Twenty years old
I’d known Danilo’s face meant trouble the second I saw it. He couldn’t accept that my twin Serafina didn’t want to marry him. He still wanted her or someone he regarded as equally worthy. I didn’t like the bartering that was soon going to happen. Marriage wasn’t a romantic bond in our world. It was a business commodity.
Danilo gave me a brief nod as he entered the house. We were about the same age, but we’d never spent much time around each other, not just because he lived in another city.
Dad, our Capo Dante, and Danilo gathered in the office of our home. Everyone looked tired and annoyed. The past few months had been tough on all of us. Too many things hadn’t gone to plan. My chest tightened when I thought of my own failures—one had led to my sister being kidnapped and the other had cost three friends their lives. Losses were constant shadows in a Made Man’s life, but this past year had been more than I’d bargained for.
Danilo released a long-suffering sigh as if his whole fucking world had been shattered. He hadn’t even known my sister well. For him, she’d been a trophy. For all I cared, he could just find another trophy wife and stop his bitching.
“My father insists I’ll marry someone from your family. A bond between our families is necessary, especially at this time.”
Dad sighed, looking tired and defeated. I wished he’d put more of his burden on my shoulders, but I also knew why he didn’t. I had to prove myself again, and I would.
“Serafina won’t marry. She needs time to heal,” I growled. If he thought we’d force her to marry him after what she went through, he was delusional. I’d kick his posh ass if he didn’t stop insisting.
Dante slanted a warning look at me, obviously sensing my agitation. I swallowed my fury to let him handle this. Maybe he had a better suggestion. Why not give his daughter Anna to Danilo?
“There are other options,” he drawled.
Danilo looked ready to explode. “What options? I won’t accept the daughter of any other Underboss. My city is important. I won’t settle for less than was promised!”
Dante scowled, blue eyes flashing with anger. “Watch your tone, Danilo. I realize this situation is difficult, but I expect respect nonetheless.”
My pulse raced with pure fury, and it wasn’t easy to hold back. Too much anger had gathered in me in the past few months. “You can’t have Fina!”
“You can’t have Anna either,” Dante said.
“You need my support in this war. You need a strong family at your back.”
“Is that a threat?”
“That’s a fact, Dante. You’re a good Capo, but I insist I get what my family deserves. I won’t settle for less.”
“I won’t force Fina into a marriage, not after what she went through,” Dad said.
Dante nodded. “I agree.”
“We’re at an impasse, then.”
Finally, Danilo got one thing right.
Dante gave Dad a look I didn’t like one bit. We were family, which was apparent by the blond hair we shared, but this wasn’t a favor between relatives, this was a Capo’s demand.
“Is that what you ask of me, Dante?”
“Pietro, if we follow the rules, Danilo could demand to marry Serafina. They were engaged.”
“I will give you Sofia,” Dad said after a moment.
I balled my hands to fists, unable to believe what was happening. Maybe I should have seen it coming.
“She’s what, eleven?” Danilo asked in distaste.
“Twelve in April,” I muttered. What were we doing here?
“I’m ten years older than her. I was promised a wife now.”
“You’ll be busy with this war and establishing your reign over Indianapolis. A later wedding should be of advantage for you,” Dante said.
“Danilo?” Dante asked when he didn’t react.
“I have one condition.”
I straightened. I could tell that whatever Danilo asked of us would be too much, but at this point, we didn’t have many options other than going into an open conflict with his family, which Dad didn’t want.
“What condition?” Dante asked.
Danilo looked at me, and I almost laughed. What did he want now?
“He marries my sister, Emma,” Danilo said.
Surprise washed over me, though I should have expected it. “She’s in a—”
“In a wheelchair, yes. Which is why nobody of worth wants her. My sister deserves only the best, and you are the heir to Minneapolis. If you all want this bond, Samuel is going to marry my sister, and then I’ll marry Sofia.”
Emma was around my sister’s age. I only knew who she was because of her wheelchair and the dishonorable story with Cincinatti. Many people in our world didn’t consider her good marriage material. It was a disgusting fact, but our world was cruel, especially to women, who were mostly regarded as a commodity to make deals. And now Emma and my sister would be the ware in one of the more fucked-up arrangements. “Fuck. What kind of twisted deal is that?”
“Why? Your father has been testing the waters for possible brides, and my sister is a Mancini. She’s a good match.”
