Page 134 of Mafia and Gold Digger

“I did, of course,” Christian says. “I mean, we are supposed to be in an alliance with them. Plus, I’m now related to them given that my sister, Anni, married into their family.”

I see Anni on the arm of Lorenzo Marchiano, and her fluffy white cat is held to her chest with her free hand. I’m pretty sure none of the wedding invitations said that pets were allowed, but Anni is cat-obsessed and inseparable from that animal.

The Marchianos reach where we’re standing, and as they do so, Anni’s cat jumps down from her arms and leaps across the aisle, chasing God knows what and nearly tripping up Lorenzo.

“For fuck’s sake!” Lorenzo says with a scowl at the creature.

“I see you still haven’t managed to get rid of Anni’s floofball,” Christian says with a chuckle.

“Having pets,” Lorenzo says darkly, “is like the Mafia. Once you're in, there's no getting fucking out.”

How someone as upbeat and positive as Anni puts up with a grump like Lorenzo is beyond me. But they seem happy—well, at least when Lorenzo isn’t complaining about her cat. Although Anni didn’t have much choice except to have an arranged marriage to Lorenzo after that stunt she pulled. It was hardly the best way to get on the radar of your future husband. And I doubt Anni ever imagined she’d be marrying a single dad with two preschoolers. But they seem to have made the marriage work after the extremely rocky start. And from what I’ve heard, Anni’s an absolutely amazing mom to Lorenzo’s kids from his first marriage.

I can’t help noticing a number of fathers tighten their grips on their daughters as they catch sight of the Capo, Marco Marchiano—no doubt due to his reputation for kidnapping unmarried girls.

Lorenzo and Marco offer me their congratulations. “I hope this isn’t some girl that Anni found for you,” Marco mutters.

“Excuse me?” I clip.

Marco grimaces. “I still remember the time Anni made an online dating profile for me without my knowledge or permission.”

“Marco, you know I’ve apologized a million times already for what my wife did,” Lorenzo huffs. “You know Anni is difficult to control at times.” He throws a glance over his shoulder as Anni chases her cat across the church as it causes complete mayhem among the guests. “Anyway, you’re married to Juliana now, so you didn’t have to resort to any of those girls Anni found for you.”

Marco snorts. “As if I would have looked twice at any of those girls. With all that stupid shit Anni made up for my online profile, anyone I matched with was bound to be completely crazy.”

“You know she meant well,” Lorenzo says in defense of his wife.

“Er, why on earth has the cat got a large pink bow tied around its neck,” I find myself asking.

“Don’t ask,” Christian says. “Anni might be my sister, and I love her dearly, but she has slightly eccentric ideas at times.”

Ma Veneti comes stomping up to us at that moment and jabs a finger into Lorenzo’s chest. “Who said that you could bring the furball here with you?” she shrieks from right next to me.

I don’t know why Christian’s ma insists on shouting every time she speaks, and I’m tempted to stick my fingers in my ears just to block her piercing tones.

“Look, Ma,” Lorenzo grits out, fast losing his patience with his mother-in-law. “I never wanted the cat in the first place. I only ever agreed to take your daughter, and no one ever said anything about me having to take the cat as well.”

I watch as Camillo Marchiano walks to his seat, holding the hand of his wife, Rosa, and looking adoringly into her eyes. Their son, Ethan, is beside them. No one would be able to tell that Ethan isn’t Camillo’s birth son. And when I see how Camillo took on a single mom and her son, and I see how close they are and their obvious love, I know that’s what I want it to be like between me and Emerald and her siblings. Emerald comes with a ready-made family, and I’m totally fine with that. Actually, more than fine. Because I love the kids now just as much as I love Em.

After Camillo has got his family seated, he strides up and growls at his oldest brother, Marco. “Rosa made those for me, asshole!”

“What are you talking about now?” Marco drawls in a dismissive tone.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Camillo grits out. “She made the piesfor me.”

“Look, I didn’t touch the apple pie,” Marco blusters, shifting uneasily from one foot to another.

Camillo glares at him. “You ate the peach pie. Plus, a slice from the lemon pie. Those ones were mine as well—they’reallmine, and you know that.”

“Aw, come on, Camillo, you gotta learn to share?—”

“Just keep your filthy paws off my wife’s baked treats, or you’ll be fucking sorry,” Camillo says with a scary scowl.

I suppress a grinbecause everyone knows that Camillo’s wife is the best cook in that family, and the brothers often fight over the cakes and pies she bakes. Camillo stomps back to his seat.

And I hear Rosa speak to him. "Don't worry, I’ll bake some more pies and cupcakes just for you tomorrow." Then she smiles and lowers her voice. "And I've got another special treat for you later tonight..."

Camillo is the enforcer for the Marchianos, and he has a fearsome and brutal reputation, but as soon as he looks at his wife, he completely softens. He's a totally different man when he's with her, and he doesn't care who sees it. She was in desperate need of protection from her extremely dangerous ex, and Camillo never once let her down. They have the sort of marriage I aspire to, and I only hope that I can prove myself worthy of Emerald.

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