Page 43 of Mine Again
Over the next few days, the new plan takes more and more shape in my mind.
I named it NUPTIAL.Normal, Uncomplicated Partner To Initiate a Life.
It’s a viable option worth exploring.
Find someone good. Someone kind. Marry him quickly. Quietly. Someone outside of all this, who can’t be twisted into using me.
If I play this right, no one in our world will realize he exists until it’s too late to stop me.
And if I look happy, I’m sure Mateo will offer his protection, which would make us untouchable.
It won’t be easy, but itispossible.
No one knows what will happen next with Father gone and Mateo as the new Don ofla famiglia. I’d rather take matters into my own hands than sit around waiting to find out.
Anything is possible. So why not my new plan?
I even came up with a few taglines to take the edge off. They’re ridiculous, but they still make me giggle.
From blood ties to broadband plans.
Escape strategy: marry someone who thinks “capo” is a coffee.
Because love shouldn’t require a background check.
I’m sitting cross-legged on my bed, laptop balanced on a pillow, staring at the blinking cursor on the dating app I just joined.
Mia would have a field day if she saw this.
I tap my fingers on the keyboard, let out a long breath, and begin typing.
“Independent Sicilian woman seeks kind, emotionally available man who is not secretly married, or in the Mafia, or otherwise under criminal investigation.”
Oh, that’s terrible. Way too bitter.
Erase.
Let’s try again.
“Looking for someone who enjoys books, the sea, and doesn’t consider murder an acceptable business solution.”
Delete.
Now I’m just being obvious.
Sienna once said my type is emotionally distant on the outside, with a superiority complex and great arms. Which is rude, but not entirely wrong.
I stare at the screen. My mind is blank.
I can survive under surveillance and navigate the treacherous mafia life, but writing a dating profile might prove too much for me.
I scroll through the site again for inspiration. Not long ago, Mari half-joked that the best way to meet someone normal was online.
“You can spot the red flags early,” she said. “And block them faster than in real life.”
How she concluded that, I have no idea. Maybe Ella told her.
At the time, I laughed.
