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15

GLORIA

I ’ve all but nailed the part of Gloria Vipera.

She’s smart. She’s clever.

She’s vicious.

More like she’s a ruthless bitch. Not overtly. Just cool and aloof.

It’s easy. Just don’t react. To anything. Ever.

Except how I treated Adriano after our night together. The look on his face when he left Dom’s office…

So I guess that’s why I haven’t quite nailed the character. Because I don’t want to be her.

It’s a part of me that I never wanted to explore, that I never thought I’d have to explore. But it’s always been there. That calculating aspect that has seen me through heartbreaking decisions with my family. Made it possible for me to take the risk of coming to work for my father.

Huge. Mistake.

“Gloria? You’re doing it again.”

“What? Looking good? Or…”

“Ha. Ha.” Sandra sticks her tongue out. “You’re orbiting the planet instead of looking at samples…”

“I thought I already picked those.”

“No. I picked those.”

“We’re supposed to be just hanging out. And you did such a good job!”

“We are just hanging out, but I sent you that email last week. It’s my job to put it all together. You are supposed to decide on the parts. And we do have a deadline.”

“Blech. Sorry. I’m a little off today.”

“ ?a arrive . What did he do?”

“ He’s actually amazing, thank you very much. A picture-perfect fiancé.” He is. And I have finally given myself over to the idea of marrying him. Wholeheartedly. If I didn’t fuck it all up.

“But … ?”

But I can’t tell her that my father bought my life out from under me. That he controls every aspect of it now, including the very marriage that I’m planning and the man I’m marrying. That as of a few nights ago I found out that he knows about my little sister and has that to hold over me too.

Or the fact that he’s blackmailing me to have a child that he can raise as his own.

Shaking my head, I sigh, laughing it off. “We are just kind of new at this, is all.”

“Every couple has to have a first fight.” Sandra shrugs, sipping her coffee.

“That’s not it…” I want to tell her so much, so badly. “We’re new. As a couple.”

“Obviously.”

“What?!”

“Calm down, I’m not judging. And I wasn’t going to say anything unless you did. It’s only obvious to me because I do this all the time. I see couples every single day, of every walk and level of interest or lack thereof.”

“Oh…” My hesitance has her reaching out, resting her hand on mine.

“Believe me, Gloria, you two are so very interested. And adorable together. I won’t pry as to why you’re getting married so fast or anything else you don’t want me to know. As your wedding planner, it’s none of my business.”

“I see.”

“As your friend , I hope you feel comfortable confiding in me at some point, but we’re new too, chica!”

Instantly I’m laughing, the weight of the worry sloughing off.

When did I get so insecure about making friends, about everything?

Maybe when I started living a double life…

“You ready?”

“Yes,” I rise, grabbing my to-go coffee cup and my purse. “Walk you back to the shop?”

“Thanks!” Sandra slips her arm through mine like we’ve been friends for ages. She’s so much like me. But carefree. Laid back. Disorganized.

Except in her wedding planning capacity. She’s a genius.

I don’t know where I’d be without her help.

“Why aren’t you married, San?”

“Because every guy in New York is a douchebag!”

“Yeah, you haven’t met me yet, toots!” a random guy hollers walking by, laughing and checking us out.

“Fuck off!” Sandra shouts after him.

“Noted,” I huff. That’s definitely something I’m not used to. “Seriously, though. You’re stunning. What’s the problem? You have a dirty secret? A horrible truth that sends men running and screaming?”

“Absolutely, I do. But it’s no secret. I’m a wedding planner, Gloria! It’s like Raid for single men.” Sandra mimes spraying a can, coughing and gagging. “Not to mention, you see as many piece-of-shit husbands-to-be come through your door as I do, you start to lose faith in any kind of fidelity.”

“Really?”

“I get hit on more at work than I ever have at any bar.”

“That’s …”

“Sad. I know. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still a hopeless romantic. That’s why I do what I do. My momma and poppa are still completely bonkers for each other, so I know it’s out there.”

“I wish I had your confidence. Or optimism.”

“What do you mean? Adriano makes you swoon, I’ve seen it!”

“Shut up! I’m not some fainting corset.” I elbow her lightly.

“No, you’re a pigheaded brainiac right out of a Jane Austen book.”

“So that makes you…the spinster? Or the sister that runs off with the soldier? Ooo! You could wind up being the cousin, with the priest…”

“Creeeepy! No thanks, I don’t want your leftovers, Elizabeth . I was thinking I’m more like the sister that keeps missing her chance with the Lord. Bold, but simply bereft for poor timing…”

“That suits you. I’m sure he’s looking down out of his penthouse skyscraper as we speak, wondering when, oh when he’ll ever meet you. Or maybe he already has!”

“According to my mother I already did and ‘let him get away.’ Of course, she leaves out the part about him cheating on me with the captain of the football team.”

