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Leo groans, running his hand over his head. “Can we talk about this more? I’m not the marrying kind.”
“You are now,” Marco says.
This entire time, I’ve been sitting here, watching everything unfold around me. No one has even asked me my opinion.
The thought of Leo and me marrying is truly crazy. I always assumed I’d find a nice, quiet man. Someone like me, someone who loved books and museums as much as me, to be my husband. Not Leo—a man who has charisma and knows he’s all that. A man who makes me shiver in the best way possible when he smiles at me. A man who has a bad reputation when it comes to women.
A man who is the complete opposite of me.
And just like that, I begin to laugh. It starts off small and soon becomes a hysterical fit. Emilia looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. I clutch my stomach as it begins to hurt from laughing so much. Marco frowns in my direction, and Leo smiles slightly at me, though he also looks incredibly confused.
I don’t think anyone has ever heard me be this loud before. I don’t even thinkI’veheard myself be this loud before.
“Fran, are you ok?” Emilia rubs my back and tilts her head down to meet my gaze. “Fran?”
I can’t stop laughing. So, this is how my life has turned out. I’m marrying a man I don’t really trust but one I also want to kiss again. Our kiss … it was like everything inside me woke up for the first time in my life. How can I want to be near someone while also want to be far away from them?
None of it makes any sense.
I assumed I’d come to LA, spend some time with Emilia, not find a husband, and return home to New York, where I’d have to deal with Mom ignoring me and Franco insisting I find a husband. I never expected any of this.
“Fran?” Emilia gently shakes me. Tears are creeping out of the corner of my eyes as I continue to laugh.
“It hurts,” I gasp out, holding my stomach. “Oh, it hurts.”
“That’s because you’re laughing like crazy,” she replies. “Are you ok?”
My laughter slowly subsides, with only a few more giggles escaping me. But finally, release washes over me. I can breathe again.
“I’m ok,” I tell her. “Laughing doesn’t make me crazy, you know.”
Emilia frowns and pulls back slightly. “I know. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” I say to get rid of the growing awkwardness in the air. “It’s just … never mind.” Now that I’m back in my right mind, I look at everyone in the room. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
“Of course,” Emilia says. “But I just assumed since you two were kissing …”
“That I’d want to marry him?”
Leo puts his hand over his heart. “Ouch. I’m hurt by that.”
“It’s not like you want to marry me either,” I say to him. “We barely know each other. It’s understandable.”
“Right.” Leo averts his gaze. “I like you, Fran, I just … never expected to get married.”
Leo does like me. I still don’t quite understand why. He told me it was because he finds me fascinating because I don’t fawn over him, but I feel like there needs to be more. I know for me, when it comes to Leo, I like him because he actually shows me attention. He makes me feel seen like no one else has ever done. He’s captivating.
And I still don’t trust him.
Which is the real reason I don’t want to marry him. Leo is not the safe option, and besides, I don’t want him marrying me only because he’s forced into it. That’s not exactly confidence boosting.
I turn to Marco. “It was only a kiss, as Leo said.” My cheeks are on fire, but I continue to face Marco. “I’m sure my reputation will be fine.”
Emilia runs her hand over my hair, something she hasn’t done since I was little. “Fran, that’s not how these Mafia men work. They expect a woman to be completely pure. If Leo goes around town telling everyone he kissed you, speculation will start that you two did more than that. It will hurt your chances at a good marriage. No man with any kind of good reputation will want to marry you after that.”
“I don’t even want to get married!” I snap, standing up. Emilia looks so surprised, like I shocked her with a wire. I get why. I’ve never spoken to her like this before—heck, I’ve never spoken to anyone like this. “I never wanted to. I know it’s my duty, but it’s not something I want. Why can’t I just be left alone?” I cross my arms over my body, feeling my mind withdraw into myself.
Emilia lets out a huff as she stands, her hand on her lower back. “Because as you said, it’s your duty. It’s the duty of all of us to get married.” I know when she says “all of us,” she means our siblings. “It’s just the way it is. I don’t want Leo to marry you; that’s obvious. But this is the only option now. So, a marriage is happening.” She spins around to face Leo. “And you.” She pokes her finger into his chest, making Leo arch a brow. “If you so much as hurt her in any way, I’m going to make sure your life becomes a living hell. You got it?”
