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I say, “I just assumed it was small things. Petty crimes and such.”
“He tried to do more than that a long time ago, which got the attention of the Brotherhood. They sent me to check him out. To see if he might be a good fit for the Brotherhood.”
“How long ago?”
“Ten years.”
My stomach drops.
“Is that why you were in New York when we met?”
He nods. “Things didn’t work out. He couldn’t meet the requirements of the Brotherhood and that was that.”
“Wait. He couldn’t meet the requirements, but Giosuè could? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Caruso had something that the Elite Members wanted.”
“Was it…me?”
Because that’s the only logical reason Giosuè would agree to help my father. Somehow, marrying me was also going to help him get into the Brotherhood.
Alessandro is silent and looks off into the distance as if he’s thinking.
“Alessandro?”
“The Brotherhood likes their members to be married.”
“But why me? And why was he going to help my father? None of this makes sense.” I ask, “And why did you stop the wedding? Was that something the Brotherhood wanted?”
His voice is hard. “I stopped the wedding because I knew what a piece of shit Caruso was.”
“How did you know we were getting married?”
“All potential members have to go through an audition of sorts. I went with Brooks to Caruso’s audition. On the way, I looked over his file and saw your photo.” He gives me a small smile. “I knew who you were right away. After reading up on Caruso, I came to one conclusion.”
“And that was?”
His gaze holds mine. “There was no way in hell he was marrying you.”
Warmth flutters through me. “Oh.”
“So I stopped your wedding and told Caruso to step down. The rest is history.”
“Was the Brotherhood okay with what you did?”
He snorts bitterly. “Not at first. They’ve come around.”
“Wait. If the Brotherhood wants their members to be married, why weren’t you married? You weren’t, like, married before or something, were you?”
“I meant what I said at our wedding. You’re my first wife.” His lips brush against the top of my head. “My only wife.”
“Well, who can argue with that?”
“Certainly not me. Now, as much as I wish I could stay here with you all day, I have to leave. I should be back tonight, but if I’m not, it’ll be early in the morning.”
“Can I ask if it’s Mafia or Brotherhood related? Is that okay?”
“Now that you know about both, it’s okay to ask. This time I’m going out on Mafia business. There’s a pit boss who’s been stealing from one of the casinos under my protection.”
