The Mafia Lord And His Forbidden Princess

ROSALINE

Doomsday comes unannounced—that was something I believed in. Well, in my case, doomsday had a face and a herald with whom I shared blood.

My brother stood at the entrance of the banquet, talking to a tall man with dark hair and a tall stature. I knew who it was. Terenzio De Vitto. I had thought my life could not get any worse than knowing my stiletto had a broken heel at a wedding I had so dearly planned.

De Vitto was handsome, with sharp features and a lean-muscular body, like almost every Mafioso his age in the New York Cosa Nostra, but his attractiveness did not lessen my fear.

Just as Dom twisted his head to me, I scooted to one side of the hallway behind a thick pillar. My heart raced infuriatingly. I did not want my brother to do the introductions yet. I did not even want him to have me married yet.

“It was marriage, not the end of the word,” Dom had said. Except, what if it was? If it were up to me, I would never get married.

Most soldiers had nothing to be proud of, being in the lowest position in the syndicate, but my father wore it on his sleeves like some ornament. My brother, Domenico, was not any different. At least he had a proper reason.

Domenico Guerra was a name known to the whole of the underworld. He was not a soldier as he should have been. He had not inherited the title from our father. Instead, he became the Consigliere, the advisor, to Adonis Vitale, the Capo of the Vitale Crime Empire, because my brother was the only one Adonis trusted with his eyes closed. The Vitales were one of the two ruling families of the New York Cosa Nostra, which was a tremendous deal.

Dom and Adonis had been extremely protective of me since Papa’s tragic death. While I loved the way they coddled me, it was only to a certain limit.

As a teenager trapped inside the four walls of a giant mansion, protected by my father and his hordes of men who did not even dare look at me, I had wanted nothing more than freedom, which my brother had given me… but it seemed like my years of freedom was over.

Dom appeared next to me, his hand stuffed into his pockets and a judgemental look over his icy expression. I scanned his sides and peered my head out to look at the entrance.

Empty.

Terenzio was gone.

That was even worse. What if I accidentally came across him and panicked?

“Where did he go?”

Dom let out a sigh. “I sent him to the garden with Danilo to find his seat.” He shook his head in disappointment. “You’re hiding like an inmate… from a man who would be your husband.”

“Could, not would.”

He grasped my hand and yanked me around as I tried to walk away. “Why are you hiding from him? I’ve never seen you scared of a man, not even twice De Vitto’s size. Marriage is not the end of the world.”

Fifteen. He had said this fifteen times in two days. “If you say this one more time, I swear to God, I’ll end your world,” I snapped. “And I’m not scared of him.”

“No, you’re not scared of him. You’re just hell-bent on pissing me off,” he grumbled. “I don’t see what’s wrong with giving him a chance. I talked to him about what Bella suggested.”

“And?”

“And he agreed.”

My eyes widened. When Bella, Adonis’s to-be-wife in a few hours, had suggested the whole ‘going out and getting to know each other before marriage’ scheme, I had been sure Terenzio would reject it, which was why I had agreed to it. He was Terenzio De Vitto, the Underboss of Washington. He had better things to do than court a woman he had never met.

“He’ll put in his effort, despite his busy schedule, and take you out on however many dates you like.” Before I could speak, he chided, “Dates, that’s what they’ll be. You’ll have a curfew.”

I cocked a brow. “What am I, five?”

“No. But you’re my sister.”

I glanced at the door to the bridal suite as Bella stepped out in her wedding gown with her brother, Matteo Rossi, who was also a Capo as Adonis. We were in his territory, within the boundaries of the Chicago Outfit.

Giving my brother one last glance, I trudged toward Bella in my strapped stilettos-turned-flat, since I had broken the other heel as well, holding the pleated drop of my peach-coloured dress. Bella’s eyes fell on me and she asked, “You’re here? I thought you were looking for Fabi.”

“Didn’t make it that far. Trouble in Paradise.”

Holding her breath, she muttered, “I’m thinking about running. Want to join?”

“Running from Adonis?” I snorted, seeing her nod. “Good luck on that, seeing as you won’t be able to make it past New York,” I gave Matteo a look, “or Chicago.”

“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes.

Matteo paced forward to talk to Dom, leaving Bella and me barely out of earshot. They, no doubt, were talking about the De Lucas, the ones being monitored all evening, so they could not make a mess of the event I had planned.

Turning back to Bella, I questioned with a pouty face, “Would it piss you off if I snuck out of your wedding?”

She knitted her brows together. “Yes, I’ll be pissed. Furious. Enraged. And why would you even ask that?”

I lowered my voice and explained, “De Vitto is here and I... I don’t want to see him yet. I’m not ready.”

I knew she would understand my situation. She and I were almost close to age, and the world we belonged to did not idolise an unmarried woman over the age of twenty. We both were way past that. I was twenty-four, and she was twenty-six. Only, she would be married in a few hours, and then it would be me, the only spinster amid traditionalists. Again.

Bella’s eyes softened. “At least stay until the vows are over. That’s all I’ll ask as a friend.”

“You’re incredibly good at blackmailing people with those puppy eyes,” I said. “Fine, I’ll stay, but as soon as the vows are over, I’m out. Don’t tell my brother where I went, though.”

“Where will you go? As far as I know, you don’t know Chicago that well.”

She was right. This was not home. This was, according to my mop-headed brother, the enemy territory and no matter how many peace treaties were signed between us and the Outfit, it would always be that.

“I don’t know. I’ll probably just go back to the Di Falco mansion.”