We just looked at each other – really looked. The noise of the room faded into something distant and dull, like we were standing inside a glass bubble only we could feel. His eyes softened, dark and unreadable, and something settled low in my chest that had nothing to do with the music.
Then the bandleader’s voice cut in again.
“Alright, everyone – let’s get some love on that floor!”
Couples began to join us, laughter and movement filling the space, but Matteo didn’t pull away. He kept meexactly where I was, guiding me gently as we continued to dance.
No more words.
Just the quiet awareness of each other, bodies moving in sync, the world carrying on around us while we stayed right there – together, in the middle of it all.
Later in the night, after the formal dances had come and gone – my father and I, and my mother and her new son-in-law, followed by my own dances with each of my brothers – I felt lighter, like the night had finally loosened its grip on my shoulders.
My brothers had each checked in on me in their own way. One with a quiet squeeze of my hand and a look that saidyou good?, the other with a crooked smile and a joke that only half-masked concern. I’d smiled through both, meaning it.
What I hadn’t expected half-way through the night, was to look across the floor and see Gìo dancing with Carmen.
Gìo never danced withanyone– especially Mob girls. And Carmen, poised in a silk dress, daughter of Don Moretti of the New York Five Families, looked just as surprised as I felt. They moved easily together, almost like it wasn’t their first time sharing space.
My gaze drifted, instinctively searching for my troublemaker Tony, but I couldn’t spot him anywhere now. He must’ve slipped out for a cigarette. I made a mental note to find him later and let it go.
Before I could sink too far into my thoughts, someone clinked a glass, and the bandleader’s voice rang out again.
“Alright, ladies! Bouquet time!”
A ripple of laughter moved through the room. Girls lined up, even the ones who didn’t believe in marriage. It was still fun.
As I stepped forward, bouquet in hand, I scanned the crowd out of habit, a little disappointed to see Kim wasn’t there.
I frowned slightly, looking again, but she was nowhere in the room. I mentally added to my list of people to check on.
I turned my back to the group, lifted the pink-peony bouquet, and tossed it over my shoulder.
Laughter and cheers went up.
When I turned around, Carmen stood frozen for half a second, bouquet to her chest, eyes wide – like she hadn’t meant to catch it.
I laughed, walking straight to her. “Guess the universe has plans.”
“Don’t scare me!” Carmen laughed too, a little flustered, as I hugged her and kissed her cheek.
The band picked the tempo back up, the night flowing forward like it hadn’t missed a beat. And before I could take two steps back toward my table, Matteo’s hand found mine.
“There you are,” he said easily, already pulling me toward the dance floor again.
I didn’t resist.
As the music swelled and the room blurred back into motion, I let him whisk me away into another dance, the party carrying on around us.
PART THREE
Chapter 20
Present
Hamptons, New York City
THE SILENCE WAS DEAFENING AS Matteo closed the suite’s door behind us. I advanced into the room, my heart beating out of my chest for reasons unknown to me.
