AllFreeNovel
Share Us
" Humility?! That's what I'm supposed to show this time when they came after me because I didn't want to marry and combine families. When do I get a choice?"
My father shook his head. " You know damn well that there is no choice regarding the mafia. Choices can get you killed. We've wanted this for years. And now you're undoing a whole lot of work."
I could feel my heart just bending into a pretzel. I was alone. There was no one on this mountain with me anymore. And I was expected to marry someone that I did not care for. What was I to do? I had no alternative but to plead with my father. " You're really taking their side on this one? Over your blood. All you care about right now is power."
"I don't care about power, son. I care about keeping the peace, and I care about seeing you. Stay alive. There's no way out of this other than death. And you know they'll come after me too."
Something told me he was lying about that. Something told me that, just like Angelina, it would be a message to me. If she were to be Slade, I would be a message to my father. Nothing more and nothing less. So, if I was to stand on this mountain by myself. I could at least go out like a man. I looked my father right in the eyes with a face filled with conviction. " I'm going to plan an attack. I'm going to take back who I am. And I don't care what happens. I'm going out the way I want to go out. I am not marrying that woman. So leave my office, or I'll make you leave."
And just like that, I was a different man altogether. I guess you could say I had snapped. This happens when you lose everything you care about and also lose hope at the same time. I had never really experienced it until that moment. I had never lost anything that mattered to me, like Angelina. Losing my mother to cancer was up there. A normal part of life. Everything with Angelina just felt unfair. And when you feel like life is unfair, sometimes you tend to lash out.
And you know what, with Angelina no longer in my life, or at least with her pushing me away, I had nothing to lose. The sooner the other family died, the sooner I knew Angelina was safe. Even if it killed me in the process.
Chapter 19
Angelina
Itwasn'tgoingtowork. No matter what angle I looked at it from, there was no way I would remain separated from Tomaso.
The second he walked out of my house was the second that I was filled with regret. All I wanted to do was fix things. Even if I knew that there were no fixing things. That’s when I knew we were both doomed. One of us was just in denial. Actually, maybe both of us were. Just in different ways, I suppose. None of that mattered, though. What mattered was the fact that I was hurting. I was hurting in a pool of desperation. I regret every decision I had made when it came to pushing away Tomaso. And the craziest part about it all was that it stemmed from a dream.
I made breakfast for myself while thinking about that very dream. In the dream, Tomaso and I had a family. We had one boy who was seventeen months old. And I had just found out that I was pregnant with his second. We had this beautiful house that wasn't even a mansion. It was just something you would see in a Hallmark movie. I had the white picket fence. My child's room looks like it was on that show's extreme makeover home edition. There were many blue toys, everything you would expect with a 17-month-old.
In the dream, Tomaso was a different man. He looked relaxed. His shoulders were not tense. He had an eternal smile as though he could die any moment, a happy man because he had achieved everything he had ever wanted. The sense of pride that filled my chest was one that I had never felt before. It was a place that I did not want to leave. I looked forward to the next moment. I craved the future. Even though that child was faceless and was not real, I craved to know what it was like to watch him grow up.
But none of this would come to fruition because I would wake up in a cold sweat. There was that one second when real life seemed like a dream. And then that rubbed off, and I realized that the life that was way too perfect had actually been way too perfect. It was nothing but a dream. And I was the furthest place away from that ever becoming a reality. There was no way Tomaso and I would have a family, not via how I had treated him, not how the circumstances had treated both of us.
And this sent me into a panic. It made me feel like time was taking me down in the worst ways. It was like he was dead, and I had run out of time. Of course, I knew this wasn't true. But that didn't stop how I felt. Instead, I went into this hyperactive state of needing to do something.
While I made breakfast, it dawned on me. There was a way that I could fix the situation. It was one of the craziest things I had ever considered, but it might work.
I had this plan: if I went to the rival Mafia family and told them how much I cared for Tomaso, maybe they would call it off. Maybe I could spin it in a way where the story would be believable. It sounded crazy on the surface. It didn't make much sense if I thought too hard about it. But crazier things have happened in life. And I wasn't about to leave something on the table without trying it. I would need to do some research on the Vincenzo family. I would need to figure out how to get there. But maybe it wouldn't be so hard. Maybe there was a way.
I met with Tomaso's father.
He was a lot less intimidating when it was just him and me. Instead, he had more of a curious look.
His office looked like it was right out of the '90s. It was a lot of browns. It was nothing too spectacular, no fanfare. A simple place for what felt like a simple man. Or at least I saw him a lot simpler than Tomaso. When I looked at Tomaso's father, I saw a man with everything outlined in his head. In terms of beliefs. There was no wiggle room. He was a man who lived by a code, whereas Tomaso always questioned his own motives. I liked Tomaso a lot better, obviously, for that. I like the man who could reflect rather than just tie himself to one belief system and call it a day.
"Have a seat."
I followed the man's orders. He was polite about it. But there was still a very high level of guardedness with him. I could liken it to skepticism as well. He just looked at me with cunning eyes. Oddly enough, I relaxed when I sat in the seat across from his desk. Because I guess I had some hope in my heart that my plan would work. I just needed a little bit of information.
"What brings you here today? Angelina? I can make guesses, but why waste anyone's time."
His tone was much softer than I had expected, which was comforting.
"Let me cut to the chase. I want to go state my case to the Vincenzo family. I want to prove that he and I are in love. Because we are. The only issue is that he pushes me away because of his lifestyle. But other than that, we entered into a contract and are in love. So maybe, if I can be honest and prove my case, they'll drop the whole thing."
He started to laugh. It was not the type of laugh that one trying to plead something wanted to hear. "You really think that you're going to walk into the Vincenzo headquarters, Walt's right up to Mario Vincenzo, and tell them you're sorry, or it was one big misunderstanding? You might be good for my son because you both don't think with your head. My son thinks with his ass, and you, I'm not sure what you think with. But you both are two peas in a pod."
I tried my best to hide my disappointment. I felt like a little kid at that moment. I almost felt like I was his daughter. Call me crazy, but it was a little touching. In a way, I was talking to my father-in-law. Now, how was I to convince this man to give me the information that I needed? At the end of the day, I didn't technically care what he thought. But I was hoping a little bit that he would make me feel better and tell me I had a chance. While looking him right in his eyes, I knew that wouldn't happen.
"Look, you have no reason to believe me. And you have no reason to support me. Me going to visit them is on me. It will have nothing to do with you. All I'm asking is for this information to visit these people."
He leans back in his chair. I could feel him thinking. I could feel him measuring me up. I had no way of telling whether or not he was going to give me this information. It could literally go either way with how unreadable he was.
Three seconds. That's how long it was before he said anything. Then the words came out. "I'm going to write down the address. This is where Mario Vincenzo is. They know what you look like. And they know who you are. I have no part in this like you said. But I do wish you the best. Because I know how much my son loves you."
