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“You said it yourself earlier, it’s business.”
“It doesn’t mean that there can’t be pleasure,” I reply nuzzling my lips against her neck. Just the taste of her skin is intoxicating.
I frown at the frostiness between Rocco and the blonde standing in front of me. She is standing so close to him that I feel an odd wave of jealousy overcome me. She tries to kiss him, but he turns his face, and I can see two pink patches on her cheek. She turns to me with a venomous look before she leans in close to me and says in a low breath.
“Congratulations, sweetie. If you think you’re the one who will tame him, then I’d think again. After all, a man who spends a lot of time and money on women of vice is a man to watch out for,” she says, smiling at me. I look at Rocco, feeling fury overcome me but he doesn’t say anything. I turn back to Keira but when I open my mouth to argue but she continues on and whispers, “I’d keep my eye on him if I were you. I hope you can keep him satisfied, otherwise I will.”
“I’d like to see you try,” I say ascold ragewhips through me. Rocco gazes at me quizzically but I ignore him.
Keira looks at me, clearly flustered that I stood up for myself. I smile back at her emotionlessly and she turns on her heel angrily and disappears into the crowd, her platinum blonde ponytail whipping from side to side until she is no longer visible.
“Ignore that little bitch,” a voice whispers in my ear, as Rocco is whisked away by his men. I turn around, and Rocco’s sister is eyeing me in a concerned way.
“I’m fine,” I say trying to shake the unsettling feeling inside of me, but obviously she doesn’t buy it.
“Lucia.” She holds out her hand. “Rocco hasn’t bothered to introduce us.”
“Sophia, Rocco clearly hasn’t told me a lot,” I mumble. “Thank you for the wedding speech, it was very nice,” I say giving her a small smile.
“It was nothing.” She says waving her hand.
“Who is the blonde? Is she his girlfriend?” I say swallowing nervously. I can’t deny she is very pretty, like a Barbie doll but life-size with the matching plastic tits and ass to match.
“Girlfriend?” She snorts. “Rocco. Never.”
“He’s never had a girlfriend?” I say, surprised.
“I don’t think he’s even cared that much to call anyone his girlfriend. He’s had women but none of them last long. Keira is the daughter of the Irish Mob Boss, and she thought if she inserted herself in his life enough, he would magically decide to put a ring on it.”
“So, they’re not together?”
“I haven’t seen her for a while. It’s you he married, not her. If it’s any consolation, I prefer you a lot better than her and Angela,” she says, squeezing my shoulder.
La Cura plays on in the background as the Italian words are sung out huskily by the band singer. Mama has really gone out all out with the wedding planning, although this is more like her wedding than mine. Lavender is not my favorite color, red is but apparently that is ‘too wild’ for a wedding. All the décor is lavishly exquisite, from the seven-tiered cake to the Swarovski embossed tablecloths. The music is also mama’s taste; men in their seventies crooning passionate Italian love songs are definitely not my thing. However, tonight, I find myself resonating with the melancholy of the lyrics.
My mind is raging with so many thoughts, namely involving Keira. She isn’t lying about them sleeping together, Rocco didn’t deny it either. Their exchange was a little too frosty to just be acquaintances.I’d keep my eye on him if I were you. I hope you can keep him satisfied; otherwise I willtrills in my ear. Has he already lined her up as his sidepiece? If so, why does he want me to live with him?
Mama told me that he brought Angela a place in the city, so I assumed it would be the same deal with me. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to be in his presence all the time, but now that had been pulled from me. I can still feel his lips caressing my neck, and how every drop of oxygen left my body. I don’t understand any part of him. I have heard from his very own mouth that this was no more than a contract to him, but when he found me with Henri, I could see the jealousy in his face.
The game of one-upping each other had already begun. I could feel Rocco’s eyes on me as soon as Henri approached me. I guess it was okay for him to showcase his ex-girlfriend atour wedding, but for me to talk to a guest was overstepping the line. How could he switch between hot and cold so quickly?
The question is, how do you deal with a man like that? I guess the answer may be to mirror him. He can never get close enough to me to hurt me, I won’t give him the satisfaction.
I had let myself slip once before, which had ended in an unimaginable tragedy, and it couldn’t be repeated. It would have been easier with Pietro, somebody whom I had little to no interest in, but Rocco stirs up a carnal interest in me that I can’t ignore. He is like the button you are warned not to touch but instead are drawn to pushing. Every step towards him is like inching toward a fiery temptation, but I can’t help it. The song peters out, and he pulls away from me, his eyes locking into mine.
“It’s time for us to leave, I will meet you in the limousine. Say your goodbyes.” He makes a hand gesture, and two of his men flank me as the guests line up to kiss me goodbye. Papa and my brothers emerge from one of the conference rooms looking slightly careworn, and Mama and Zia stand next to them with their handkerchiefs. It feels strange to me that I am no longer standing with them, I can already feel the gulf growing between us.
“He’d always been a man who followed his head and not his heart. The heart was just a bloody motor. The head was meant to drive.”
—Mario Puzo
SOMEHOW IT FEELS DIFFERENT THAN LAST TIME, THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO GET MARRIED.
Yet I know it’s the wrong person I am doing it with, Mama exchanges looks with me.
I can see that she is thinking the same thing, perhaps in her eyes I have managed to siphon a little bit of honour back to make up for everything that happened in Chicago.
As I get into the limo, I give them one last wave; Sophia Falcone is no more. Rocco remains silent in the limousine along with two armed men sitting in front of us, another next to the driver with two jeeps behind us and another two in front. I swirl around both rings on my finger, the red diamond engagement right catching the sunlight and sparkling.
