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"We can postpone the wedding." Unfortunately, I'm confident that between my father and the don's men, my sister will be found quickly.
"The dumb bitch ran away," my father growls. "There is no postponing. You will wear her dress. You will walk down the aisle. You will marry the don. Once he's spoken his vows, he cannot back out. He won't be happy though."
"Think about this," I urge my father. "The Don will be furious. He will punish you."
"The only one who is going to be punished is your sister and you for helping her." The malevolence in his eyes is terrifying.
"I didn't help Carlotta run away," I say, but I know it's no use.
My father glowers at me. "Of course, you did. She would never have thought of this on her own. Did you do it to get back at me?" He takes my arms in a bruising grip and shakes me. "Did you?"
I don't reply. He has already made up his mind to believe I'm the mastermind behind Carlotta's disappearance. Never mind the fact that I didn't run with her.
"I thought she wasmydaughter, but just like you, she belongs to your pathetic mother." He says that like it's the worst insult imaginable, but I know it's not.
I'd much rather be my mother's daughter than my father's.
"What are you going to do to Carlotta?" I ask, fear for my sister making my skin clammy with sweat.
"You have to ask me that?" my father sneers. "I'll deal with her like the traitorous bitch she is."
Cold chills run down my spine. I know what papà means when he saysdeal with. Carlotta ran away. That's considered a betrayal of him, her promise to the don and the Cosa Nostra. Our father won't just beat my sister. He'll kill her. And no one will stop him.
I cannot believe she's done something so reckless.
Yes, I was planning to run away, but I have a plan. I have money. She has none of that. And I know my father would be just as happy to see me gone.
Carlotta is engaged to the don though. She is Papà'sstellina. He will never forgive her for this. And he will never stop looking for her so he can punish her for the blow she's dealt his pride.
Carlotta thinks she can do anything because Papà has always indulged her. Her note to our father proves that. She thinks he'll understand. Why?
I know Papà doesn't hit her like he does me, but even if she doesn't want to, she knows. She's seen me when I couldn't get out of bed to come down to dinner after one of his rages.
My thoughts are racing. I have to save my sister, but I don't know how.
Only one man can save Carlotta now. Her fiancé, Don De Luca. I have to talk to him before my father gets a chance to poison his mind against Carlotta.
I'm not just worried about what Papà will do to her either. Anything could happen to Carlotta right now. She's too trusting. Too vulnerable. She needs to be found and found quickly.
Facts click, click, click in my brain and I see my one chance. The only way to talk to Don De Luca before my father can is to walk down the aisle of the church.
"Sì, Papà,sì. I will put on the dress," I say, trying to make my voice soothing and to hide my terror driven determination.
He steps back and I go into the room that I thought my sister was in all morning long. Her wedding dress still hangs in its garment bag.
Papà has followed me into the room. "Get it on."
I just stare at him. He finally realizes that I'm not going to change with him standing there.
"I'm not leaving you alone for a fucking minute. Get that dress on now, or I'll dress you myself." He turns around but remains between me and both doors out of he room.
I limp as quickly as I can across the room to the wedding dress, while keeping a wary eye on my father. I should have gone up the aisle already in preparation for my sister's entrance.
Reaching around to unzip the dress I am wearing, I feel a piercing pain, but I do not pause. If I'm going to save Carlotta's life, I need to get that dress on. Now.
I let the blue chiffon slip to the floor, making no effort to pick it up as I step away from the pile of fabric.
I pull Carlotta's dress out of the garment bag and wonder how I am supposed to make this work. Where my sister is tall and slim, I am short and rounded. The gown was altered to her exact measurements. It does not matter, I'm going to have to make it work.
