There was a ring inside with a diamond the size of a walnut so sparkly I had to squint. “I’m not wearing your ring. I already have one.”
“Which you’ll have to take off.”
“Over my dead body.”
He threw his hand in the air. “Bianca, what did I just tell you? I don’t have time for your sentiments. All you have to do is pretend for a little while so you can fucking survive. How hard could that be?”
“So fucking hard I feel I could just die right now.” My voice shivered. “I’m not taking Cosimo’s ring off, Enzio. Do whatever you wanna do.”
“Fine. You can wear it when no one is looking.”
“No. I’ll wear it on my other hand. Always. My husband died three days ago.” Remarrying this fast should be illegal, but it wasn’t in the state of California. I checked. How someone could get a death certificate and a marriage license in three days beat me, but, of course, the Lanzas had their ways. “No one would expect me to forget about him that fast. If I take it off,thatwill be suspicious.”
I averted my gaze, but I could feel his on me as he towered over me. My heartbeat rang in my ears as I waited for him to buy my lie. After a few seconds, he held my hand, and I gasped. “Relax, I don’t bite.” He took off my ring and band and put them on the other hand. Then he slid his ring on my finger.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“It looks good on you.” His breath fell on my forehead. “You’ll look beautiful, too, if you try to smile.”
I should have said he looked good, too. Instead, my hand retracted fast as if I couldn’t bear the simplest touch from him. “I don’t see you smiling either, and you were the jolly twin.”
“Cosimo, too, used to smile and laugh a lot before he became the boss. I guess the grimness came with the job.” He stepped back and adjusted his jacket. “Do you have any questions about the arrangement before I take my mark?”
“The bodyguards… I don’t need that many. Cosimo assigned only one for me.” Leo. He took a bullet right before I was kidnapped.
“Yes, you do. Times have changed. It’s not the same in the family anymore, and I protect what’s mine.” He headed for the door. “By the way, Alfarez is here to see you.”
Papi Carlos. The only father I’d ever known. My heart leapt. This was the first glimmer of good news I’d received since my life tumbled down.
Enzio glanced at me over his shoulder. “I trust you’ll be acting like the good wife you should be and stick to your lines when I let him in this room. I plan to honor our agreement, Bianca, but if you give me trouble, in any way, you know what I could and would do.”
Chapter 4
Bianca
“Mija,” Alfarez sighed as I threw myself into his arms. The guards threw a warning glare at the both of us before they shut the door.
“Did they give you any trouble?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’m still Alfarez, mija.”
Right. Papi Carlos had always been so nice to me sometimes I forgot he was once a gangster, too. His family and the Lanzas respected and helped each other as long as I could remember.
Alfarez used to be a cartel mule until his wife died of an overdose. When he decided to quit, he turned to Giovanni Lanza for protection. Cosimo’s father agreed in exchange for little favors and a moderate tax. Their arrangement didn’t die with Giovanni. Cosimo honored it, and apparently, Enzio would do the same.
I gave him a small smile, the best I could plaster under the circumstances. He was in a pale blue suit and a matching tie, his face shaved, his hair shiny and extra black like it had just been dyed. “They invited you to the wedding?”
“Even better. Enzio asked me to give you away.”
“What?”
“Which means…” He leaned in. “I can sneak you out of here,” he whispered in Spanish.
I gasped and broke our embrace. “It’s very thoughtful of him to let you walk me down the aisle.” My eyes widened at the door as I willed him to understand.
He rolled his eyes toward the door and shook his head. Then his gaze shifted toward me, dripping with blame, “I told you so,” written all over his face.
Alfarez did everything in his might to shelter me from Cosimo and the Lanzas. He might have had an agreement with the family, but he knew them too well to give them his daughter. Since I was eight, since Cosimo set his eyes on me, Alfarez had tried to stop him from pursuing me, but nothing could have stopped Cosimo or real love.
