Chapter 24
Annamaria
Nineteen years old.
Tomorrow.
I get to see my caro mio tomorrow.
In less than twenty hours, to be precise.
I’ve been in such high spirits that it’s been hard to keep all this bubbling excitement to myself.
Thankfully, everyone has been running around trying to make sure my parents’ twenty-fifth anniversary goes off without a hitch tomorrow, to notice me very much.
So much so that no one even batted an eye when I excused myself after dinner to go to sleep.
For the past few hours, I’ve been lying on my bed, on pins and needles, waiting for my phone to light up with what will be our last call before I finally get to see the man I’ve fallen head over heels in love with.
I haven’t had the nerve to say those words out loud yet, but I’ve made up my mind that I will when I see him tomorrow.
Not too long now.
Just a few more hours.
I can handle a few more hours.
I’ve waited this long.
My mind is so consumed with the image of his blue eyes darkening the second the words leave my mouth that I almost jump off my bed when the phone rings, startling me. But my smile slips off my face when I realize he’s calling me instead of our ritual FaceTime.
“Hi,” I greet. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, cara mia. Everything is fine. Why wouldn’t it be?” he replies.
There’s a tension in his voice, and it has been there for the better part of the week, if I’m honest with myself. Ever since we made plans to see each other. It worries me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, though I’d rather hear how you’re doing,” he says softly.
“I’m fantastic.” I grin. “Excited.” He doesn’t answer, and that only raises my hackles more. “Aren’t you excited to see me tomorrow?” When he doesn’t answer straight away, the pit of my stomach tightens. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“No.”
The word lands too hard, and I’m not sure why it unsettles me.
“You sound off tonight. Did anything happen?”
He lets out a jagged breath, and I imagine him running his long, deft fingers over his hair.
“It’s been a hell of a week, sweetheart. That’s all.”
“Oh.”
I don’t probe him further since it must have to do with famiglia business. Or at least I hope it does.
When he doesn’t say anything else, all my insecurities come thrashing at me tenfold.
“Rafe,” I call out, only to hear him wince on the other end of the line.
“Sweetheart, I need to tell you something,” he says, cutting me off before I have a chance to say anything else.
“Okay.” I mull over my bottom lip nervously.
“I’ve never been a man of emotion. A slave to his feelings.
Or at least, I’ve never thought of myself that way.
My father made sure that my brothers and I always equated showing any kind of emotion with weakness,” he begins, a dull ache settling in my chest at the picture he paints of his childhood.
“But my heart refuses to stay quiet any longer. I don’t know what tomorrow will look like, so this might be the only chance I have to say the words I’ve longed to tell you.
Just once, I want you to know the truth that lies in my heart. ”
My throat dries as I wait on bated breath for his next words.
“I love you, Anna. I will always love you and only you. No matter what tomorrow may bring, please remember that.”
My hand clasps at my chest, my heart threatening to jump out of it.
He said it. He really said it.
“I love you too,” I say a bit overexcitedly. “So much. So very much, caro mio. And I will love you for the rest of my days. No matter what the future brings.”
I hear him let out a strangled breath, as if my vow of love hurts him more than it heals him.
But I suppose I understand why he’s apprehensive.
Not only because our love is doomed from the start, with me being a Romano and Raffaele a Donato, but also because by this time tomorrow, the old Salvatore mansion will be filled to the brim with Outfit families.
If any of my father’s men sees us together, Raffaele is as good as dead.
It was selfish of me to want to see him. I see that now. But my heart couldn’t wait another day. And if he’s still set on coming, then neither is his.
“We’ll be safe, my love,” I promise softly. “I’ll make sure no one sees me going into the woods tomorrow. I promise you that everything will be okay. And we’ll finally be together.”
“That’s all I want, sweetheart. All I want is for you to be mine.”
“I am yours. Always.”
“Cazzo,” he mutters under his breath, but I catch it all the same.
My eyebrows furrow, unhappy that he’s not sharing the same excitement I am. But then again, he’s probably seen his fair share of blood and cruelty when dealing with enemies that dared sneak into his turf uninvited. I can only imagine what other horrors he must face on a daily basis.
