Page 50 of The Mafia's Captive

My eyes widen and look back at the couple. A lot of things start to make sense. The abruptness of the wedding. The lack of bridesmaids, the low number of people in attendance, and the general mood, which was far from happy. It isn’t somber; it isn’t jovial either. There’s a tension in the air that I can’t explain, but it’s present.

“Why are you forcing them to get married?” I ask Nico.

He shrugs. “They both agreed to it.” He nods at the father. “He wanted her to marry any one of us. The bride didn’t like the idea at first. She only agreed after Gio said he would take his brother’s place.”

“Who is she?”

“In a few minutes, my sister-in-law.”

I mean what her name is and what she means to the family, but before I can even say anything more, Dante tells us to be quiet. I observe the rest of the ceremony in silence. It goes on without a hitch. I also notice that the priest doesn’t ask the groom to kiss the bride. I lean over to Nico again, “is that normal in this part of town?”

He smiles. “No.”

Dante glares at us again, and I sit back. The more I learn about this family, the weirder things I discover. For what it’s worth, the newly wedded couple do seem like a fit. There’s something between them, like a connection that they both share, that wouldn’t be apparent if you weren’t paying attention.

After the ceremony is over and the bride and groom leave, Dante says, “Don’t you ever stay quiet.”

“Our voices were low. I doubt anyone heard us.”

As people begin to leave, he takes my hand and begins making his way out of the pews. “Still, can’t you sit still for longer than two seconds?”

“What’s your issue? I was just asking questions you didn’t want to provide, but Nico was more than ready to.”

“Asking questions, huh? Is that why you were almost kissing his neck?”

“I was not—” I’m about to launch into a defense of my conduct until I realize the meaning behind what he’s saying. “Is there anything wrong with talking to your brothers? Where are we going, anyway?” I notice for the first time that we’re making our way away from the garden and the wedding party.

“You’ll find out. And no, there’s nothing wrong, but it’s the way you were talking to them.”

There it is. “And what way is that?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You can’t be jealous, can you?”

He halts, and I almost bump into him. “I’m not jealous.”

“No?”

“No.”

“So, you don’t mind my becoming Nico’s girlfriend after I pay your debts? That’s what he was asking me.”

His voice sounds strained with anger when he says, “He and Rico like to share. I’m not sure you can handle that.” We are far away from the wedding party now and seemed to have entered some sort of hedge maze that looks so old it might have been built during the Renaissance and has been maintained since then. “Two cocks to please can be difficult, but I can take it.”

He whips me around to face him, but he does it so quickly that I’m slammed into his chest. I look up into his eyes and there’s liquid fire burning within. Rage doesn’t describe what I see. “You won’t be doing that.”

“Only if you admit that you’re jealous.”

He breathes deep, looks away from me and to nothing in particular and then back to me. “Fine. I am jealous. Is that what you want me to say? No, stop seducing my brothers.” It’s tough holding back the laughter bubbling inside me as I have to clench my lips. “I’m being serious.”

I laugh. “God,” I punch his hard chest. “I’m not going to fuck your very handsome brothers. I was just playing with you. I wanted you to agree that you’re in fact jealous, and I got that. Now I can die happy.”

“So, what were you three talking about?”

“The wedding. You know, the thing we were witnessing? I was just asking Nico a few questions since you didn’t want to entertain me.”

“And when I left you?”

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