Once again, he had a point. Whatever vanity our father possessed was trumped by our mother. She’d been a looker when she married at twenty. With the help of Botox and plastic surgery, she remained stunning. She never left the house without a full face of makeup, hair done, and outfitted in designer wear.
With a smirk, I swept my hand to my chest dramatically. “The absolute horror of you breeding with someone who wasn’t a perfect ten in looks.”
Rafe snorted. “Exactly. If I was a betting man, I’d wager that Andrea Caruso is as beautiful as she is rich and connected.”
I waggled my brows. “Lucky you.”
With a roll of his eyes, he countered, “Yeah, lucky me.”
“Stop acting like this is a death sentence.”
“Isn’t it?”
In Rafe’s mind, marriage equaled a death sentence. Truthfully, we both found the idea of being tied to one woman for the rest of our lives akin to torture. Neither of us practiced monogamy. We both loved the chase as much as the spontaneity of not knowing who you might wake up next to in the morning.
We were absolute bastards when it came to women.
My lips quirked at the thought of one of the few times I’d ever heard Caterina remotely curse. It was shortly before she’d entered the convent. After she witnessed a hysterical woman who Rafe had broken things off with, she’d shaken her head with disgust and called him aputtaniere.
Although he hated to be tainted in her eyes, not even our baby sister calling him a manwhore would change his ways.
Or mine for that matter as evidenced by my call girl last night.
I knew without a doubt marriage sure as hell wouldn’t change Rafe. Despite not wanting to be anything like our father, he would be in his disregard for his vows. Our father had numerous mistresses over the years to which our mother merely turned a blind eye. It was just the way it was done in our world.
The SUV came to a halt outside the gates of a sprawling mansion. It was evident that this wasn’t an advantageous marriage on the Caruso’s end--they appeared on equal financial ground with us. I could see why out of all the potential brides, Father had chosen Andrea for Rafe.
Once we were buzzed inside, the gates opened, and the SUV rolled through. After we came to a stop in front of the massive main house, Guilio quickly hopped out to open the door for us. As we started up the marble steps to the porch, Edoardo walked to the landing.
With a serpentine smile, he extended his hand. “Raphael, I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Thank you. I appreciate you making time for us on such short notice.”
“While I’m sure the news seemed rather unexpected to you, it is something both your father and myself have discussed in great detail.”
“I’m sure you have.”
“I feel like I already know you from what all your father has told me.”
“I’m honored that you’ve decided to join your family with ours.”
At Rafe’s pretentious responses, I turned a snort of laughter into a cough before cutting my eyes over to Rafe.
He shot me a look before saying, “May I introduce my younger brother, Leandro.”
As he shook my hand, Edoardo said, “Welcome to my home.”
“Thank you.”
Edoardo turned his attention back to Rafe. “I’m very anxious for you to meet my daughter.”
Forcing a smile to his face, Rafe replied, “As am I.”
“I don’t know how much your father has told you about her.”
“Unfortunately, not much.”
“Andrea is my oldest child. Since her birth, she’s been raised to be a fine mafia wife. I can assure you will find her obedient and submissive.”
