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Rumors spread quickly among our ranks, so I was careful not to let our little secret leak out.
"When you're ready…" I said, looking at her inquiringly.
Were you ever ready to face hungry sharks just waiting to tear you apart? Hardly. Was there no way around the shark tank? Certainly not.
We descended the steps, but before I could join Amedea, Emilio took me aside.
"He knows you are responsible for the deaths of his men."
I casually straightened my tie and pulled my shirt from under my sleeves. "So what?"
"He's not thrilled."
I gave Emilio a dark look. "And I'm not thrilled that he beat Amedea minutes before the ceremony. Not to mention the words he directed at her and having her guarded like she was a chest full of gold."
Barely noticeable, the expression on Emilio's face changed. "Then I'll go tell him he can go fuck himself."
"I'd appreciate it," I replied, amused at how quickly Emilio had switched sides with the correct information.
Out of nowhere, Fiero appeared next to me. "Those guys weren't just equipped with firearms," he whispered.
I raised an eyebrow as he unobtrusively slid several syringes into my hand.
Just as unobtrusively, I passed them on to Emilio, whose enthusiasm was limited while his mood reached a new low. "I knew the guy was an asshole, but this…"
He left the sentence unfinished, but I could think of several ways to end it. One was more unfriendly than the other.
I turned to Fiero. "Continue to keep an eye on him. If he comes within five yards of her, I want him to learn to fly."
Fiero bowed his head and disappeared, Emilio moved closer to me. "I'm afraid he will not leave it at this wedding and will demand more than we're willing to give. The battle lines have been drawn. He knows where we stand, and we know where he stands… except, unfortunately, Amedea is standing right in the middle, and I don't like it."
I didn't like it either. Not because I had suddenly discovered a soft spot for her but because she needed protection. Emilio had offered her that in recent years, but in the end, it hadn't been enough to protect her from her father.
For better or worse, Amedea belonged to me now, and so the task fell under my jurisdiction. Fortunately, no one could tell me how to do it, so getting rid of all the men he had brought with him was not wrong.
"I will have it under control, don't worry. Nothing will happen to her; certainly, nothing that comes from Taddeo." I would rather watch him personally every day than see him standing over his daughter with his hand raised again, ready to beat her bloody.
I could feel eyes on me, so I signified to Emilio that we postpone the conversation and turned to join Amedea, who was almost drowning in the rush of guests.
Unfortunately, the worst part was yet to come, and I couldn't say I felt any pleasure in it.
Sighing inwardly, I pulled myself together, put on a thin smile, and approached them. Within the first two yards, I was stopped countless times with congratulations, as if they had all been waiting to throw them at my feet.
Half of them weren't even serious, which meant this was a big lie in every aspect.
4
Amedea
This dress is really a dream," the fourth – or was it the eighth? – wife of a high-ranking member of the mafia said to me, smiling.
She probably expected me to be happy about the compliment and recognize her good taste, even though she had observed something quite obvious. A lot of money had gone into the dress, and even someone who hated wedding dresses would have had to admit it looked forbiddingly good.
I returned the smile and nodded. "I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful one."
It hadn't taken me long to realize that the guests didn't know this wedding was a farce. They believed we were marrying for love, and someone – I suspected Carlotta – had gone to great lengths to make it look that way.
Music played in the background, peppered with romantic melodies that had ticked my gag reflex for about twenty minutes.
