“But you didn’t choose this marriage.”
I gaped at him. His dark blond hair and blue eyes gave him a look of cold efficiency, while Luca radiated fierce brutality. Different sides of the same coin. In a few years the East Coast and Midwest would tremble under the judgement of these two men. I snapped my mouth shut. “It’s an honor.”
“And your duty. We all have to do things we don’t want to. Sometimes it might seem as if we don’t have any choice at all.”
“You are a man. What do you know about not having a choice?” I said harshly, then stiffened and ducked my head. “I’m sorry. That was out of turn.” I couldn’t talk to someone who was practically my Boss like that. Then I remembered he no longer was. I didn’t fall under the rule of the Chicago Outfit anymore. With my marriage, I’d become part of the New York mob and thus Luca’s and his father’s rule.
“I think your husband is eager to have you back in his arms,” Dante said with a tilt of his head, then handed me over to Luca, who gave him a hard look. Two predators facing off.
Once we were out of earshot of Dante Cavallaro, Luca looked down at me. “What did Cavallaro want?”
“To congratulate me on the festivities.”
Luca gave me a look that made it clear he didn’t believe me. There was a hint of mistrust in his expression.
The music stopped and Matteo clapped his hands, silencing the guests. “Time to throw the garter!”
Luca and I stopped as well as the guests gathered around the dance floor to watch the show. A few even stood on chairs or held up their kids so everyone could get a good look. Luca knelt before me under the cheers of our guests and raised his eyebrows. I gripped my gown and lifted it up to my knees. Luca slid his hands up my calves, over my knees and up my thighs. I stilled completely at the feel of his fingers on my naked skin. Goose bumps erupted all over my body. The touch was light and not uncomfortable, and yet it terrified me.
Luca’s eyes were intent as they watched my face. His fingers brushed the garter on my right thigh and he pushed my gown up for everyone to see, revealing the entire length of my leg. I gripped the hem and he put his arms behind his back, then he bent over my thigh, his lips brushing the skin under the garter. I sucked in a deep breath but tried to keep my face in happy-bride mode. Luca closed his teeth around the edge of the garter and pulled it down my leg until it landed in a heap at my white high heels. I raised my foot so Luca could pick the piece of lace up. He straightened and presented the garter to the applauding crowd. I forced a smile and clapped as well. The only person who wasn’t smiling was Gianna.
“Bachelors,” Luca called in his deep voice. “Gather around. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one to marry next!”
Even the youngest boys stepped forward, Fabiano among them. He was scowling. Mother had probably forced him to participate. I winked at him and he poked out his tongue. I couldn’t help but laugh, the first genuine gesture I’d managed during the wedding feast.
Luca’s eyes darted toward me, a strange expression on his face. I quickly looked away. Luca raised his arm, the garter in his fist, before he thrust it into the cluster of waiting men.
Matteo snatched it out of the air with an impressive lunge. “Any willing Outfit ladies out there that want to further the bond between our families?” he boomed, wiggling his eyebrows.
Cheering and laughter sounded from many married and unmarried women. Of course, Lily was among them, jumping up and down with a bright smile. Everything was a game for her. I didn’t want Matteo’s eyes on her, I didn’t even want her name in his mind when he thought of marriage. As was tradition, he had to pick an unmarried woman to dance with.
Luca stepped close to me, his arm sneaking around my waist in casual possessiveness. I flinched at the unexpected contact and Luca’s body became rigid.
Matteo extended his hand toward Lily, who looked close to exploding from excitement over being chosen. My chest tightened. I knew it was a joke right now. Nobody took a fourteen-year-old girl seriously.
As Luca and I waltzed over the dance floor, I kept an eye on Lily and Matteo. His hand was high on her back, his expression teasing. He didn’t look like a man who’d set his eyes on his future wife.
“If my brother married your sister, you’d have family in New York,” Luca said.
“I won’t let him have Lily.” The words were fierce. How could I be tough when it came to protecting my sister, but not when it was about me?
“It’s not Lily he wants.”
My eyes flew to Gianna, who stood with her arms wrapped around her chest, eyes like a hawk as they followed us. Father wouldn’t give away another of his daughters to New York. If he wanted to strengthen the position of our family in the Chicago Outfit, he needed to make sure he had enough family around him.
After the waltz was over, a faster beat began and the dance floor was once again flooded with guests. Luca started dancing with my mother, and I used the moment to slip away. I needed a few moments to myself or I’d lose it. I lifted my gown off the ground and hurried to the edge of the garden where the grass met the bay before I walked down the few steps to the dock, where a yacht was lying in wait. To my right a long beach stretched out. The ocean was black under the night sky, and the breeze tugged at my dress and ripped strands from my updo. I stepped out of my high heels and jumped off the dock, my feet landing in the cool sand. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of the waves. The wooden boards creaked, and I tensed before glancing over my shoulder and spotting Gianna. She shook off her own shoes and joined me on the beach, wrapping an arm around me.
“Tomorrow you’ll leave for New York and I’ll head back to Chicago,” she whispered.
I swallowed hard. “I’m scared.”
“Of tonight?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “Of tonight and every night that follows. Of being alone with Luca in a city I don’t know, surrounded by people I know even less, people who might still be the enemy. Of getting to know Luca and finding out he’s the monster I think he is. Of being without you and Lily and Fabiano.”
“We will come to visit as often as Father allows it. And about tonight.” Gianna’s voice turned hard. “He can’t force you.”
I let out a choked laugh. Sometimes I forgot that Gianna was younger than me. These were the moments that reminded me. “He can. He will.”
“Then you’ll fight him with all you’ve got.”
“Gianna,” I said in a whisper. “Luca is going to be Capo dei Capi. He’s a born fighter. He’ll laugh at me if I try to resist. Or my refusal will make him angry, and then he’ll really want to hurt me.” I paused. “Bibiana told me I should give him what he wants, that I should try to make him be good to me, try to make him love me.”
“Stupid Bibiana, what does she know?” Gianna glared at me. “Look at her, the way she cowers in front of that fat fool. How she lets him touch her with his sausage fingers. I’d rather die than lie under a man like that.”
“Do you think I can make Luca love me?”
Gianna shook her head. “Maybe you can make him respect you. I don’t think men like him have a heart to be capable of love.”
“Even the most cold-hearted bastards have a heart.”