Chapter 6
TERINA
Past
“Three weeks from now? But you’ve only known each other for a few months!
” My mom’s eyes are bulging so big I can see the whites all the way around her irises.
I knew my parents would freak out when I told them Craig and I were engaged and planned to get married in less than a month.
That’s why I insisted on telling them without him here.
I didn’t want their objections to hurt his feelings.
“We’ll have been together for six months at that point,” I clarify.
Mom tosses her hands in the air. “Oh, six whole months. That changes everything. Terina, you’re only twenty-two. What’s the rush?” She freezes, her head whipping back around to spear me with her penetrating stare. “Are you pregnant?”
“No, Mama. I swear. There’s no rush, but we just don’t want to wait.” I try to explain my perspective. “If we love each other, and we want to be together, why delay?”
“Why rush?” she counters.
“You and Daddy okay if I move in with him, then?” My retort is dangerously sassy but only because I know the answer.
Dad wasn’t thrilled when I told him I was dating someone outside the Moretti Family, and while he wasn’t going to force an archaic arranged marriage on me, I know that shacking up with a boyfriend would be absolutely forbidden.
“Terina,” Dad warns in a low rumble.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I don’t mean to be disrespectful.” I speak with deference, trying to get this discussion back on track. “You know how I feel about Craig, and you gave me your blessing to date him. Why is it a problem now that he’s proposed?”
Mom’s shoulders sag. She peers searchingly at my father, who has been unusually quiet since my announcement, then back at me.
“Because, Rina. You’re still children—you hardly know yourselves, let alone one another.
” Her words are spoken gently, and while I know they come from a place of love, I don’t want to hear them.
“You were married just as young,” I remind her.
Sensing the conversation is going nowhere, my father finally speaks up. “Rina, explain to me why Craig isn’t here having this conversation with us?”
“I knew you guys might have concerns, so I told him not to come.”
Dad nods, his lips pulled into a thoughtful frown. “And he was okay with that choice?”
My eyes dart from him to my mother as uncertainty fills me, though I’m not sure why. “Yeah? He respects my opinion.”
Again, my father nods. “He knew this might be hard for you.”
“Yeah?” Why do I feel like I’ve walked into a trap?
“Yet he didn’t insist on being here to support you and come to us as a unified team?”
There it is.
I might as well have given him the gun and the ammunition for him to fill me full of holes.
That’s Dad, though. He’s reserved and calculating, only making his move when the killing blow is in sight.
It’s what makes him such a powerful Mafia boss.
It also makes it so hard to ever live up to his standards.
My chin quivers, and tears flood my eyes. “I told him not to come.” It’s the only thing I can think to say in our defense.
Dad stands and closes the distance between us, pulling me into a loving hug. “Sweet Ree Ree. You have the biggest heart of all my children. You love with all your might, and I only want to make sure you don’t end up hurt.”
“I won’t be, Daddy. I love him,” I force past the emotions clogging my throat.
He pulls back to meet my gaze, wiping the moisture from my cheeks as he studies me. “If you’re sure, then of course, we support you.” Dad presses a kiss to my forehead, and it fills my chest with warmth.
“Thank you, Daddy.” I give him a watery smile, then steal a glance at my mom. Her hand is covering her mouth while tears stream down her face. I start to doubt she’s going to be so easily swayed when she spreads her arms wide, calling me in for a hug.
I rush over and cling to her.
“My baby girl,” she says, her voice swimming in tears. “We’re going to have to do some fast planning. Three weeks isn’t much time to plan a wedding.”
A hiccup hitches my laughter as I pull back and grin at her. “It doesn’t have to be fancy.”
“We’ll do our best to make it a perfect little ceremony.” She takes my hand and tugs me toward the kitchen bar. “Come tell me what you’re envisioning, and we’ll take notes. Tomorrow, we can hunt for a dress and make some calls.”
We spend the next hour strategizing. Churches. Guest list. Simple reception or none at all. There are so many decisions to be made that I’m giddy to finally talk to Craig when he calls that evening.
“How did it go?” he asks right away.
“Better than I expected, I think.”
“You think?” He chuckles.
“It was a bit rough at first, but they’re on board now. Mom and I talked a bunch about plans.”
Craig is quiet for a moment. “Your dad, too? I should have asked his permission,” he says almost to himself. “I bet that upset him.”
“No, they were just concerned a little about how quickly it’s all happened, but after I assured them how much we both want this, they were supportive.”
“I guess that’s good.”
I grin, though he can’t see it. I can’t help myself, I’m just so blissfully happy. “Everything is amazing. You have an incredible new job, and in three weeks, we’ll be married. Life is going to be wonderful for us.”
“Because of you,” he says warmly. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, you know that?”
If my heart weren’t confined to my chest, it’d expand to fill the entire room.
My cheeks ache from the intensity of my smile. “I love you, too, baby.”
“Three more weeks, and you’re all mine.”
“Yours forever.”