Page 154 of Broken Mafia Bride

49

GIULIA

“You better take care of my girl!” Sienna says too loudly. “I know how to cut you open and take out a kidney, lung, or heart.”

“There are kids here!” Val cries, grabbing Noemi and covering her ears. She shoots a glare at the redhead, who merely shrugs, far too intoxicated to care that she’s probably traumatizing my kid.

I sigh. Unfortunately, Sienna has never been able to hold her alcohol, and her husband is busy putting the twins to bed. It didn’t take long for the wedding reception to turn into pure chaos. I can’t say I hate it, though.

The picture-perfect wedding straight from a catalogue was Isa’s dream, not mine.

And anyway, it would have been almost impossible for me to have a perfectly civil and normal wedding. From day one, there has never been anything normal about me or my situation. What matters is that after so many years, Raffaele and I are finally husband and wife.

I glance down at my wedding ring for the hundredth time since he slipped it onto my finger, grinning wide. It’s aneighteen-carat gold Mobius ring, but the best part of it is the words engraved on the inside of it.

“My dream, my reality, and my forever.”

I glance over to where he’d been sitting with Sienna’s father, talking about god knows what, and I’m surprised to see the older man sitting there alone. A quick look around tells me he’s nowhere to be found.

Confused, I break away from the group, and walk over to Mr. Amato. “Where did Raffaele head off to?”

He shrugs. “He just said he had something to take care of. He headed in that direction.” He motions toward the back of the house. I blink in confusion, wondering what’s going on.

Holding up the front of my silver silk dress, I make my way around the party and toward the small garden at the back of my father’s house. It brings back memories of a few years ago when Barlowe held his wedding here. Raffaele and I had snuck to the back, unable to keep our hands off each other.

My panties are starting to get damp just remembering the way he pushed me up against the wall and fucked me like an animal.

I wonder if this is an elaborate plan to have a repeat of that afternoon. Grinning, I increase my steps, coming up to the back of the house.

“Ra—”

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I hear Raffaele scoff, causing me to freeze.

I slip behind a pillar, mind racing with thought. Who’s he talking to? My heart begins to race. Was I stupid to think we were done with the horrors of our past? Is it possible that the nightmare is truly not over and has haunted us back to Chicago?

“What are you doing here?” Raffaele asks.

“It’s my son’s wedding. Where else would I be?”

My eyes widen as I hear Edoardo’s familiar voice. What the fuck is he doing here? The friction between the two men has remained even after the mess of the past has died down. Chicago hasn’t magically been transformed into a safe haven, but slowly and steadily, things are beginning to get better.

The smaller crime groups and families are being taken down and absorbed into major ones. The streets are being cleaned of drugs and guns, and the cops, law courts, and other agencies are working overtime to catch the more notorious gangs and lock them up.

“You weren’t invited,” Raffaele tells him coldly.

“Do I really need an invite to be here? I’m your father, for god’s sake. You let in Enrico and every other bastard within a five-mile radius,” he snaps. “And I’m not here for you anyway.”

“Oh?”

“I’m here for the kid. She’s my granddaughter. You can’t keep her from me.”

There’s a pause, and then Raffaele lets out a short bark of laughter. “What the hell makes you think that I’ll let you go anywhere near my kid? You were a shitty excuse for a father, and it’s clear you’re still just as horrible as you’ve always been. I’m not letting you fuck my kid up.”

“I didn’t fuck you up. You turned out pretty well.”

“No thanks to you.” Raffaele sounds annoyed now. “Just go home. You’re not welcome here.”

My heart sinks. It’s not logical to expect that just because I now have family, and my father has finally decided to step up and be a real dad to Val and me, the whole world would suddenly become rainbows and roses. There are still men like Edoardo who will never accept the role they played in ruining so many lives.