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The money, the power…it’s irrelevant. It won’t change the fact that he’s raped and held me captive. It won’t change the fact that my parents are allowing this to happen. And it sure as hell won’t change the fact that I’m in love with Salvatore.
Somewhere between the late night movies and take out, I fell in love with Salvatore. Marrying his father ?no matter how it was arranged?is wrong in thousands of ways.
“Are you okay,tesoro?” my mother asks.
We’re at a cake tasting, and I have no appetite. I’ve told myself to be strong. I’m a Genovese, and we don’t run from adversity. I can do this. I can find a way out of this.
But I can’t. I don’t want to sound childish by whining about how unfair this is, but dammit, it’s fucking unfair. Why am I paying for the sins of my father?
“I’m marrying a man nearly twice my age that I don’t love. Am I supposed to be okay?”
“You’ll learn to love him.”
“No, I won’t. Honestly,Madre, you shouldn't expect me to. You should want more for me.”
This isn’t the conversation I want to have with her. I want her to be my mother. To tell me I don’t have to do this. That she won’t go along with forcing me into a loveless marriage.
“Tesoro, this is a good match. A marriage to Stefano sets you up for life.”
“That’s what I don’t understand,Madre. Our family is already set for life. I don’t need Stefano for that.”
“Your father wouldn’t have made this arrangement if he didn’t believe it’s what’s best for you, for all of us.”
“I’m in love with Salvatore.”
She looks around nervously, seeing who could be listening to us. No one is paying us any attention. We look exactly as we should. Like a mother/daughter duo at a cake tasting.
“You cannot say things like that.”
“I can’t speak the truth? Please don’t take that away from me,Madre. Not with you. You told me to be strong. To be a Genovese. You’re asking too much of me with this marriage.”
Reaching across the table, she takes my hand and gives me a sympathetic look. She didn’t love my father when she married him. She may have grown to love him, but she was forced into it. Family alliances, money, and power always factor in.
“You can always talk to me. You know that. And I will always tell you the truth, even if it isn’t what you want to hear. You belong to Stefano Moretti. Doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you love.”
“Are you saying I should?”
“I’m not saying anything except for you to do whatever it takes to be happy.”
Salvatore is what makes me happy. If I did whatever it takes to be happy, I’d be putting us all in danger. Is he worth it?
30
Salvatore
I’ve done my damnedest to avoid my father’s house ever since I watched him fucking Milana. Ever since I jacked off to him fucking her. If I don’t distance myself, that will become my obsession, and it’ll ruin everything I’ve planned.
“Do you have it ready?”
The attorney nods his head. “Listen, Mr. Moretti, I’m aware you understand the risks I’ve taken. If it weren’t for my son, I wouldn’t be doing this.”
“I understand. I’ll wire the money today. Get your son the treatment he needs.”
I preyed on this man’s weakness. His son needs a heart transplant. This is how he accomplishes that. The documents in my father’s safe are fakes.
“Thank you. Best of luck.”
I don’t need luck. I need a damn miracle to pull this off and make it out alive. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll fucking take my father down with me. Standing up, I shake his hand before walking out. I don’t plan to ever see him again.
