13. Vinnie
Crystals shimmer from the low lighting of The Cordelia, a posh restaurant the St. Jeans rented out for the rehearsal dinner. Soft music plays over their speaker system as dishes clank from the fifty guests in attendance for this meal. This celebration. Both sets of families, close friends, and the wedding party.
Despite not wanting bridesmaids and groomsmen, August relented when my mother fought him tooth and nail on it, insisting that one’s wedding day is nothing without being surrounded by the people who love you.
We settled on two each. Raina and Cecilia as my bridesmaids. Joseph and August’s younger brother, Orlando, for his groomsmen.
The restaurant sparkles with radiance as everyone enjoys their food, starving after leaving the church. The sea of people around the table are the picture of perfection in their expensive tuxedos and beautiful dresses. I am wearing a mid-length white dress that accentuates my curves and suffocates me both in the literal and mental sense.
I wanted to wear black out of sheer principle, but I knew Mother would have a coronary.
With Raina sitting on my left, holding my hand beneath the table, I’m able to attempt to enjoy myself as I nibble on the filet mignon on my plate, zoning out while the people around me talk amongst themselves.
“You okay?” she leans in and asks under her breath. I nod subtly and place my fork down in order to grab my chardonnay.
I take two large gulps as she squeezes my hand. On my right, I feel the heat of August’s gaze on me before he leans closer.
“Shall I get you another, darling? Maybe if you drink enough, I’ll get to test drive the car before I buy it tomorrow.”
“You’re disgusting,” I tell him through my teeth as I smile widely. My mother is watching from across the table, her eyes glittering in the light.
It makes me sick, the way she pretends like nothing is wrong. She saw my bruises, yet she hasn’t said another word about them.
“You know,” Raina whispers. “I can have you out of here in ten seconds flat. Say the word, I’ll create a diversion and we’ll be gone.”
“Tempting,” I whisper back, taking another sip of my wine.
“You really don’t have to go through with this, sis.”
“Oh, but I do.”
She doesn’t know everything—not even close. If she did, I know she’d go absolutely feral on August. That’s just how she is. My reverse Sour Patch Kid friend. First she’s sweet as candy, everyone’s golden girl. But piss her off and her personality can flip. The childless version of a Mama Bear.
All Raina knows is that I’m head over heels in love with Sylvester Lucchetti and I’m refusing to be with him because August has threatened his life. That’s the main purpose—the entire plotline of this marriage.
The only saving grace is that I’ve had time to snoop around to try and arm myself with as much knowledge as possible since being under the same roof as August. When he’s not around, I cherry pick everything I can, trying to figure out why he’s going to such lengths for this.
Although I don’t have all the details, what it comes down to is the Paladino legacy. Paperwork has been drawn up, presumably for us to sign, indicating that once August and I are legally married, he will become the heir in line to my father’s underground drug trade—not me—if I am to inherit it. Whether August plans to sign everything over to Joseph is a piece of the puzzle I have yet to find, but having August in charge certainly is a leg up for my brother.
The best part of all of this is if Joseph would simply have a conversation with me and believe it, he’d know I don’t want anything to do with Father’s empire.
He can have it.
And it will go to him, without all of this—the marriage, the threats—even happening. Luciano won’t want it, not with a flourishing practice of his own, and logistically, Joseph is next in line.
Apparently, my brother doesn’t understand how lineage works.
When I attempted to have a normal adult conversation with August about it, he turned violent, grabbing a fistful of the underpart of my hair and tugging me so roughly down the hallway, it nearly ripped from my scalp. When he released me, he shoved me into my bedroom, knocking me to the floor, and spit on the carpet beside me.
I haven’t tried to bring it up again.
Further down the table, a glass clinks, and I see my uncle Marcel stand. “A toast to the happy couple! Please help me by raising your glasses. It has been a few years since I have seen my favorite niece, but on behalf of my family, I’d like to thank the Paladinos and the St. Jeans for including us in the festivities. Vinnie, you have grown into a stunning woman, and I am so happy for you. Cheers!”
A round of cheers erupts through the table, and to make a point, August presses a firm kiss against my cheek.
My stomach roils thinking about having to actually kiss him tomorrow to seal our vows. Turning my head to pull away, I lock eyes with Cecilia. She’s been acting strange all evening, but we haven’t had a chance to talk. My eyes flit toward where I know the restroom is, and she reads between the lines, pushing her chair backward as she stands and politely excuses herself.
Squeezing Raina’s hand, she follows suit as she releases me, and I slip into my mask before turning back to August, purposely raising my voice more than necessary and touching his shoulder as I stand. “I’m going to use the ladies’ room. I’ll be back.”
