The Enemy of My Enemy, Pt. 1 (The Bratva Duets #1)

Prologue

“You can’t be a Don,” Maria said, but she was wrong.

“Yes, I can,” I argued.

“No, you can’t,” she insisted as she kept checking her makeup in the mirror. “Only men can become Dons.”

“That’s not true,” I said as I sat on her bed, watching her get ready for her party. Maria was Capo Donetello’s only daughter, and they were throwing her a big celebration for her birthday tonight.

“Yes, it is,” she said before turning to face me. “As a woman in this family, all you can be is someone’s wife. If you’re lucky, he’ll be a Capo and not some lowly soldier.”

“I don’t want to be someone’s wife,” I told her, the very idea making me sick to my stomach. “I want to be like Papa.”

Maria let out a heavy sigh before saying, “Aurora, you’re only eleven-years-old, so you’re too young to understand what you’re saying.”

While it was true that I was only eleven, I was still smart enough to understand exactly what I was saying.

After all, I wasn’t like normal eleven-year-old girls.

I didn’t play with dolls or pretend to dress up.

I didn’t beg my mother for makeup or pretty outfits.

I didn’t bake cookies or ever help in the kitchen.

I’d also never had a dollhouse in all my life.

So, it was Maria who didn’t know what she was talking about.

“You watch,” I told her. “I’m going to be Don one day.”

She sighed again. “Aurora, you cannot. Even if you’d been born a male, you’re still the youngest Marchetti sibling. Santino will be Underboss one day, and if anything ever happens to him, then Stefano is next in line to inherit the title.”

“I can be the Don of my own family,” I said, lifting my chin, refusing to let her kill my dreams.

Maria let out a laugh. “Oh, God...Aurora, that is not how it works.”

“Why can’t I?”

She shook her head, still laughing at me, and I didn’t like it. “I think your father and brothers have indulged you just a little too much.”

“You’re only sixteen,” I said. “You don’t know everything.”

“I may not know everything, but I know enough to know that you’ll never be the Marchetti Don, Aurora,” she said. “Now, how about you forget about all that nonsense and help me finish getting ready for my party, yes? After all, that’s what you’re here for.”

She was wrong about that. I wasn’t here to help her get ready for her party. I was here because Mama wanted to make sure that Mrs. Carmine didn’t get too drunk before the party was to begin. Mama said that Mrs. Carmine liked to live in her cup, which meant that she drank alcohol a lot.

“Don’t you want to be more than just a wife?” I asked her, not liking the idea at all.

“No,” she quickly rushed out. “I can’t wait to be some Capo’s wife. I mean, I’ll get to shop all the time, and get my hair and nails done whenever I want. He’ll love me and always buy me whatever I want.”

“You can buy whatever you want if you get a job,” I reminded her.

Maria just laughed again. “Oh, Aurora...you really are funny. No woman in her right mind wants to work. If they work, it’s because they have to.” Then she shrugged a shoulder like she was bored. “Luckily for you, you’ll never have to work.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re the only daughter of Roman and Rosemary Marchetti,” she answered. “You’re the only Marchetti Princess in existence, and I imagine that your father will have something to say about the plans that you have for your future.”

“Papa just wants me to be happy,” I told her. “He says so all the time.”

Maria’s lips pinched before saying, “I think I’m going to have to talk to your mother about this.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re talking crazy, Aurora,” she said. “No girl can ever become a Don, and I think your brothers will have something to say about this, too.”

“You’re just mad because you’re going to have to be a stupid man’s wife one day,” I said, being mean because she was being mean to me.

Maria sighed again. “Aurora, you’re being ridiculous. It’s an honor to marry within the family.”

She was wrong.

She was wrong, and I was going to prove it.