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I was beginning to see the tiny fissures in Mateo’s psyche. His sudden bursts of erratic behavior had a name, something I couldn’t pinpoint right then and there, but it wasn’t going to lead us anywhere good when it was finally coupled with my issues.
Not wanting to push that particular button, right then, I slightly nodded, ready to move the hell on.
“It’s…okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated back with a boyish smile.
This was going to be a long night.
Chapter Sixteen
The ride was quiet for the first twenty minutes.
He chose to drive the Wraith and I was silently content until my mind wandered back to my sister. In just a matter of minutes, I would be in the room with everyone who knew her these past few years. I was readying my mental shields for all the things I knew I’d hear.
According to the man I was to marry, she had slept with a great deal of those who ran in the same social hierarchy as he did.
Many of them had wives, and I was positive that hadn’t won her many glowing reviews.
Mateo drove well into Vice City, maneuvering through the streets with a laid back ease. At a traffic light, he leaned over and dropped a square, burgundy velvet box in my lap.
“I don’t have room for anything else,” I protested.
“You have an empty space on your finger that needs a permanent fixture,” he replied casually, not taking his eyes off the road.
I suddenly felt as if there were a bomb on my lap. With heavy trepidation, I opened the box. Nestled safely inside was a white-gold ring with one, fat sole diamond that could probably put a room full of kids through a prestigious college.
Even in the dark interior of the car, it shone like a small ray of light. I tried not to let vanity get in the way, but I loved it, and that only made me loathe its representation all the more.
“This is…too much.” I shook my head.
“Where you’re concerned, it’s never too much,” he objected. “Please put the ring on.”
“You’re determined to see this through, aren’t you?” I laughed softly, lifting my prison sentence from its box.
“I never do anything I regret, minha beleza, and I would deeply regret letting you slip away. I know these circumstances aren’t of the norm, and there are things you don’t fully yet understand, but if you allow me to, I will take very good care of you.” He reached over and took my hand, intertwining our fingers.
I didn’t have a response, and he didn’t say anything further.
I let out a small breath and silently asked my family for forgiveness, because his words mattered much more than they should have.
Chapter Seventeen
A chandelier hung from the ceiling, tables of hors d’oeuvres sat strategically around the room, and a live band played classical music from a mixture of violins, a harp, and a piano.
Paintings and sculptures were displayed for silent biddings. People stood in small groups, laughing and drinking golden hued champagne.
Mateo kept me on his arm, giving me a sense of added security as he led me around the room.
I was introduced to so many people I would never remember, and saw too many faces I would quickly forget. Every pair of eyes found their way to the ring on my finger, like it was a magnet.
A few people seemed genuinely pleased; others looked at me with smiles so plastic they could be cancerous.
But no one uttered a word of disrespect.
The difference between how people treated me at the funeral was astronomical, simply because Mateo was by my side.
As the night wore on, I quickly realized I just wasn’t cut out for rich people politics.
