Page 9 of The Mafia's Bride
“Doesn’t matter now.” She shrugs, seemingly unbothered by our father’s last words. Can’t say I care much, but I expected more from her. Her and Pops were together in the business, I assumed they had a tight relationship. She was his heir, after all.
“Isn’t it in bad taste to go against the last Captain’s orders?”
Maeve tilts her head, a reptilian act that makes her seem like a viper. “No. And I don’t care about old customs.”
“Very New Age of you.”
She leans against the wall, face devoid of emotions, the glass of something deep-brown in her opposite hand. “What do you know about the families in the city?”
Licking my lips, I shrug. “A lot less than you. Unlike you, Pops didn’t tell me anything about his business.”
“He had his reasons.”
I glare at her. “Because he didn’t trust me? Because he didn’t even like me?” I snort, bitterly. He trusted Maeve, he adored Collins.
Maeve wars with something, biting her inner cheek before she sighs tightly. “They weren’t great reasons, kid. But there’s not much one can do against a Captain when they have no power.”
Something about her words strikes me, but not enough to combat the spiral of self-loathing. Not enough for me to stop and listen.
“Fine. Whatever.” I shift again, the chair absolutely a nuisance now. “I know there are two families in our area. Bruno and De Luca. Bruno tends to be toward the North, De Luca toward the South. Pops took over some of their territory, carving out a spot.”
“Years ago, yes.” The ice clinks in her glass, the only sound beside the pelting rain against the half windows, barred from break-ins. “Bruno handles exports. De Luca handles imports.”
“Exporting and importing what?”
I only get silence for my question.Right.She’s going to be like Pops and keep me in the dark.
She probably is just as disgusted with me as Pop was. It would make sense. She never stopped the fights, never defended me against my father. Maybe she agreed with him all along.
“Now that I’m Captain, I have to think of the entire clan. Make sure every action benefits us all.” Those eyes flash with something like malice but it’s gone just as quickly as it comes. “De Luca and I came to an arrangement.”
I cock my head, trying to follow her train of thought. “Alright, good for you. What do you want with me?”
Something tickles the back of my head, a slight warning bellthat’s dulled by booze and the somber atmosphere. Something I should pay attention to.
Maeve moves to the old desk, pulling open a screaming drawer that irritates my ears. She grabs a stack of white papers, slapping them on to the desk, the noise jolting me.
“My decree for you is marriage. To De Luca.”
Everything stops. All I can see, focus on are the stark black lines of a written contract on her desk, the ink bleeding into the pages at the points.
It’s so official. So anticlimactic.
Marriage.She wants me to get married?
“No,” I breathe, feeling everything crash inside my chest.
The last bit of love, the last bit of hope that my sister would care about me, shatters to the ground. The fiery ball of anger, of despair explodes like a bomb into my gut, prickling tears to my eyes. Not from sorrow, no, but from rage.
I stand, knocking the chair behind me to the ground. The leg breaks off, the wooden frame too brittle to handle my sudden movement. “Marriage?” I screech, voice ringing out between us. “You’re giving me away in marriage?”
Logically, I knew this was going to be my future. My father threatened multiple times to give me away to someone, to make me the kind of daughter that would please him. In our world, if I didn’t have a talent like Collins or a role to play like Maeve, there wasn’t much else for me other than marriage.
It doesn’t stop me from growing angrier, my hands shaking as I grab the contract, pulling it closer to inspect it. I want to throw it, shred it in front of my sister just for spite. Destroy this last bit of control that she has over me.
“We’re at war, Sloane.” Her words are harsh to my ears. “De Luca handles imports. You might not know this, but we also handle imports.” I didn’t know that, but realistically, I figured it had to be the case. “By forging an alliance, by way of marriage, we can both benefit. The clan benefits.”
“And what about me?” I glare, nails cutting into my hands. “Why don’tIget a say?”
