Blood & Marriage (Dark Mafia Romance) (5 page)

“You must teach me how to climb,” I said, hoping an activity
could bring us together without this stiff atmosphere. “I like swimming a lot.
Do you have a pool here?” I asked, leaning closer. He smelled nice, earthy and
fresh. Even if there was a hint of wine on him.

He nodded. “We do. It’s a good size too. I will show you
another time.”

No matter how big and charming he was, our conversation was
more like that of acquaintances than future lovers. It didn’t have that spark
of danger that my first meeting with Santo had overflowed with. But that was
good. Wasn’t that what I wanted after all? Seth was
nice
. Handsome,
young, friendly, he would make a decent husband who would not cause me misery
with arguments and violence.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I missed the moment of odd
silence on Seth’s part, but when he went down on one knee, my whole body
stiffened, backing away against the wooden pillar behind me. And yet he held my
hand while pulling out a blue velvet box.

A ring.

He’d brought me all the way here to propose, even though
everything had been fixed by our fathers long ago. It was so thoughtful of him
to make me feel like this arranged marriage was real after all, as if I had a
choice to say no.

“Lucrezia Bruni, will you do me the honor of becoming my
wife?” Seth asked in that pleasing voice of his, and when I looked into his
eyes, I believed that we could make this work. Maybe it was the fact that we
were both being pulled out of our environments to bow to our families’ wishes
that made me think so. Or maybe it was purely the urge to prove Santo wrong and
show him what a wonderful life I could have at Seth’s side.

I smiled. I would be a good wife to him, and with time we
could surely work things out. It would be all right. “Yes. I’d love to,” I
whispered, glancing into his warm eyes.

Would he kiss me now?

He slipped the ring onto my finger, and the big, fat diamond
spoke of his family’s wealth. Money couldn’t buy love, but it could aid in
making a happy marriage. It would be one less thing to worry about, and if Seth
was as kind and liberal as he seemed, in a few years’ time, maybe I could start
a business and have my own little thing to care for, other than our future
children.

Seth licked his lips and sat next to me on the bench in the
gazebo, not meeting my eyes. As hard as it was to imagine about a man as tall
and handsome, maybe he was, in fact, shy. This was his future as well. We would
be bound to each other forever, and that had to count as something different
than weekend flings, or even past girlfriends.

“My father is very conservative,” Seth said. “He doesn’t
want us to spend too much time together before the wedding. How do you feel
about that?”

I wasn’t very happy about it, but disappointing my powerful
future father-in-law was the last thing I wanted. “I would love to spend time
with you, but we will be married soon, so maybe it will be better to follow his
advice.”

Seth exhaled deeply. “Big step, huh?” He got up and pulled
me with him.

“At least I have someone to stop me from falling over,” I
said, wanting to tickle his pride.

Seth chuckled as we started slowly walking back along the
alleys. “Well, you are tiny. I’m pretty sure I bench press more than you
weigh.”

My eyes immediately strayed to the thick muscles packing
Seth’s sleeves. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” Holding on to him put me at ease
somehow, even though the ring on my finger didn’t feel any different than a
regular piece of jewelry. It was just there, exactly like Seth was just there,
pleasant in his manner and looks.

He was a good choice for a husband. Easy on the eyes but
kind. Who knew, maybe I’d actually struck gold without even trying?

We talked about inoffensive topics on the walk back to the
villa, and every time I looked back at his lips and sturdy body, I thought back
to the way Santo kissed me all over and wondered what Seth would be like in the
privacy of our bedroom. I hoped he wouldn’t be as polite as he was now, not
even daring to kiss me yet.

Maybe he knew something that I didn’t. Maybe we were being
watched after all, and being the gentleman he was, he didn’t want to embarrass
me. When we returned to the terrace, back into the view of all the people
pretending we weren’t there at all, the cool eyes of Seth’s bodyguard were back
on me, as if he suspected me of ill intent. Seth and I exchanged some more
small talk, and I really found myself liking him, even though he was much shyer
than most men I knew. I chose to consider it a good sign.

In the end though, Seth needed to speak to both our fathers
in private, which left me alone on the terrace, stripped of his presence, which
at this point felt like yet another shield to protect me in this unknown
environment.