“No!”

“Yep. Not to mention that he was just my first high school sweetheart, Jeremy Lipnicky. He’s a high-powered lawyer now. Still making out with big, beefy men.”

“That’s insane.”

“No, what’s insane are the parties he throws. I’ll invite you next time I’m going to hang out with him. He’s a riot!”

“And you say your life is dull. All I do all day is paperwork.”

“And Adriano.” She wags her brows again.

“Actually, we’ve only fooled around some…”

“Bullshit! You guys are electric!”

“Until a few days ago…” I sigh.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes. We, um. Finally?—”

“Fucked?!” Sandra shouts, grinning.

“Volume, please!” I bite out, feeling my cheeks flush.

“What? Nobody cares. This is New York. There’s two people fucking in that alley right now.”

“Still! And yes. we did.”

“So?”

“Well, it was?—”

“Oh, shit. It was your first time with him!”

“Yes.”

“Wow. I mean, I know you two were new. I assumed it might have been a hot-and-heavy sex thing from the start. Lots of chemistry, still getting to know each other.”

“Um. Both? Neither?”

“Whoa. Start over.”

“I moved my stuff into his apartment a few weeks ago. So we could get to know each other better and I could get out of my Dad’s place.”

“Oh. So it’s that new.”

“Yeah. And then things just got out of hand the other night and we…”

“Do you regret it?”

“No, no, I don’t regret it at all. I mean, I regret some of the circumstances , maybe. And the next day acting like an idiot and saying something really stupid. But I don’t regret the incredible sex.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “It was actually good the first time?”

“Unbelievable.”

“Okay, now I’m starting to feel a little bit jealous about your life. You get set up with a hot guy and he’s amazing in bed.”

“Believe me you don’t want my life. It’s way more complicated than that.” So much more. And I feel bad for glossing over the details. But Sandra’s there for it. Shrugging off the holes in my story.

“I’d settle for funny, handsome, and broad shouldered…”

“That’s not the only thing that’s broad,” I mutter.

“Gloria! You got the golden goose !” Sandra nearly sprays her mouthful of coffee out. “And by that, I mean the golden dick !”

“Sandra! Sorry, was that TMI?”

“Absolutely not! That was NEPTMM!”

“What?!”

“Not enough please tell me more! In graphic detail .”

Blushing, I flap my breath out between my lips. “Well…I’ve had guys go down on me before…”

“Yeah, so have I. It’s usually like a lot like they’re trying to play Whac-A-Mole with a Wiffle ball bat.”

“Oh my God!” I snort, flashing back to way too many last dates. A couple of firsts too. “No…let’s just say that he’s a gifted linguist?”

“Oh! Fluent?”

“ Bi-lingual .”

“You lucky bitch! He wouldn’t happen to have a brother would he…?”

“Two. Twins.”

Sandra’s eyes bug out of her head, then she cocks her head to the side, considering. “I could make that work…”

“Whoa! Someone help! My friend has lost her mind.”

“What? Nothing wrong with a little double-dip cone…”

“Double Diamante delight?”

“Wait, wait, wait … those twins?”

“Yeah, Adriano’s last name is?—”

“Holy shit. That did not click.” She looks a little shaken, shocked. Not scared, just no longer laughing.

“You know who they are, I take it?”

“Uh. Yeah. Everyone in my neighborhood does. Everyone in most neighborhoods do. The ones that pay tribute to them, anyway.”

My head spins, my mouth not able to form the dozen questions that pop into my head.

“Seems like someone else has been making the calls lately, though. Prices have gone way up. A lot of people don’t feel safe.”

“Sandra what are you saying?”

“It’s not a big deal. Just a reality of living in…claimed territory? I don’t know what the best way to say it is.”

“Right. Um. The thing is, Sandra, you know I mentioned that Adriano works for my dad. That we both do.”

“Sure. He’s like the COO, or whatever. Oh.” Her face drops. “Oh.”

“Right. That’s all part of the way we came to be engaged.”

“Wait…like an arranged marriage? What is this, the 1700s?”

“More like the 1800s. Italy. ‘This, the day of my daughter’s wedding’ to be more exact.”

Sandra tips her head back, laughing out loud. “Girl, and you’re worried I’d freak out? I figured you knew that you were like the rest of us.”

“I am pretty new around here too.”

“Every family on my block pays the family. We’re all owned by the Diamante family.”

“Oh. So … you were …”

It caves in. My little bubble, the semblance of something I thought was mine.

“Gloria, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I mean. Everything.”

I’m backing away, shaking my head, walking the other way.

No. No, no, no.

Not her too.

It’s like everything Domenico and Diamante has hijacked my entire existence.

“Gloria! Come back!”

But I can’t look back.

And I can’t escape.