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“Do all the guests know whose wedding they’re here for? Am I the only one not in on the truth?” I shake my head. “What about Rosanna? Was she in on it this whole time?”
“They know.”
I’m about to throw up.
The hours I spent pouring over seating charts and food choices for my cousin’s wedding, and Rosanna won’t be the one walking down the aisle toward the love of her life.
I’ll be the one walking toward a life sentence, because there’s no other way to describe it.
My entire body is shaking so badly that I have to reach out and cling to one of the coat racks to steady myself.
The humiliation and betrayal are almost crushing me. And it doesn’t help that Alexei Koslov’s smirk when he realized I had found out the truth is playing on repeat in my head.
Asshole.
“You could have been straight with me from the start, Papino. Making me think I’m a guest when I’m really the one getting married is low, even for you.”
“I couldn’t risk you not showing up.” He bows his head. “You overthink things, bambina.”
“For good reason. Why couldn’t you trust me enough to tell me? I’m not an unreasonable person. If you have a good reason for this marriage, then I deserved to know. I deserved to have the time to understand, to come to terms with it.”
I look down at the floor, trying to stop the knot from forming in my throat. “After all this time, have I not proven myself? That I care about this family? I know what’s expected of me, Papino. After all, I’m your only heir.”
“You’re right.” My father sighs, rubbing at his jaw as he looks at me with pity in his eyes. “I should have gone about this another way, and I apologize for that.”
“What exactly is being asked of me here, Papino? Do I just need to sign the marriage license and be done with it?”
He shakes his head.
I shake mine in return. “Of course not… It’s not enough that I have to legally bind myself to a stranger, but I have to sign away my freedom too? You’re making me give up my entire life, Papino. Everything I’ve worked so hard to build for myself…”
We both look at each other for a moment, and my shoulders sag with the weight of what’s to come.
My life is being ripped out from beneath me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I don’t even have Zara with me.”
“Bambina—”
“No. It’s my goddamn wedding day, and my best friend isn’t even here! How fucked up is that?” My arms are flying around me now. “And how do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out I got married without her even knowing?”
I laugh. “Of course, how could she if I didn’t even know? How pathetic is that?”
“I couldn’t risk you finding out. I had to pretend it was a family-only affair to stop you from learning the truth and bolting.”
I stare into my father’s blue eyes, so much like my own.
But he is nothing like me. He doesn’t care. Did he ever?
There’s no way I’m walking away from today without a ring on my finger. Emilio Bellucci always gets his way, no matter what.
“I hope you know what you are doing, Papino. And I hope this is worth losing your daughter over.”
My father lets out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry, bambina.” He reaches down to press a soft kiss to my cheek. “But this is the only way.”
“Then let’s get this over with.” I fight the tears that are threatening to spill down my cheeks.