“How do you like your future husband?” Santo’s voice came
from behind me, and for a moment I considered the question highly
inappropriate, at least until I realized we were alone.

“He is very pleasant, just like you said.” I moved my hand
over the balustrade running along this side of the terrace and watched the
colorful flower heads on the other side. His presence was yet another layer of
discomfort at this point. What if someone noticed us standing alone? What if
Seth didn’t want me speaking to other men?

But it was Santo’s voice that had that annoyed edge to it.
He couldn’t possibly be jealous, could he? He’d known this would happen all
along.

“Glad you find him agreeable. I will escort you to your
rooms,” he said, and his hand on my lower back startled me, sending a shiver
all the way down my spine.

“Someone’s gonna see,” I hissed, stepping away. I could
smell the vultures watching us, ready to pick on my flesh when I was at my
weakest.

He let out a huff and pulled his hand away. “Fine. I forgot
you’re
engaged
now.” He glared at the ring on my finger and started
walking down a narrow alley running along the house.

“I am,” I said, chewing on any other word that could have
left my mouth. How dare he be jealous? Nothing happened between us, and the
things that did happen were because of deception and a momentary lapse of
judgment. “You on the other hand are free as a bird.”

“I wish,” he grumbled, and I rolled my eyes at his mood. The
last thing I needed today was dealing with his bad attitude. Couldn’t I get a
more pleasant escort? And then on the other hand, around Santo I didn’t have to
pretend to be the pleasing, pretty doll everyone wanted to see me as. It was a
relief to stop standing so straight and smiling until my cheeks hurt.

“What’s stopping you? I’m certain there are many girls
around here who’d love to go out with you,” I said, watching my feet, to not
repeat my earlier mistake and trip. Santo wasn’t holding me, so I might’ve ended
up on the ground.

He frowned at me, and pulled me with his arm until we
reached another terrace. “Freedom is not about how much pussy I fuck.”

I took a deep breath. “You don’t have to be so crude.”

He shrugged but still opened the door for me as we got to
another part of the villa from the outside. The house was even larger than I
thought, judging by its facade.

“It’s the truth. You feel free with that rock on your
finger?” He was like an agitated shark, circling me as if waiting to sense some
blood in the water.

“Not really,” I said quietly, but walked through the door,
facing an elegant staircase leading upstairs. There was a large modern
landscape painting on one of the walls, but the decoration consisted mostly of
fresh flowers and framed photographs. It had to be a more personal part of the
house.

Santo zeroed in on me, and lent me his arm for support on
the stairs. “Precisely,” he hissed out. “Seth is not the man for you.”

A chuckle escaped my lips, and I shook my head, carefully
stepping up. “How can you know who’s right for me? You don’t really know me.”

I was trying to remember my way, but the house was a maze of
marble-floored corridors with large mirrors on the walls. I wouldn’t let Santo
set the pace of our walk and stopped by every other photograph, trying to learn
the faces in them and decipher who the people were.

“I know that you are not oblivious to the business your
father does. Seth on the other hand, would be a match for a fellow student at
his university, where they could have 2.5 babies and move out to fucking rural
Montana.”

I traced my fingers over a black and white photograph that
could have been taken in the middle of the past century. Santo’s attitude was
slowly getting on my nerves. “Well, what do you propose? I don’t see you
snatching me away or making promises,” I said sharply and glanced at him,
trying to communicate my anger with the glare alone. Not that I’d want to marry
a man who kissed women he had no rights to.

The long silence told me all I needed to know.

“I promise…” He licked his lips, his face no less tense than
throughout our walk. “I will keep an eye out for you. I’m sorry. I know your
situation is an impossible one.”

His apology took me by surprise, snatching all snippy
comebacks out of my hands.

“I—thank you. I shouldn’t have spoken so harshly. It’s no one’s
fault,” I said, even though the ring on my finger suddenly felt too big for my
hand, uncomfortable.

I couldn’t help but lean a bit closer, until I could sense
the heat of his body on my hand. As infuriating as Santo could be, with him I
could be the closest to my real self.

