I quickly narrow my eyes at him so only he catches it. This only makes him smile more.
I meet the rest of his family, failing to remember the vast majority of their names. I retain only Marco, Vincenzo, and Elena.
I’m not paying attention to the beautiful entryway as we enter the castle because my mother is at my side already.
“Where are your manners, young lady?”
“I’m sorry, I am not myself right now.”
My dad hisses in my ear next. “Where the fuck did you and Bianca go?”
I swallow. “We went for a walk, and my purse—”
He cuts me off before I can explain that I was robbed and I’ve technically already met Alessandro.
“You better hope and pray everything works out and you end up living here. If you end up back in Detroit, I swear to God you’ll be living in a bunker. And that’s not a threat; that’s the reality of the situation of how fucked we all are.”
“Johnny, just calm down,” Mom says. “Let’s get through this evening.”
I turn around when I hear hysterical laughter. It’s Alessandro and Elena.
He winks at me, and I don’t have to do much guesswork at what they’re laughing at—me.
This dinner is going to suck.
Chapter 4
Alessandro
“Whatdidshecallyou?” Elena whispers at my side and then switches to English for a beat. “Fucking asshole? That’s a new record for you. Usually, it takes at least a day for them to hate you.”
I laugh. “Well, at least she’s still breathing. Name one of your suitors that you haven’t had killed.”
Elena’s thirty-two and has successfully gotten out of every-single betrothal that’s been set up for her. I handled some of them. Max Calabrese was an outlier where my sister didn’t have to lift a finger to get out of that one. The rest? I’m unsure of myself. Elena must have asked for help from someone else.
She playfully shoves me as I spot Sal walking past the two of us. Alongside myself, he’s another one of Marco’s capos. The one I trust the most—except for maybe Gio, the computer guy—but Sal has seven children who all have young families who would struggle to flee if things don’t go as planned on the day of our wedding.
“Give me a moment, Elena. I need to tell Sal something before dinner.”
I clap my hand on his shoulder. “Has the news gotten around?”
Sal raises his eyebrows at me. “There’s always news. What specifically are you talking about?”
I keep my voice low. “Marco’s plan for the reception.”
“Is there a new band?” he jokes.
“No. I shouldn’t tell you the details here, but it’s going to get ugly. Marco is still angry about Elena’s arrangement getting called off, and he plans on retaliating.”
“During the reception?” he hisses. “Where all our families will be?”
“Yes, which is why I wanted to make sure you knew, seeing that you have roughly three-hundred grandchildren under the age of twelve. And who knows if Marco was planning on telling you and the rest of the captains or not.”
Sometimes Marco likes to leave important information out for dramatic flair.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Of course, Vincenzo knows already, but make sure Gio and Dante find out as well.”
