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I can tell he’s impressed by that. And he makes that clear when he makes me an offer. To join him, work for him. For just a moment, I’m intrigued. But I’ve gotten front-row seats to this rodeo before. The mafia is dangerous. It is filled with people who wouldn’t hesitate to betray one another. The Don’s probably not any different.
He’s probably another man without honor, making promises he can’t keep. When I refuse his offer, he simply sighs before asking them to kill me.
My heart pounds with expectation. The Don starts to leave. Maybe there really will be freedom in death for me. I’ve lost everything that mattered to me. I don’t even feel that sad about the thought of dying right here in the parking lot.
“No,” a small voice whispers, halting him.
My head snaps in the direction of the voice, and I see her for the first time. I wonder how I missed her in the first place. She has bows in her brown hair and rosy cheeks. She’s wearing a blue dress and has big, doe-like brown eyes. They’re really pretty.
I wonder at her protest and then grow a little surprised when she proceeds to beg for my life. My life. She doesn’t even know me.
The Don watches his daughter appraisingly for a couple of seconds. My gaze doesn’t shift away from her. Finally, he makes a decision, telling his men to let me go. It’s amusing that I was saved from an almost certain death by a little girl with bows in her hair.
What’s even more amusing is her father tasking her with the responsibility of watching over me. I’m her responsibility now? Why do I have a feeling she’s going to come to regret that?
Over the next couple of weeks, she visits me every day; in the morning and in the evening. Always with enough food for me to eat. She comes alone, a fact that I find odd, considering she’s the Don’s daughter. A princess. I know there are guards at the door, but aren’t they worried I’ll hurt her?
She’s brave for coming at all. She’s brave for trying to talk to me. Even now, she’s prattling on about her friends at school. I couldn’t care less about her perfect life. But it’s amusing to hear about her troubles. They’re so unbelievably different from mine.
“My friends made me so mad today,” she’s telling me in that soft, confident voice. “Cat and Lila walked into lunch together without Faith. They’re not supposed to do that. There are rules.”
Rules created by her. A fact that she stressed to me a couple of days ago. Something I’ve come to learn about the princess is that she’s incredibly bossy. I guess that comes with being in her position. Said position being that she’s been spoiled rotten by her father. I doubt anyone has ever told her no before.
It’s heavily influenced her personality. So much so that I’m sure she goes to bed at night plotting world domination. She truly believes she can do anything. And she has the means to get whatever it is she wants. I wonder what it would be like, to live like that.
To have that degree of control.
“Anyway, good night,” the princess says, rising from the chair she placed in front of my cell door. “Let me know if you need anything. Or just write it down since it’s clear you have no interest in speaking. I don’t mind.”
I don’t say a word in reply. At this point, I’m only staying quiet in order to see how long it’ll take before she breaks the act. I want to see her crack. Although I know she probably won’t. Because despite her bossiness and her plans for world domination, she also has a kind heart. It’s annoying.
The only reason she made the rule of walking into the cafeteria in threes was because she wanted to make sure all the girls in her class were friends with each other. Faith was apparently being left out, so she paired her with the two other girls.
Despite herself and the world she was born in, Aurora Maranzano is surprisingly pure. I hate that. It makes me angry.
Scratch that; it makes me want to ruin it. Ruin her.
In the end, though, I only end up ruining myself. Because I grow to genuinely like her. I start to want to protect her from every evil in the world.
I don’t take into account that evil also includes myself.
Present Day
In our world, marriages are strategic alliances. Arranged in order to earn more power or to keep the power we already have. In the past, the Don would have to give his stamp of approval when it came to the marriages of made men. These days a simple courtesy visit to inform him of the match is enough.
But the Don is dead. Which is fortunate, because I know for a fact Valerio would have killed me before allowing me to marry his daughter.
Aurora sits across from me in the booth, her expression pensive. She called me first this time. Asked for a meeting. She probably didn’t want me showing up in front of her apartment again.
I watch as she twirls the Boba tea in her hand thoughtfully, her gaze fixed on a spot on the table. She’s been doing her very best not to look me in the eye since I walked in here. It’s almost like she’s trying to delay the inevitable. Like a perfect gentleman, I’ve stayed silent, waiting for her to get on with it.
Finally, she sighs softly, leaning down to sip from the straw in her drink. Her brown hair falls forward, blanketing her face for a couple of seconds. After a long sip, she looks up, her gaze connecting with mine. Something stutters in my chest.
“I’ll do it,” she states.
Three words, said with all the enthusiasm of a lamb being led to slaughter. I smirk.
“Do what exactly, sweetheart?”