Santo took a deep breath and pointed to a man in a picture I’d
been looking at earlier. “That’s my father when he was little.” The boy stood
next to two others, straight as an arrow.

I smiled at the picture. He was taller than both of his
friends, with narrow eyes and a wide mouth. “Have I met him already?”

“You might have seen him. Here he is next to my uncle,
Seth’s father.” He pointed to a color photo, one that must had been taken closer
to the nineties. In this one, I could recognize Dino Villani, even though he’d
aged a lot since it had been taken.

“And the third one? Another uncle?” I asked, nudging him
with my elbow. I appreciated that he was trying to put me at ease.

Santo shook his head with a long breath. “No, my other uncle
was dead by then.” He glanced down the empty corridor and, only after that, he
put an arm over my shoulders, and I couldn’t force myself to push away the
comfortable security it gave me.

He led me farther down, to another set of photos. A tiny
smile surfaced on his lips when he pointed to a photo of a row of boys in front
of a church, all in their white albs and with green amices covering their
shoulders. “That’s me.”

I couldn’t help a smile blooming on my face at the sight of
a pretty little boy with a mop of dark hair and an expression so serious as if
he were about to be enthroned as a king. “That is so cute! You didn’t…have the
scar yet back then. How did you get it?” I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to
ask, but curiosity has been killing me, and the time seemed right for the
question.

Santo shook his head. “It’s an ugly scar, and an ugly story,
I’d rather not talk about it.”

I swallowed, but his words were so final I didn’t dare pry
anymore and quickly changed the topic. It looked as if we weren’t as close as I’d
thought we were. “Are those other boys also your family?”

Santo gave a nod. “This is Vincenzo, Seth’s brother, and
this is Domenico Acerbi.” He pointed to a boy with long, black hair and the
face of an angel. “You’ve seen him today. He’s Seth’s bodyguard at the moment,
but he is much more.”

I frowned. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but he’s a bit
weird. If he’s Seth’s bodyguard, do I have to befriend him?” I asked, shifting
as discomfort squeezed my stomach. “He was staring at me as if he expected me
to have explosives under this dress.”

Santo shook his head abruptly and squeezed my arm. “Stay
away from him as much as you can.” His frown deepened as he traced the photo
with his thumb, creating a halo over Domenico’s head where he pushed away dust.
“I don’t like telling you this, but since you will be a Villani soon, you need
to know who is who. Acerbi is dangerous. He doesn’t hesitate when orders are
given. I’ve seen him do things that lead me to believe the man has no soul left
in his body.”

Ouch.
That was harsh. It could be Santo’s
unreasonable jealousy speaking, because Acerbi was as handsome as the devil
himself, but what if he was serious? He certainly sounded very serious.

I cleared my throat, eager to change the topic. “And Seth’s
younger brother? Is he here?”

“Older,” Santo corrected me, and my mind came to a halt, as
if it didn’t compute the first time. If Vincenzo was the older brother, why was
I marrying Seth? Was Vincenzo even more incompetent than his younger brother?
“He’s around. Here’s a photo, so you will know it’s him when you see him.”

Santo picked up a small silver frame with a photo of a man
with short dark hair posturing with a rifle next to a dead crocodile. Vincenzo
had a smug smile on his face, but was pretty average-looking compared to his
brother, or even his cousin.

I wasn’t sure how to ask at first, but from my very first
interaction with Santo, he struck me as a man who valued honesty. “If Seth’s
younger, why is he to be his father’s successor? I don’t have in-depth knowledge
of how men deal with those things among themselves”--and by men I meant
specifically men of the mafia--”but it seems a bit unusual.”

Santo watched me for a long moment. “I’m actually glad you
asked me, so you don’t ask anyone else about it. Seth might find the question
offensive, Vincenzo could even get angry with you, and anyone else could feed
you dangerous gossip. The truth is that no one knows or understands, but no one
dares question Dino Villani about it. I won’t even pretend to know why he was
brought back from the USA and chosen for the role, but Acerbi has been
preparing him. Maybe Seth’s father knows something none of us do. As you can
imagine, things have been tense around here since the decision had been
announced.” Santo put down the frame and led me down the corridor. “Be very
wary of what you say and to whom, until you’re sure you know what they’re
about.”