Page 5 of The One
Chapter Three
Mateo
Idon’t like weddings. They remind me too much that mine isn’t happening anytime soon, that my wait continues.
Watching this one is painful.
Renaldo Conti is one of our most capable enforcers and, judging by his blank, emotionless expression, not interested in his nuptials. I’d bet my favorite Ferrari that his mind is anywhere but here with his bride. It’s a shame, she’s pretty.
Unlike Renaldo, his fiancée is an open book. Antonio’s daughter is a bundle of nerves, struggling to keep her emotions in check.
Even beneath the veil, it’s obvious how pale her face has become in the past few minutes. Her hands shake, and her entire body trembles.
Poor girl.
Being married to Renaldo won’t be easy. He has a cruel streak, and I can only hope it doesn’t carry over into his marriage. Despite this, Antonio is celebrating the match with the Contis, who have served our family for generations.
Antonio Accardi is a master schemer. Loyal to a fault to each Don, first topapàand now to Tiero, he’s used his talents to expand our family’s reach and connections. He’s well regarded and has steadily climbed the ranks. He’s likely to become my brother’s next consigliere when Baroni retires at the end of the year.
Right now, Antonio is focused on securing his position by marrying off his daughters to influential men within our organization.
He has five of them, a fact he has unashamedly lamented since their birth. It’s a sentiment neither Tiero nor I share. Any child is a blessing.
How anyone can despise their own flesh and blood is beyond me.
A male heir is needed to pass on our crown, and I’m confident that either Tiero or I will eventually provide one. De Marcos have always fathered sons first, but any daughters will be just as loved. Our marriages will be love matches, not the archaic arranged unions that still dominate our circles, like the one we’re witnessing today.
Tiero might become a father soon. He suspects Ella is pregnant. But we’ll never know if we don’t find her. And that is proving difficult.
She must have help. There’s no way she could slip through our tightly woven net on her own. While she’s clever, she’s still an amateur.
I glance at my brother who’s sitting beside me, wondering what’s going through his head.
He’s been on edge since Ella ran a few weeks ago, and this wedding must remind him of what he desperately wants but can’t have. A bit like me, just that he has found his girl and I haven’t… yet.
Still, he wouldn’t have missed it. As head ofla famiglia, he attends every wedding and funeral to foster a sense of community and belonging.
La famiglia,it’s everything.
We’re born in it, and we’ll die in it.
Loyalty is demanded, betrayal punished by torture and death.
My gaze returns to the couple by the altar when Father Josef speaks again.
“Renaldo, do you take Mariella to be your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Antonio’s girl turns even whiter.
“I do,” Renaldo says, without a hint of emotion.
My eyes are on the girl as she struggles to keep her composure.
“And do you, Mariella, take Renaldo to be your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
There’s only silence.
And… more silence.