If it took this to give my family peace, then I’d do it. A marriage wasn’t about love. It was a duty. I tried to recall her face or any interactions I might have had with her, but our age difference was simply too great. “I’ll marry your sister.”
I felt a moment of anger that Danilo had forced my hand, and I didn’t have a say in choosing my future bride. Dad looked relieved. He and Mom didn’t need more troubles, and the Mancinis could definitely cause us a lot of trouble.
Marriages were almost always arranged in our world, so I’d never expected to fall in love. My bond with Emma was no different, yet the way the agreement had come to be left a bitter taste in my mouth. If the girls found out how we’d weighed them against each other, they’d probably hate us. And for good reason.
Nine months later
I followed the same path as I did whenever I found spare time. Today, on the first anniversary of their deaths, the weight resting on my shoulders felt heavier than on the previous days. The family crypts of my friends were all in the same cemetery and only a few steps from each other. I always began with Arlo, then moved on to Enea before I finally reached Domenico’s last resting place: a small house made from white marble and closed by cast-iron gates that harbored generations of Domenico’s family. He was by far the youngest to have found his rest here, and considering his death, I doubted it was peaceful.
The gate creaked when I opened it and stepped into the dark inside of the crypt. Dankness and dust crawled into my nose. Several grave lights cast their eerie reddish light on the slots in the walls where the bones of Domenico’s ancestors rested, and he too would eventually find his last rest in one of them. Now, his mortal remains still lay in a massive coffin positioned in the very center of the vault, with the saint Mother of Christ casting her benevolent eyes on him. He’d never been laid out. Everyone had said their last goodbye to the shiny oak instead of a waxen face.
Flowers covered almost every surface of the coffin. Some of them were fake, but the others looked fresh, as if they’d been put there only this morning. My family had sent a generous amount of cash to all three families, and Domenico’s mother seemed to invest it in flowers. I knew she visited daily and had done so since the funeral a year ago. I’d seen her several times during my visits but had always avoided her. She didn’t need the additional anguish of seeing the man who was responsible for her son’s brutal murder.
Our first encounter after Domenico’s death, when I’d confessed to her why he’d died and apologized, still haunted me. Her anguished cries, her knees giving in, how Domenico’s uncle held her up.
I touched the coffin briefly. “I’m sorry, my friend.”
I uttered the same words every time, but they felt as hollow as on the first day. Feeling sorry for something that couldn’t be changed was wasted time, especially in our world where death was a constant companion. I’d been to countless funerals, and many more would follow. Domenico’s mother had driven me away from his wake with curses and slaps. I had allowed her to hit me several times before I’d taken my leave, knowing the pain she’d inflicted wasn’t nearly as potent as the pain she felt.
Steps crunched behind me, and I tensed, my hand going to my gun in the holster around my waist.
“I knew I’d find you here,” Renato said.
I lowered my hand, relaxing as my best friend approached me. He crossed himself, then briefly touched the coffin.
“It still feels surreal,” he murmured.
I smiled bitterly. Surreal wasn’t the word I would have used. Renato and I had often spent the weekends with Arlo, Enea, and Domenico. Now, it was only the two of us.
“Today is one year, right?” Renato asked.
I nodded. He wasn’t certain. I hadn’t been able to think about anything else these past few days leading to the day when I had ripped three sons from their mothers.
Renato let out a sigh. “You need to stop feeling guilty.”
“I am guilty.”
Renato gave me a frustrated look, his dark-brown brows pinching together. “You didn’t kill them.”
My lip curled, but my stomach became hollow like it always did when I remembered Enea’s death. “I stabbed Enea.”
“Not on purpose, for God’s sake, Samuel. They were Made Men. We all are. Death is always a possibility. Many die young. Do you think Dante cries himself to sleep every night over his soldiers who have died on the missions he sent them on?”
I glanced at a photo of Domenico leaning against the coffin’s bottom. He had his arms around Renato and Arlo. Enea was beside Arlo, and I had been beside Renato in the photo, but I wasn’t now. Someone had cut me out. I didn’t blame them. “There’s a difference, Renato. I wasn’t their Capo. I was their friend, and they were doing me a favor. They trusted my plan, and I failed them.”
Renato shook his head. “They knew of the plan before you went to Las Vegas. They thought it was a good plan. I would have followed you there too if I hadn’t been in Chicago.”
Three of my friends had followed me, no questions asked, to save my twin sister from the hands of our worst enemy.
Renato wasn’t dead like the others because he’d been on another mission in Chicago with his father so he couldn’t join me.