It isn’t fair that he should have such a life. Especially since he never wanted it in the first place. I blame his older brother, Matteo, for that.
“I… I should go. There are still a lot of things I need to double-check for tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I reply, a little saddened that he’s cutting our call short.
“Goodnight, vita mia.”
“Good night, caro mio. I love you.”
“And I love you. More than you will ever know.” And with that, he hangs up.
I fall back on my bed, staring at the ceiling above, wondering why this call sounded so… final. It’s almost as if he were saying goodbye.
“He’s just nervous. Cautious,” I tell myself, shaking my head. “That’s all this is. Just nerves.”
Which is to be expected. I should be just as nervous.
He’s putting his life on the line for me, after all.
I just have to make sure no one figures out our plans.
Raffaele has visited me twice before, and no one was ever the wiser.
We can pull it off again. I just need to be vigilant and make sure no one notices my absence from the party tomorrow. That shouldn’t be hard to do. I hope.
The Salvatore mansion is alive by the time the early evening settles in.
Lights glow from every window, spilling gold across the grounds.
Music hums through the halls, blending with laughter, chatter, and the clink of glasses.
The air feels thick with celebration, heavy with decadent perfumes, expensive cologne, and a sea of red roses, my mother’s favorite.
Just as I expected, everyone who is anyone in our city is in attendance.
A mixture of Chicago’s elite and Outfit families fills the rooms, their presence stretching from the grand foyer to the gardens outside, where men in tailored suits and women draped in silk and diamonds glide with practiced ease.
Every corner of the house hums with laughter and conversation, as business is set aside in favor of celebration.
All for my parents and their twenty-five years of marriage.
If there was ever a milestone worth celebrating, it’s this one. Because on this joyous day twenty-five years ago, my mother married not only my father, Vincent, but later returned here, to this very mansion, in secret, to repeat those same vows with my other fathers, Giovanni and Dominic.
Only the walls of this mansion witnessed the vow four best friends made to one another, promising to love and cherish each other, and build a family they could be proud of.
Of course, no one here knows that, or what our family is truly celebrating. Aside from their respective partners, only my siblings and I know the truth that today marks the anniversary of our parents’ happily ever after.
With this image of love blooming in my chest, I ready myself to find my own small speck of happiness with the man I love, even if only for an hour or two.
I stand at the bottom of the staircase for a moment, taking it all in as I prepare to make my move.
My siblings are scattered throughout the mansion, but none of them are watching me.
Not tonight. Not when they’re wrapped up in their own little worlds.
I suppose a night like this has them reminiscing about their own marriage vows.
I first find Jude and his wife, Mina, standing near the bar. He has his arm around her waist, his attention completely fixed on her as she laughs at something one of her twin cousins just said. He barely acknowledges the Crane duo, his focus solely on her.
I smile as my eyes scan the living room in search of my next sibling.
It doesn’t take long before I spot Lucky tucked into a quiet corner with Frankie, their heads close together, as if the rest of the room didn’t exist. As if nothing else mattered, except the way they look at each other while Frankie feeds him one of the new desserts she made especially for this party.
I let out a soft giggle as I search for my rascal of a brother’s twin. My smile widens when I find Enzo on the makeshift dance floor, Alejandro clinging to him as they sway slowly to the music drifting through the air, completely lost in each other.
Just a few steps away, I find Marcello and his wife, Isobel, who looks just as distracted. His usual sharp awareness is softened as he hangs on every word she says while continuing her conversation with her former college professor, Jane Montgomery.
Even my rebellious sister, Stella, is lost in her own little love bubble.
Seated on Kirill’s lap, her fingers trace the same spot over his shoulder again and again.
She smiles up at him while Kostya and Frankie’s brother, Darius, talk animatedly about what I can only assume is their upcoming family vacation in Russia.
The unguarded way Stella looks at her husband makes it clear how completely consumed she is by him.
Everyone is deeply, madly, irrevocably in love. Love wraps itself around this entire night like a spell, and they’ve all been bewitched by it. And for once, I’m grateful for it. Grateful that they’re so lost in each other, they don’t even remember I exist, much less notice my movements.