3. Anna
Anna
I draw a warm bath and sprinkle crystals into the water, sliding out of the outfit I thought would keep me disguised as I left the building, hide me from the cameras, at least for long enough to get far enough away.
My plan was sound, but the men at the dock and along the shore really caught me by surprise.
The water turns a pale pink as I sink into its warmth, inhaling deeply with the realization the only thing that kept me from being turned over to Bastian Gallini when the Sarones and Gallini soldiers caught me tonight is Vincenzo and his crew.
I’m not sure how they knew where to find me, but I am certainly glad they did. Otherwise, the men who captured me would have finished what they started, and by now, I’d be in a shipping container or back of a car, bound and gagged and being taken to the most brutal asshole alive.
I hit the button for the whirlpool to start and close my eyes, sinking against the small pillow at the edge of the large luxurious tub, while the swirling water works to soothe my muscles and calm my nerves.
So close but so far. If I could have just made it to safety, I could have gone underground and never have been heard from again.
I was ready to leave my life, give up being an auntie or seeing my sister or Vincenzo, Lanah, and his brothers again.
As long as it kept them all safe, and it would have.
Somehow those bastards knew where I was, but how?
I close my eyes just soaking in the warmth, and trying to let go of the day until Vincenzo returns. Marriage. Surely he won’t get things arranged that quickly.
The thought of what a real marriage to Vincenzo could be plays in my mind, not for the very first time.
This man, no matter what has happened, has managed to settle right into my heart.
The minute I knew how I truly felt about him, I ran.
Not to protect myself but my family and the man that no matter how much I want to deny it, or question our connection, I love.
The thought of walking down the aisle with him as a token wife, a show for the other mafia families just as an arrangement to ensure protection, makes me sick to my stomach.
This is going to end up being just another sham mafia family wedding, one for show, or proof of mergers and power. Vincenzo and I may have the best sex, and he’s said that I’m his to protect but at some point, surely his plan was always to let me go?
To send me back to the Rosellis because Massimo will never approve of a marriage to Vincenzo, not after he’s kept me from him and my sister, lied right to my brother-in-law’s face.
I just don’t understand what the end game is.
Maybe a trade for territory rights, or something else I’m just too blind to see.
No matter what, I can only imagine how furious Massimo is going to be when he finds out Vincenzo married me without his consent.
I smile. Nor mine. Clearly, it’s happening whether I say yes or not.
There’s going to be a price for that from the Rosellis though.
There’s always a price when you cross a Roselli, and my family, the Cassones, know that all too well.
A far cry from the wedding I thought I would have with my father walking me down the aisle.
If it weren’t for him, Sophia and I would never have been beholden to any of the males in the Roselli or DeLuca families.
Agreeing to give me to Bastian’s brother Barcelo was the worst thing he ever did, but it’s not really entirely his fault.
Barcelo was good at being deceptive, the best.
Barcelo Gallini, the brutal fuck, he had us all fooled, especially me. But no matter how cruel he was to me after Papa agreed to give me to him, his brother Bastian is never going to stop trying to seek revenge for the death of his brother.
His brother Bastian is always going to believe it was my fault and he’s not going to stop until this vendetta of his has ruined me in every way imaginable.
If Massimo and Vincenzo’s crews hadn’t forced him out of hiding that night and found me, I would have died in that hellhole.
My mind swirls with memories that after half a year are just beginning to surface, perhaps some of the things the therapist Massimo and Sophia hired for me told me, and I’ve tried to push from my mind.
Vague memories of Vincenzo lifting me when I was near death, a whispered word of encouragement as he carried me out of Barcelo’s lair and kept me cradled in the protection of his arms on the helicopter.
The strong whirring sound of the helicopter blades permeates my memory, and the smell of Vincenzo’s scent, male, masculine, and protecting as he held me tightly in his arms.
This feeling for Vincenzo, it’s only getting stronger. No matter what Delz, the trainer my father had for both Sophia and me, would have warned against. The enemy will take you; they’ll try to elicit feelings from you that in the end they can use against you. Do not trust those feelings.
My toes look wrinkled from the water, but instead of getting out I add more warm water.
It’s far too late for me to pretend that this is all one sided.
The thought of being married to Vincenzo, of being his wife.
I wipe a tear. I guess a marriage to protect me is better than most mafia family daughters can expect.
At least I know that Vincenzo cares and would never hurt me.
I try to picture what tomorrow will look like. A small, intimate ceremony and no one from my family will be there, not even my sister. Who knows who from his family will be able to attend with his mother lying in that hospital bed post-surgery.
A twinge of guilt hits me right in the heart. Instead of being with their mother, Vincenzo and Nicolo were out looking for me tonight.
I close my eyes trying to rationalize my actions. Not once did I think they would leave their mother and come after me. I saw it as the perfect time to escape without notice and get as far away from everyone I care about as possible. To protect them.
Vincenzo wouldn’t have left his mother to search for me if he didn’t care for me, no matter what that little voice in the back of my mind that Delz drilled into us from childhood says.
The dark rage in Vincenzo’s eyes when he fired the fatal shot that set me free, killing the man who held me against my will.
I’ve never seen someone so mad in all my life, and the way he cradled me in his arms, holding me against him all the way back to the casino.
Just like the memories of him lifting me from safety six months ago from that living hell.
And the decision to make me his wife…
No matter what this is between us, there’s no longer any doubt in my mind that Vincenzo DeLuca meant every word he said when he told me he wouldn’t hurt me and that I belong to him now.
All the terrible things I thought about him flit through my mind, one after another, while in the swirling of the warm water all the pieces of the puzzle begin to drop into place.
My chest fills with embarrassment and remorse for the things I’ve said, how I’ve acted without even giving him the benefit of the doubt.
He was guilty because of his last name. The minute I found out he was a DeLuca every word that came out of his mouth was a devious plan or plot to outfox a Cassone.
I close my eyes, hoping his mother will be okay after the heart surgery, and that one day she and her other kids will be able to forgive me for bringing a war of immense proportions to her family’s door.