The Bastard Bride's Vow of Mafia Vengeance

bel

h, woven into the peeling wallpaper and the cheap, imitation velvet of the armchair where my father, Jerr

s on her knees. Her sobbing was the only sound breaking the he

is cigar falling onto his trouser

"Please, don't make me go to him. They say he feeds traitors to his dogs

e window, watching the perform

. Don Damian Griffith, the King of New York, needed a connection to the local docks, and he had chosen our lowly family to provide a br

th the golden curls and the soft heart, had been th

what it truly

w where Emmalee had been yesterday. I knew about the cheap diner on 4th Street, and I knew about Coleto

ish light. She had whispered to me about love, about a small apartment in Queens, about

I thought

streets, when I saw her. A woman who had once been a Capo's wife, tossed aside like garbage when her husband was ex

and diamond necklaces; it was irrelevance. It was hunge

not be Emmalee, trading a kingdom

the present. She looked up, her mascara running down her cheeks

ton Joseph? That pencil-pusher? You would throw away an alliance with the *Ca

he Don... he didn't ask for me specifically. He as

ilent. Even the dust m

in the shadows. There was guilt there, yes, but it was

choked out. "Is

was dismissive, assessing me as one would assess a piece of furniture that might fet

Father's side. "She's beautiful, Papa. Look at her. And she's... she's strong. Sh

elligent thing my s

hing the risk. If he sent the wrong daughter, he could be killed. But if he forced

ee that my heart was hammering against my ribs lik

igh, my hands clasped demurely in front of me.

through the humidity of the room. "She is too fragile for the Griffith

down at Emmalee, who was watching me with a mixture of hope and pity.

ing my gaze to my father. "I

s draining from his face, replaced by calc

am of triumph in my eyes. "Because

h a monster in a silk bed than st

cigar. He looked from the weeping, useless

ly. "Pack your things, Isabell. If the Don reje

er mother's arms. They held each other, weeping fo

that tugged at the corner of my lips. Let th

ing to b