Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Don’t cry. Save your tears for the long years ahead.
I take in Angelo’s amber eyes, black-as-ink hair, and powerful body.
He reaches for my hand, and his touch is gentle as his fingers wrap around mine. Feeling how I’m trembling, he gives me a comforting squeeze.
The tender gesture confuses me, and no matter how hard I try to fight it, a seedling of hope is planted in my heart.
Angelo once told me he doesn’t find pleasure in hitting women. Maybe he won’t hurt me. At least not physically.
My attention returns to the ceremony when Father Parisi says, “Angelo and Vittoria, have you come here to enter into marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?”
Angelo’s eyes remain locked on me with the intensity of an inferno as he answers, “I have.”
Silence follows Angelo’s reply, and when I take too long to speak, Father Parisi clears his throat to get my attention.
My lips part, and as the last of the sun disappears over the horizon, I whisper, “I have.”
Garden lights illuminate the yard, and if I weren’t being forced to marry a capo of the Cosa Nostra, I’d take a moment to admire how magical everything looks.
“Since it is your intention to enter into the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and His church.”
Angelo gives my right hand, which he’s already holding, a firm squeeze before he says, “I, Angelo Rizzo, take you, Vittoria Romano, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
Love? Honor? Those words have no place in the Cosa Nostra.
“Vittoria, it’s your turn,” Father Parisi whispers.
My eyes dart between my priest and Angelo. “What do I say?”
Father Parisi gives me a compassionate look. “Repeat after me.”
I take a deep breath, and my heartbeat slows down until it feels like a whisper in my chest as I repeat the words Father Parisi murmurs to me. “I, Vittoria Romano, take you, Angelo Rizzo, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…” I pause to take another breath, and my voice is softer when I continue, “…until death do us part.”
My chin begins to quiver, and unable to lie by saying I’ll love this man, I whisper, “I’ll honor you all the days of my life.”
It’s the only promise I can make right now.
There’s a moment’s silence before Father Parisi says, “What God joins together, let no one put asunder.”
There’s no running away.
There’s no place to hide.
The dangerous man in front of me is my future.
My dreams of living in a small town with a loving husband go up in smoke.
“Exchange wedding rings,” Father Parisi instructs.
Before I can think to worry about Angelo’s ring, he removes a small crimson velvet box from his pocket, and opening it, he pulls two wedding bands from the pillow. He hands me the thicker ring that has the letters A & V engraved on it.
A for Angelo and V for Vittoria.
I’m confused by the romantic gesture.
When Angelo pushes the thinner band onto my ring finger, he says, “Vittoria, receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Fidelity. Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. Men in the Cosa Nostra don’t know the meaning of monogamy.
I push the ring onto Angelo’s finger, repeating what he just said, but once again, I leave out the word ‘love.’
Father Parisi clears his throat before announcing, “In the sight of God and these witnesses, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Angelo leans down to kiss me, but at the last second, I turn my face, and his lips brush over my cheek.
I keep my eyes lowered, wishing I could find a quiet corner where I can process what’s happened in the past hour.
I married Angelo Rizzo.
Chapter 11
Tori
After Angelo tells everyone to leave, even Tiny and Big Ricky, I find myself alone in the living room with my new husband.
God, this is not what I meant when I said I’d do anything if you’d help me out of the impossible situation with Giorgio.
Angelo removes his tuxedo jacket and drapes it over the back of a couch. “Sit down, Vittoria.”
I walk to the other side of the coffee table, so it’s between us, and cautiously take a seat on one of the black couches.
The tree’s branches throw ominous shadows through the glass ceiling, and it makes a shiver creep up my spine.
What do I do? How do I even begin to process this nightmare?
Panic keeps flaring hot in my chest, and with every passing second, my dread grows.