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“Apologize to Christina,” Albert orders.
Antonia opens and shuts her mouth before finally attempting to stomp her foot. She misses, falling off her heels and crumpling to the ground.
“Sorry.” She hisses from the pile of fabric.
Lorenzo hurries over. “My apologies, Venitti,” he says shortly.
The crowd is silent as he stands before his daughter and grabs her arm, hauling her roughly up.
“You will go home and sober up and then you will wait for me,” he says, darkly. “We will discuss this at home.”
She pales and tries to nod, but she’s still swaying. Lorenzo snaps his fingers and her guard scoops her up and walks from the room.
Several seconds of awkward silence fills the entire ballroom before the hum of whispers starts up again.
I fist bump Alec under the table and Albert narrows his eyes at me. If he suspects us, he doesn’t say anything. We all exhale when he sits back down and turns back to Meredith.
In order to survive in this world and maintain the power we have, our lives can’t be all guns and blood.
The music starts, and more dancing begins. My father nods to Christina. I see his plan before he can act on it so I jump up to take her hand and lead her to the dance floor myself.
Jimmy frowns at his table when I pull her close, leading her in the dance as the music swells.
Her steps falter, but I firmly hold her. I know she’s nervous in this world and doesn’t think she fits in.
The Mafia is so much more than murder and money. It’s a level of lifestyle that she deserves to experience. I want to spoil her – to show her just how wonderful our life could be, Enzo and I - we can give her so much. A life she’s never thought to dream of. The thought warms my heart.
I sweep her across the floor, leaning closer so she can hear me. “You won’t leave our side tonight. If you’re not with me, you’re with Enzo.”
“But your father said I was supposed to—” she starts to say.
“I don’t give a damn what my father said. You stay with us.”
“Okay,” she nods her head once before tucking her face into my chest.
I hold her closer, only letting her go when the song ends and Enzo steps in for his turn.
“Don’t let her out of your sight,” I say to Enzo, who nods, taking Christina by the hand and leading her back onto the dance floor.
He’s the only person in this entire world I trust her with. I move to the edge of the room, resting my back against a far wall in order to take in the room. I have no more patience for the niceties.
Would I choose this life if I had an actual choice? I don’t know that I would. But this is what I have. And for that, I’ll do whatever it takes to maintain control.
I scan the room, looking for threats, but of course, there are none.
Christina laughs at something Enzo says, tilting her head back with a brilliant smile.
They look good together. Like they belong together.
Little does she realize just how desperate we are to make those words official.
She was ours the moment she walked into that club, but after we took her virginity? She sealed her tie to us in blood. There’s nothing she can do to escape us now.
I thought about waiting until school ended, but I can see that waiting will only extend the pain of pretending. There’s no reason for that. I finish my champagne, catching my father’s eye and smiling.
His gaze narrows. He knows that I’m up to something.
I can’t wait for the world to know just what that is.
