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My mind spun wildly trying to wrap itself around what he was talking about. What was I signing? Amarriagecertificate? I turned to look at my father, who was looking at me sheepishly. What had he done?
All of a sudden, everything made sense. The courthouse, the mystery, his nervousness, the suits. My dress. He had bought me a wedding dress, had me put it on, and didn’t even tell me what it was for. I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner. Mostly, I think it was because all of this was totally coming out of the blue. Marriage hadn’t been anywhere on my radar.
What the fuck had he done?
“What’s going on here, Daddy? Why does it seem like you’re marrying me off to someone I don’t even know?” I demanded, turning fully to him and not even caring that there were others in the room. I could feel my pulse race with anger, and I balled my hands into fists, letting my nails dig into the palms of my hands. “I asked you what was going on. Why didn’t you tell me about this? You couldn’t have at least filled me in in the car?”
“I thought this would be the better way,” he explained, and I glared at him.
“You thought it would be better to spring this on me?”
“Yes… I—”
“In what universe does that seem like a good idea? Did you think I would just sign the papers and ask questions later? Or did you think I wouldn’t ask you at all? Seriously, Daddy, I love you, but this has to be the most asinine thing you've ever done.”
“Sweetie,” he said, pulling me into a hug. I didn’t want to hug him, but I wasn’t going to shove him in public either. So I stood rigid in his arms, refusing to hug him back. “I’m sorry. I did something wrong, and I tried to keep you out of it, but marrying Marco’s son will make us all family and will keep me, keepus, safe. I’m so sorry. I tried to keep you out of everything. But I messed up, and now you are paying the price.”
What had he done? Eventually I would get answers, but I doubted that would be any time soon. He was horrible at divulging information.
“If you don’t do this,” he whispered in my ear, “Marco might kill me. He might even come after you. This is the only way to keep us safe.”
Shit.
I looked over my shoulder at the younger version of Marco—apparently my husband-to-be. He was handsome, very fit, and well-dressed, with great hair and dark eyes. He was taller than me and older than me, but I couldn’t tell by how much. He was waiting patiently, the perfect poker face in place, though he did glance at his watch. At least he was easy on the eyes. I didn’t think that made for a happy marriage, though. Hell, I didn’t even know his first name!
I sighed and patted my father on the back. I had a feeling I was going to regret this.
“Fine. Let's do this then.”
Chapter 3
Jimmy
Chapter 3- Jimmy
Theyoungwomanwhohad walked through the door with Ray was stunning, which was pleasantly unexpected. She was gorgeous in a subtle way that had made me look twice at her. She had beautiful, shiny brown hair that was artfully braided and green eyes that scanned the room with obvious intelligence, and her body had nice curves in all the right places. She was shorter than me by a foot, which I hadn’t been expecting either. From what I remembered, her mother had been tall, and her father looked about five feet eleven inches.
But when those pretty green eyes passed right over me like I wasn’t even there, I felt something in my stomach tense. No one looked past me, and the woman I was supposed to marry shouldn’t either. When she turned to her father, my own father put his hand on my arm.
“He hasn’t told her what’s going on yet, Jimmy,” my father explained. “Don’t get upset with her. Ray handled it poorly, though I’m not surprised. He’s a coward when it comes to his daughter. Fine-looking girl though, huh?”
“Yeah…” I said, uncurling the fist I didn’t realize I had made.
That made sense. If she had no idea what was going on, then she had no idea I was the man she was going to marry. I heard her talking sharply with her father, but I didn’t pay too close attention. She was yelling at him, which I smirked at. She was feisty, which I liked. It could be a problem if she was like that all the time, but in a situation like this, I was glad she was sticking up for herself. She needed some backbone with a father like hers and a husband like me.
Even for the short time we would be married.
I had already decided in the week leading up to this day that we would remain married for a year and a half, and then I would file for divorce. There would be no need to remain married longer than that if there were no more deals between my father and Ray. So, going forward, I would just make sure my father didn’t strike any more deals with him. I would get involved with the Mafia itself if I had to, though to be honest, I had been avoiding it. I didn’t much like people telling me what to do and, even though my father sat very close to the crime boss Louie Bastionich, I would still need to follow orders. Not my style. I would help my father where I could, but that was the extent of it.
But a year and a half sounded reasonable, and I could hide my affairs well enough. It helped that I was never home, and she would have her own space. If I got lucky, she would cheat on me, and I could ask for a divorce then. But she had to be the one to file in order to keep the agreement valid. If I filed, it would look like my father was going back on his word. If she filed, it would be Ray not holding up his end of the bargain, and we would win. Once a little more time passed though, it would make more sense to say that it just hadn’t worked out, and thereby neither party would be at fault.
It certainly helped that I reviewed contracts all day. I was really great at finding loopholes.
I glanced at my watch, hoping she could wrap things up with her father so we could sign the paperwork, and I could go back to lunch. Even though it was Saturday, I had had to come over here on my lunch break. I was in the middle of taking over a company that made fishing lines, which would be a boom for me. I had three other companies interested in buying it from me.
“Fine. Let's do this then,” she said, and I nodded.
We approached the desk where the judge turned around a very decorative-looking piece of paper. It had our names spelled out in a swirly font that made them difficult to read. There was other writing on it, but I was staring at her name—Natalia Loraine Segreto. I liked the look of it. Natalia LoraineMorelliwould look better though, I had to say.
