Page 53 of The Mafia's Broken Vows

“Not unless you make one, hun,” she replies, not sparing me another look. “Just a friendly heads-up, by the way, the man you’re looking for is now permanently off the market.”

I blink in disbelief. Who the fuck does this woman think she is? “I’m not sure which fortune teller told you I was looking for a man, hun, but you might want to ask for them for a refund.” I retort.

Kira and her friend arrive, distracting me from the bitch next to me. Kira slips onto the plush seat, and the big tattooed friend stands next to her, watching me with an unsettling intensity. He inclines his head slightly as if in recognition.

“Addy, what’s going on? Zedd says you’re trying to leave,” Kira’s voice is tight and urgent, her unseeing eyes fixed on a point just over my shoulder.

“Oh, you know, just thought I’d cut the night short,” I reply, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Turns out I’m allergic to surprise mafia connections. Who knew?”

Kira’s eyes widen. “Addy—”

“How could you, Kira? All this time, you knew Dante, and you never said a word.”

Kira’s jaw clenches, and her hands curl into a fist. The tattooed man looks over at the catty woman sitting on the opposite side of me, bends and whispers something to Kira, then leaves.

Kira immediately lowers her voice to a whisper. “You’re one to talk about keeping secrets.”

“That’s different, and you know it,” I snap, my voice rising. “I explained why I did it. You, though. You have no leg to stand on. I thought we were friends, Kira. I thought we trusted each other.”

“Exactly,” Kira retorts, her words clipped and icy. “I trusted you. Both of you. You obviously met during the Rho Theta party in our senior year, right under my nose. Do you think if I could see, both of you could have kept that secret from me?”

I shut my mouth, guilt twisting in my gut. She has a fair point there. Looks like we’re both competing for the ‘Friend of the Year’ award.

“Look,” I say, my voice low, trying to get a grip on my swirling emotions. “Can I just go? Please? I don’t want to be here. I told you, Dante warned me to stay away from Chicago.”

“Addy,” Kira continues in a cool voice, “he’s here. And he now knows you’re here. So, you might as well stay and talk to him.”

My heart leaps to my throat, my eyes widening in disbelief. “Kira, are you serious? I have to leave.” I grab my purse, but then something awful occurs to me. “Did you tell him?”

Kira’s brows furrow as she shakes her head, and then she reaches for my hand. “Of course not. I’d never do that. It’s not my place.”

I yank my hand away from her. “But you thought it’d be okay to make me look like a stalker, right?” The thought sends a fresh wave of humiliation through me. “I mean, he already has dozens of women throwing themselves at him; what’s one more, right?”

“You only say that because you don’t know how he—” Kira starts, but the silky voice to my left interrupts our heated exchange.

“You know, you being a pathetic stalker might be the one thing we can both agree on.”

I whirl around, facing the catty brunette again. “Look, I’ve had it up to here with your nonsense. I don’t know what your problem is or who you think you are—”

“I’m Alina De Luca, the woman he’s marrying in a few weeks. So, I think I’ve earned the right to demand that you keep your filthy paws off Dante.”

I roll my eyes, not even about to rise to her wild claims. “Right. And I’m the Queen of Boston. Lovely to meet you, too.”

“Oh no,” Kira murmurs beside me, and I whirl on her.

“Addy,” Kira grabs for my hand again, and this time her grip is like a vise. “You’re right, Addy. You should go. You can um, come back later.”

Kira’s reaction tells me everything I need to know.

Suddenly I don’t want to leave. “Is it true? He’s getting married?”

Kira nods imperceptibly and murmurs, “Arranged marriage,” under her breath.

Rage. Jealousy. And a few other ugly, painful emotions I can’t be bothered to name rush through me. I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Oh, wow. An arranged marriage. How charmingly medieval. What’s in the clause? A dowry of goats and a public bedding ceremony?”

Here I was, secretly—stupidly, apparently—loving the idea of a part of Dante growing inside me. And now, I find out he’s getting married to someone else.

I guess that gives me the clarity I need. Along with a heaping dose of humiliation.

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