m afraid that saying them out loud will somehow make things worse.
“You did… what? You married Saul?” She looks confused, eyebrows knit. “That’s not so bad, since you’re supposed to. Your dad will be pissed you’re skipping the wedding, but?—”
“No, Soph. I married Gian.”
Her mouth falls open. Her eyes go wide. Then she laughs. “Stop it,” she says. “That’s not even remotely funny. You freaking hate that guy, right? Whenever his name comes up, you look like you’re going to internally combust. You think you hide it, but you’re totally transparent. Can you even imagine the shitstorm if you really did that?”
“Soph—”
“I’m pretty sure your dad would have an actual heart attack. Like, if you really screwed up this marriage thing twice, it’d murder him. You’d be committing murder.”
“Soph!”
“Just saying, you didn’t marry Gian. You’re not that stupid. Right?” Her laughter dies down and she’s peering at my face again. “Allegra. You’re not that stupid, right?”
“I’m definitely that stupid.” I lean back against the pillows and close my eyes. “I really did it.” Then I hold up my hand and the ring.
She screams. An actual scream. Like a blood-curdling horror movie scream. I drop the phone and leap from the couch, afraid someone’s chain-sawing her in the back, but no, that’s just my cousin losing her shit. I snatch the phone back up again and glare at her. “Would you stop it?” I hiss. “That was a total overreaction.”
