AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pull out the engagement ring. It’s a pink, pear-cut diamond on a silver band. I had absolutely nothing to do with buying it. Fran went out a couple of weeks ago and picked it up after I told her I hadn’t even thought about it and she chastised me for twenty minutes about using my brain for something other than business.
I slide the box over to her and her eyes light up. “Wow, it’s beautiful.” She breathes, gently taking the ring from the box and slipping it on her finger. I’m glad she didn’t want me to do it. That feels too intimate for someone I barely know. She takes a closer look, eyes flicking up to mine. “Is it ethically sourced?”
Jesus Christ.
I stare at her blankly. “There’s no such thing.” Her eyebrows pull together and her hand goes up to a necklace around her neck with a small diamond. That felt like telling a kid that Santa wasn’t real. My drink arrives and I swallow it in one. “Keep them coming,” I say to the waiter just before he leaves.
She stops staring at the ring folding her hands in her lap delicately and looks up at me.
“You look beautiful.” Honestly, I’m just saying what she wants to hear, she's pretty plain. I mean yes she's pretty. I'm not blind but her cheeks are round, no hint of the high sharp cheekbones I’m looking for. Her eyes are wide, not the siren eyes that have burned themselves into my memory. Her nose is small and cute, not angular. Her hair is nice, thick and brown but it doesn't make me want to wrap it around my fist. When the fuck did I develop a fetish for hair?
She still says nothing. I think about bringing Benny over to swap places with me because lord knows that boy could have a conversation with the wall. The blush on her cheeks intensifies and she looks away with a small smile. If a simple compliment gets her like this, I hate to imagine what she’ll be like when I have to kiss her, or fuck her on our wedding night.
This may be worse than torture.
She lets out a long exhale, finally turning back to me with her chin slightly lifted. “Maybe we should google good questions to break the ice?”
My mouth curves into an involuntary smile, my eyebrows raised.
She lets out a flustered breath of amusement, her cheeks going a deeper tint of pink and smooths out her dress. “Sorry, I'm just super nervous.”
I shrug taking the glass and the bottle the waiter just came back with. I motion to the bottle and she shakes her head quickly. “No, thank you. I don't drink.” That will change. I pour myself more than needed but fuck it. Who's gonna tell me no?
“This whole situation will probably be much easier if you did,” I tell her before sinking the glass.
Amusement lines her green eyes but her face doesn't change. “Yeah, alcohol would probably make my life a lot easier but that's the same way alcoholics think and I'd rather not stumble down that path.” I stare at her over my glass for a second. She's got an old soul. Reminds me a bit of Raff. Just old beyond her years. You can see it in her eyes. It’s odd, most daughters who grow up in mafia-related families are incredibly immature down to how sheltered they are. They go from father to husband never really doing anything for themselves. I guess that’s why I took such an interest in Casimira. She moved all the way across the Atlantic with no family for support and made a life for herself. I've got a lot of respect for it.
Her eyes go round and she pulls herself back a fraction from me. “I was- I wasn't trying to offend you I didn't mean that I thought you were an alcoholic.” She says pulling me out of my own head.
I shake my head at her, relaxing back against the chair and throwing my arms back. “You’re fine.” She seems to relax but keeps her knees directed away from me. “And if you ever offend me, you don't need to fear me. I don't believe in the ’seen and not heard’ bullshit.”
She doesn't believe it but I don't really care. “It would be your right if you did.” She says tightly. I would hedge a bet that she's been trained from birth to be dutiful and obedient. She will have to drop that with me, I can't have a wife that’s unable to stand up for herself. She’s an extension of me, people need to know they can’t fuck with her.
I ignore her comment because I haven't got the energy to unpack years of misogyny right now. I swirl the liquid in my glass around staring over the ledge onto the city below. My city. The whole reason I'm doing this. “So you don't have any vices?”
“No.”
She answered way too quickly. I tip my glass towards her. “That's a lie.” She looks at me warily and I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”
She looks behind her to where her father is on the other side of the roof speaking to Carmine and Raff. She turns back around and shrugs one small shoulder, avoiding my eyes. “I smoke.” She says it so quietly that the warm breeze almost carried it away.
I nod. “Everyone needs something.” I’m starting to think my something has sharp green eyes, black hair and takes men’s money for a job.
She’s probably working tonight. It is a Saturday. I could ring Franco now and find out.
Nope.
Francesca comes walking over, slipping into the seat beside Isla. “Isla, this is my younger sister Francesca. She's only a few years younger than you.” That makes me feel physically sick.
Fran grins. “It's lovely to finally meet you. It will be nice to spend some time with you so we can get to know each other.”
Isla smiles politely. “I would love that.”
Fran reaches for her hand, turning her ring finger so the soft light catches the diamond. “Wow, what a beautiful ring.” She says like she isn’t the one that picked it out and I almost choke on my drink with a laugh.
Fran narrows her eyes at me silently telling me to shut up. Isla looks between us both and leans forward towards me. “Are you okay?”
“Yep, fine. I’ll leave you both to it.” I say quickly as I take this as my chance to escape for a bit and head straight for the bar. I'm not nearly as drunk as I want to be right now to make this night tolerable.
