Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
“Oh here, can’t forget this!” the old woman says as she stuffs a tampon down the front of my dress for safekeeping. “Wouldn’t want any bloody mishaps in a white gown! And who knows how long you’ll be in that dress tonight.”
“Wait, how did you—”
“Oh, I saw the box of feminine products in your toiletries bag, so I just assumed it was that time of the month. Just trying to be helpful,” she smiles.
“Are all of Leonardo’s staff this helpful?” I ask in annoyance.
She ignores my question and busies herself, placing another rhinestone-studded hair comb in my dark, swept-up hair. But the truth of the matter is that it isn’t the old woman who stressed me just now, as much as it is the fact that I am late.
My period was supposed to come last week, and it hasn’t. I’m never late. I’m one of those rare women whose cycle arrives each month like clockwork, sometimes absurdly even down to the same hour of the same day. But this time, it hasn’t even made an appearance yet.
Of course, that fills me with panic over the fact that I did just have sex with Luc two weeks ago. But one can’t get pregnant that fast—right?
I’m already emotionally conflicted over my intimate reunion with Luc. On the one hand, it was the best night of my life and the sensual, impassioned culmination of years’ worth of pining over him. It only made today worse. Now, not only am I entering a loveless marriage, but I’m doing so while my heart longs for another man. The intimate encounter that Luc and I shared has only made me want him more and Leonardo less. And it’s without a doubt that I stand here now in this expensive wedding gown, feeling completely and utterly in love with a man that I cannot have.
I close my eyes and try to picture Luc in my head. His tall, commanding, muscular physique as he climbed through my bedroom window. Those dark eyes and sharply groomed hair hovered over me as he made love to me. I have never yearned more for another man but also for my independence. The ability to love and to be loved.
Leonardo Conti doesn’t love me—he simply wants to own me. This is all just a game of societal expectations, and I’m sick of it. I crave a genuine connection, the likes of which I’ve never had, even during my time living on Leonardo’s estate with him. Living with him was stifling enough, but now—well, now this arranged marriage seeks to trap me in a life that I don’t want and didn’t ask for.
“Almost time!” the old woman chirps as she takes a step back to look me over. She claps her hands together once and holds them with palms pressed flat against the other as if she’s saying a little prayer. “My goodness, how lovely you look, Valentina! Leonardo will be so pleased.”
I have to fight back a gag reflex at the thought of my entire purpose in life being simply to live up to my husband-to-be’s expectations. I’ve spent months styling myself impeccably, reflecting my role as a prestigious bride-to-be, and now I’m about to become a mafia wife.
I don’t want this.
“I’ll leave you to collect yourself for a moment now, my dear,” she says as she gathers up the makeup brushes and stray flower petals that fell from my bridal bouquet when someone took it out of its box. “No cold feet now! Everyone expects to see you walking down that aisle like a queen—Mrs. Conti, my, what a lovely ceremony this will be!”
As soon as the door closes behind her, a heavy dread falls over me, as does a moment of intense, adrenaline-fueled distress. I have only a few minutes left before that door opens. Then, I have to walk out in front of a church filled to the brim with prestigious mafia families and powerful guests and take my place at the altar to marry a ruthless, heartless mafia Don. If I don’t do something at this very moment, then this will be my inescapable fate. And even though the chance of it seems rare, if I am indeed pregnant with Luc’s child, then how can I live with myself if I marry another man and doom the child of the man I love to a life beneath Leonardo Conti's thumb?
Although rash, reckless, and likely incredibly dangerous, I feel like I’m left with only one real choice in the matter. I need to flee.
Frantically, I look around the dressing room. There is nothing useful in here to help me escape—no weapons, no car keys, not even a change of clothes—just me in my wedding gown and a window that opens onto the street outside. That will have to do.
Driven by guilt over both abandoning my family duties and possibly carrying the child of a man that I should’ve never slept with, but am deeply in love with, I make the bold decision to escape Leonardo. After months of living under his thumb, I know what a life with him would doom me to experience, and I can’t accept that, pregnant or not. I can’t go through with a marriage that will make me miserable for the rest of my life. Leonardo symbolizes everything that I hate—ownership, control, suffocation, all things that he would inflict on me if I were to become “his”. I would be nothing but an accessory until my old age.