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“Now, for the honeymoon – my expectations are that we go somewhere luxurious. It is a vacation after all. But nothing cold, tropical, or too nature-oriented. I think a tour of the National Library in D.C. could be a good starting place. Maybe a world tour of libraries?”
“Christina,” The warning in my mother’s voice just makes me keep going.
“Now, I’m sure you understand that I have to protect myself. Therefore, I won’t have sex with him until I’m certain he’s monogamous,” I say, swallowing my last forkful of food. “So we’ll have to wait a few years for children.”
My mother’s face reddens.
Serves her right. This is what they get for trying to force a nineteen-year-old girl into marriage. They should all be ashamed of themselves.
“Well, if that’s all,” Victoria says, tossing her napkin down onto the table as she stands to leave. “Then it’s time we go pick out the ring.”
We walk the three stores down to a boutique jewelry store. Victoria tells us that it’s a family business the Cosas have apparently used for generations.
Once we’re inside, I look at the hundreds of diamond rings. The salesman brings out tray after tray, showing me every style.
But none of them appeal to me.
Finally, after Victoria whispers something to her, my mother selects a classic princess cut diamond solitaire.
“Put it on, Christina,” she orders.
I hate the way the cold metal slides across my finger. It feels heavy. Wrong. Final.
Once we leave the store with the sparkler on my finger, my confidence plummets and a chill overtakes me.
“You’ll soon learn how a Cosa woman behaves, missy. I see through all your games,” Victoria hisses as she snaps a picture of the ring on my finger. “Just you wait until you’re part of my family. We won’t tolerate that bullshit at all.”
My stomach drops.
Although I might have made a small win refusing to sign the papers today, I can’t ignore the feeling that I’ve lost some of that ground I gained by being forced to wear this ring.
“Next week, we’ll meet again for dresses.” Victoria announces. I look down at my ring finger and grimace. Yay.
30
Enzo
"We've been sold out," Giovanni announces, his voice heavy with what sounds like defeat.
His dark gaze shoots over to one of Cossi’s men tied up in the corner. “Cosa was behind this and thanks to this little rat I found prowling around our property, I have proof.”
I glance over at Albert. He’s pissed. His gaze is filled with a potent mixture of rage and disbelief as he stares at Giovanni.
“Just listen,” Giovanni says, taking a seat at the table, placing his phone down in front of them all before pressing play.
Senator Cosa's words ring out through the speaker, each syllable dripping with malice and betrayal. He outlines the plan and his instructions clearly. The recording ends, leaving an eerie silence ringing between us.
If we were looking for the proverbial smoking gun, this would be it.
"Well, fuck," Albert mutters under his breath.
I have so many questions, but I don’t want to ask them here. Not when I still suspect Giovanni.
I glance at Alec and he shakes his head.
“Later,” he mouths. I nod.
This new information just adds to the uncertainty that has been flooding my mind as I try to decipher what this means.