“Come on, let’s have a drink. You need one.”
One drink wouldn’t be enough. I followed Renato out of the crypt and closed the gates. We went to our favorite bar and settled in one of their VIP rooms on the red satin armchairs with lion-clawed feet. I ordered a Negroni, my poison of choice, and took a big gulp. I let my head fall against the headrest and briefly closed my eyes.
Arlo’s shocked face flashed before my eyes as he died by Remo Falcone’s knife. He was gone in a blink, the kindest of all three deaths.
Then it was Enea’s face that popped up. His expression was a mix of surprise and pain when my knife buried itself in his stomach. My face had probably mirrored the same emotions. My stab had been aimed at Remo, but he’d pulled Enea up by the collar and used him as his shield. Enea hadn’t died right away. It took a few painful gasps and intakes of breaths before he passed away. I wished I could have held him in his last moments, but I’d fought for my life against the madman from Vegas.
And the last one…Domenico’s face materialized before my closed eyelids like a grotesque wax figure from a horror cabinet. Even in death, his face had been twisted with agony from hours of torture by the hand of the Falcones. Most of my nightmares revolved around him. I’d been witness to torture before and had been tortured myself, but rarely any of it replayed in my dreams. Yet seeing a friend being tortured to death because he wanted to help me?
Fuck, that haunted me every night and sometimes by day too. I doubted that would get better, even as the years passed. My foolish plan had robbed my friends of the chance to marry, grow old, and have a family.
And had it brought me Serafina back? I didn’t save her that day, and later, when she’d finally returned to us, I’d realized that truly saving her from Falcone’s grip was impossible.
“How’s your sister?” Renato asked after a while.
I opened my eyes. “Always tired. The twins suck the life out of her.”
Renato shook his head. “Still can’t believe she kept them.”
It was a topic we’d discussed plenty of times before. I nodded but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to think of Remo Falcone’s offspring, not on a day when I mourned the friends he’d killed. It was difficult because they looked exactly like him, and nothing like Fina, who had blond hair and blue eyes like me.
“I’m going to marry Danilo Mancini’s sister,” I said casually. The agreement had happened nine months ago, but I’d kept it to myself so far.
Renato sat up straight in his chair, his brows shooting up. “Wheelchair girl?”
I scowled. “Emma Mancini is her name, and I expect you to treat her with the necessary respect, considering she’s my future wife.”
“Sure, but how did this happen?” Renato opened his arms, palms pointing my way, demanding an explanation.
“It’s a deal between Danilo and my family.”
“Don’t tell me that happened back when Sofia was promised to him?”
I took another sip from my drink before I nodded. Renato leaned forward and shoved my knee so hard that I almost spilled my Negroni.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me before?”
“Too much going on. It didn’t seem important at the time.”
Renato scoffed. “Not important? You’re talking about the woman you have to spend the rest of your life with.”
“It’s still a while before I can marry her.” I shrugged.
Renato mimicked my shrug with a pissed expression. He shook his head and sank back against the headrest. “Really?” He shook his head again. “Fuck. That’s hard.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Come on, you could have married anyone, and you get the girl who Cincinatti left at the altar.”
“They canceled the engagement, Renato. There’s a difference.”
“They canceled the engagement because she’s in a wheelchair, Samuel.”
“That was dishonorable and tasteless,” I muttered. “I can’t see why her being in a wheelchair gave them the right to cancel the engagement.”
“Yet most people got it and would probably have done the same if their only son had been promised to the girl.”
“I won’t leave her at the altar,” I said matter-of-factly. I didn’t know anything about Emma, except that Sofia liked her very much and that she was apparently very kind.
“Sometimes you’re too honorable for your own good.”
I emptied the rest of my drink. I wouldn’t have chosen Emma for various reasons. Her wheelchair was one of them. But not in the way Renato probably suspected. A wife in a wheelchair was another level of responsibility I didn’t want to have. Fuck, I’d gotten three good friends killed. Being responsible for anyone, especially someone as vulnerable as Emma, wasn’t something I was really keen on. And there was the matter of needing to create an heir at some point. As the eldest son and future Underboss, I was expected to produce offspring. If rumors could be believed, Emma wouldn’t be able to give me any. But that was a worry for the future, and I never made a habit out of trusting rumors anyway.
Renato nudged me again. “Don’t get lost in your shitty thoughts again. Let’s have a few more drinks and then go to a club to let off some steam.”
Getting shit-faced sounded like a good plan.