Once the three of us are inside, Raina flips the lock behind me as I rush to the sink and place my elbows onto it, holding my head in my hands.
“I hate this.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here!” Raina basically shouts. “I don’t care if I have to pull a Janet and have a nip slip to distract everyone so you can sneak out the back. Just tell me what you need me to do, and it’s done.”
Shaking my head, I look at Cecilia through the mirror. “What”s going on with you tonight?”
She bites her lip, then sighs. “Sly came to the apartment.”
I groan through the way my heart pangs. “Of course he did.”
“What did he say?” Raina asks, placing her hands on her hips.
“Not much, he was just looking for you, Vins.” She hesitates. “But it wasn’t so much as what he said as what I said.”
Spinning toward her, I pin her in a stare. Raina does the same, and I watch as Cecilia’s cheeks stain pink under our scrutiny.
“I told him you loved him, and that you’re going to great lengths for that love… It just slipped out. I’m sorry, Vinnie, but also I’m not. I want him to fight for you. You deserve to be in a marriage with someone you love—who loves and adores you, and worships the ground you walk on. That’s Sly, not August.”
“I’m under no illusion that it would be August,” I snap, the tears pricking my eyes. “This marriage isn’t about love. Hell, it isn”t even about me. But I’m committed, and you both know that, so I’d appreciate it if you stopped trying to talk me out of it and just supported me through it.”
“Oh, Vins, we do support you,” Raina tells me softly. “Which is why we’re trying to get you to see this entire thing from a different perspective. An outside perspective. You have so many options, marrying August should be the very last one.”
“I don”t understand why it’s so hard for everyone to understand,” I growl, so incredibly tired and frustrated of having to explain myself over and over. I get it. They love me and are worried, but they also know that the threat against Sly’s life is very real. “August is a terrible person. Beneath his ‘charming former bachelor persona’ is the devil personified. He has people behind him, hidden in the shadows, doing his dirty work. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I don’t comply with what he’s demanding of me, he’ll go after Sly. He’s proven it with his PI following Sly all the way to California. And that”s not a risk I’m willing to take. I will gladly chain my life to August’s if it means Sly isn’t pulled into the bullshit August and Joseph have entangled me in.”
By the time I finish speaking, there’s a half-moon indentation from my nail in my palm bleeding because of how deeply I’ve curled my fists.
Cecilia and Raina are both silent, looking at me with a mix of remorse, and dare I say, pity.
Their expressions enrage me. I love them so much, but right now I don’t want to be around them.
“I need some air,” I say and immediately leave the restroom, letting the door swing shut behind me.
Fury grips me tightly when I only make it two steps before a hand curls around my bicep, squeezing it tightly beneath the lace sleeve of my dress. I look down at the hand before I look up at the face it belongs to.
“You’re right, wife. I do have people in the shadows working for me, and I’m so glad you recognize that. My threats aren’t idle, Vinnie. I will happily kill your little boyfriend to keep you in your place,” August’s slimy voice penetrates through the air next to my ear.
Lifting my chin, I hold his gaze. We both grit our teeth, feeling the tangible tension between us in this power struggle.
His grip on me tightens further.
“What’s going on here?” my father’s voice sounds out. Both of us snap our heads in the direction of his voice, and from the corner of my eye I can see August slip his smile into place.
“Ah, Maurizio. Headed to the gentlemen’s room?” August tries to deflect. Loosening his grip on my bicep, he slides his hand down my arm and reaches for my hand.
No longer caring about appearances, I move my hand away from him.
My father’s eyes bounce from me to August with a crease in his brow. When his eyes connect with mine again, I can see them searching for answers.
So badly, I want to crumble at my father’s feet and tell him everything. I’ve silenced myself for so long—not talking to him about the deeper parts of my life in fear of his opinion, rejection, or wrath. But for the first time in years, I want to tell him.
Still, I continue to silence myself and bite my tongue, giving him a weak smile.
August shifts next to me, clearly unsettled by the silence. Taking a few steps to close the distance to my father, he claps his hand against his shoulder and turns his body. “Come, I’ll accompany you. I was on the way to the men’s room myself before your radiant daughter distracted me.”
As they begin to walk away, I lean against the wall behind me, mentally exhausted.
If my father turns around to look at me again, I’ll tell him everything. I’ll run after him and confess how August has been treating me, my love for Sly, and that this entire wedding is a sham.
If he looks at me, it’ll prove that he has an inkling of suspicion that something isn’t right.
But my father never turns around. He just continues down the hallway with August”s arm around his shoulder, completely entranced by the man who is fooling everyone.