AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The castle, my home for the past few days, stands tall and proud beneath me. Its sturdy walls and turrets are a testament to its enduring strength, the Russo family’s enduring strength, a symbol of protection and safety in an unpredictable mafia world.
And yet, as I look out at the beauty and tranquility before me, I want nothing more to do with this place.
I knew before we even arrived.
But I didn't have the courage to tell Sav, did I?
To not board that jet to fly from Greece to Italy. Or, once we took off, to have him tell the pilot to take us home, to head back to New York to land. So I could run to the comfort of my family’s arms and tell them I would never leave them.
Instead, we rode in total silence, side by side, the entire way here.
The tension between us should have been visible, it was that strong, making me incredibly uneasy.
I knew I was doing the wrong thing, but he never said a word.
I thought maybe I’d misread the entire relationship. That he really hadn’t changed and now that he’d gotten my virginity, I was just another notch on his belt. That if he really liked me, he’d stop this whole thing.
Or at least ask me if this is what I want.
But he didn’t. He left my room after dinner at the Parish without touching me, then reappeared at five thirty a.m. to collect me and my bags. Not saying a word about the trip we were about to go on.
He’s as loyal to the family as I am.
I guess that would be stealing, wouldn’t it? To aid me in my ending the arranged marriage when I haven’t said a word that would tell him I want to do so. Is the thing we hold strongest in common, our loyalty to the family, our downfall?
Our stubborn loyalty to the family is what is going to keep us apart.
Before I say I do, before I make Giovanni Russo my husband, I have to at least tell Sav how I feel. I have to finally cross that shaky rope bridge that makes my stomach feel like I’m twenty thousand feet in the air, swaying back and forth over a rushing river. And come clean.
I want to throw up, just thinking about sharing my feelings with him. I mean, only a short time ago, I was looking up Giovanni’s picture, sure I was making the right decision. This is crazy. Right? To want to be with Sav after such a short time together? But one thing I know about me—the thing everyone who knows me knows to be true—is that I know my own mind. I know what I want. My fingers go to the stone wall, holding on tight as I start to sway.
I feel dizzy and nauseous. “I want you, Sav,” I whisper. “I don’t want him.”
But I’m alone and he doesn’t hear my whispered words and they soar off in the wind, cascading over the rolling green hills.
The light clearing of a throat surprises me, making me jump. I’m not alone. I turn over my shoulder.
A slight, willowy young girl with long blonde hair stands in the doorway staring at me, her thin arms crossed over her chest. Posie, the younger sister of two married Russo women. She’s quiet, always watching from a distance. I hope she didn’t hear what I just said.
“Posie. Hi. What are you doing here?”
She doesn’t answer my question. Just eyes me head to toe in a way that makes me feel vulnerable, like she can read my mind. Did she hear my confession to Sav?
Finally she speaks. “You don’t look like my sisters when they got married.”
“I’m sorry?”
Her cornflower blue eyes meet mine. “They smiled.”
“Oh—I…” But my response melts away.
I don’t know what to say.
“I have a feeling about today.” She narrows her gaze, scrunching her nose.
I’ve heard she’s strange, blunt, and a favorite of the people living in the castle. I’ve not spoken to her yet, but I am finding the strange part accurate.
“Really?” I ask.
