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Ishift gears, slowing down, looking for a spot to park. The house is lit up, and clusters of people are grouped outside and in the house. Their shadows are on full display in the windows. To be honest, I don’t care whose party this is. I have one goal in mind—make our breakup believable. My heart twists into itself. Insecurities and doubts seep in that no one could love me with the same passion as my father loves my mother.
Seeing a spot, I pull to the curb, and my tire hits it with a thud.
Stepping out, I don’t bother locking my car. Looking behind me, my retinue of bodyguards pulls off to the side, cutting the engine.
“You are a gross, disgusting pig!” a woman shrieks across the lawn, drawing my attention back to the party. In the middle of the yard, Romeo Mancini is looking bored, while some girl is ripping him a new asshole. “When you sleep with a girl and say you’re going to call her, you fucking do it!”
Romeo crosses his arms over his broad chest, quirking an eyebrow. His eyes drift from the girl in front of him to me. An alarming swirl floats through my stomach the moment our eyes meet. I catch Romeo’s lips twisting up at the same time I take a step closer. The feeling immediately brings acid from my stomach up high enough to taste. I put one foot in front of the other, heading toward the entrance, which bypasses him. I’m forced to step closer to the little show they’re putting on.
I peek through my dark lashes and pause, realizing I’m about to have a similar display. Now, with interest, I watch the girl, studying her reaction, trying to memorize them to use for later.
“First, I never said I would call. You need to think of us sleeping together like a job interview. I didn’t call you, because you didn’t get the job.” He smirks cockily at her while looking out at everyone watching. Low, deep chuckles murmur around as Romeo becomes the center of attention.
My stomach tightens. What if everyone ends up laughing at me? I swallow, rubbing the base of my empty ring finger. The one I thought would be covered by now. My relationship will soon be seen as a mockery, and I’ll be the hot topic of the party, everyone wondering what happened to make us end things.
I chance another glance at Romeo. His gaze looks like one of indifference. Once he’s determined he’s tired of their exchange, he turns away from the woman. A smile ghosts his lips, seeing I’ve stopped to watch like everyone else. He makes a show of looking me up and down before winking. Everyone knows he deserves every bit of what that girl is yelling. However, I’m sure it’s lost on his deaf ears.
Last I heard, his mother disowned him and his brother after his father died. Their deceased father was Pierre Mancini, the Don of their family, with who we’re constantly fighting. Then there are rumors of his oldest brother, Jonny, being a rat. But he’s dead now too, and dead people can’t talk. No one knows the whole truth. Romeo Mancini has bigger problems than I do. He would have been heir to the other mafia family, but now he’s been tossed away, needing to make scenes at parties like this to feel special.
It’s probably a good thing that no one takes notice of him anymore, believing him to be a nobody. I have no doubt one of my bodyguards would have shot him on the spot a few months ago because of family drama. His family tried to ruin ours with shootouts, stealing weapons, forced marriages, typical things in the mafia. But now, the Mancinis have been reduced to nothing. A new family has taken their place, and my father believes he’s come out on top.
The girl steps up, her arm rising to slap Romeo across the face once again. His large hand grips her wrist when it comes swinging up toward him. He’s no longer smiling, looking scary. Not even I would mess with Romeo Mancini right now.
I live by one rule: don’t mess with someone who has nothing to live for.
Currently, Romeo is the walking, talking role model for that definition.
I keep on walking, wishing I had a drink in hand. I’m used to being surrounded by my friends and fiancé. It’s an odd feeling being by myself.
For the first time in my life, people don’t trip over themselves to move out of my way. I have to slip by the crowd in the doorway, bumping into their shoulders and stepping on toes to get in. I even get yelled at.
Scanning the smoke-filled room, I see my sister Katrina on some guy’s lap. He’s blowing smoke into her mouth. She promised our father, the most powerful man in the Italian mafia, she would never touch a drug again. I guess she lied. I’ve come to learn my sister is a pathological liar. She can’t help herself.
Just like Alfonso can’t help himself. My heart pinches at the thought of the only man I have ever loved. I still love him, and I can’t see that ever changing. My heart still stings at the knowledge that I’ll have to watch him continue his life without me. If our plan doesn’t work, I’ll be forever married to him, and we’ll have to pretend that everything between us is amazing to everyone outside our little world.
My stomach twists, remembering I once thought I hit the jackpot with Alfonso. I had our whole life mapped out, and I loved everything about it. Ask anyone. I’ve always said I was the luckiest girl in the world. My arranged marriage was to the man I love. To the man who is my best friend. To the one person I would trust everything to.
Spotting a keg, I walk over, grabbing a red Solo cup and pumping some beer into it. It tastes like shit, being lukewarm, but I drink it all down. Holding my cup, I fill it to the rim. Part of the yellow liquid seeps over the edge as I wander around the house, curious if I’ll see any of my friends.
My hands are clammy, seeing Alfonso walk into the house. He looks like his normal, sexy self. Ripped jeans with a leather jacket. He takes off his coat as he walks farther into the room, showcasing his sculpted arms under his blue T-shirt.
I step closer into the middle of the room. My nerves are getting the best of me. I blow out a breath, trying to calm myself. Alfonso and I have never fought in public. This will be a first for everyone, even if we are putting on a show.
I catch his eye, and he comes toward me, looking perfectly at ease. “Where have you been?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips.
He gives me a side look. “Don’t be like that. I had to stop for something.”
“Then why did I get a phone call after you left, from a girl saying she’s sleeping with you?”
The party noise quiets down as we gather more interest. My stomach bottoms out. Alfonso rolls his eyes. “She wanted to suck my cock. That’s all that happened.”
I feel like he slapped me, even though I know this is all fake. Cheating in the mafia world is more prevalent than we women want to believe. It’s the one thing you can do to your wife or girlfriend that won’t get you punished. That is, as long as that woman isn’t the daughter of Nicoli Rossi.
Deep down, I think I always knew he didn’t love me the same way I did him. I just never wanted to believe it.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I whisper, the words grating on my tongue, making it hard to say.
“It was one time, baby. She means nothing.” He steps in, ready to hug me. His eyes apologize, and I step away from him.
