“Nico, I heard about this. Your father arranged her match with Sil, Jr. Not you.”
“But he gave her to Alessio after I killed his brother in a fit of rage. I don’t regret killing the sadistic bastard who killed your mother, but I knew Alessio would abuse my sister.”
“You consider this your failure? It is not. If anyone is to blame, it's your father. I lived in the De Luca household for a month. Alessio does not mistreat Caterina.”
He nods, but I can tell he’s not entirely convinced of that either.
“I was preoccupied by my role in Caterina’s fate when I met Margareta at our betrothal dinner. I was colder and more remote than I should’ve been and… during the visit, I overheard the servants gossiping about how disappointed Margareta was that she wouldn’t marry handsome, charming Carlo Vicini and remain in New York. I understood, but it didn’t make me very excited to be a groom.”
“I can see why.”
“After that one meeting, we married a month later. She was already twenty-one, so no one saw any reason to delay.”
“And you had your first kiss at the altar?”
“I did. Not that I was about to tell anyone that.”
“It is silly that it would be a bad thing if I had kissed someone before we married but it would make you look bad if you had not,” I comment.
“You’re right. The double standards of the Trio are ridiculous. When I think of what the expectations will be for Lucia versusAmadeo, it almost makes me wish I could give them a different life but…”
No one leaves the mafia.
Neither of us says it. We both know it.
“Don’t get me started on the fucking bloody sheet tradition.”
“No, I will start you. Tell me.”
He smirks at my demanding tone before turning serious again. “As Margareta’s family was committed to the tradition, we knew our sheets would be presented in the morning.”
My nose wrinkles up in distaste, recalling stories I overheard as a girl.
“I wasn’t nearly as experienced as most men I knew. When we reached the hotel suite, I remember my hands were shaking after Margareta went to change out of her dress. When she rejoined me, she was in a sexy nightgown… and holding a blindfold.”
“Why a blindfold?”
“‘We’ll get this over with, but don’t make me look at your face or that ugly scar.’Those were her words. She climbed on the bed, slipped the blindfold on and spread her legs.”
“That is cruel."
"No crueler than I deserved."
"I disagree. But wasn’t she concerned how you might react?”
“A virgin bride, rightly afraid of a man like me? Yes. Not Margareta. She wanted me to be angry. She wanted me to be hurt by her words and attempt to hurt her in return. She wanted it rough.”
“For her first time? What did you do?”
He gives me a rueful smile. “What was expected of me. I claimed my bride. I told myself I didn’t give a shit if she wore a blindfold. I’dhardened my heart to what women felt toward me by then, but there was no blood like she’d hoped.” Seeing my confusion, he explains. “She wasn’t a virgin, Matilde. She’d managed to have an affair right under her father’s nose with one of his soldiers. She thought if I took her roughly she’d bleed to keep up the facade.”
“Oh Dio.What happened to her lover?”
“He died shortly before our wedding. A skirmish with the Bratva was the story, but I suspect Russo found out and had him killed for the sake of his pride.”
“Did she love him?”
“I don’t know. She never spoke of it again after she admitted the truth to me. I told her I didn’t care if she’d had sex before. I was relieved that her first experience wasn’t with a man that disgusted her while wearing a blindfold. But my indifference only made her angrier. She asked for my knife, saying there must be blood. I cut myself instead for the ruse.”
