AYYYYYYY!!!
Happy Tuesday! :)
I was already finished with this chapter so I figured I'd just post it!!! Please vote & leave me a zillion comments to read to show your love!! I can't wait to read them all! :D
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"Good morning, Papà," I said, kissing my father's cheek. I grabbed the glass vase at the center of the table and poured his orange juice like I always did, before sitting across from him at the breakfast table.
Dad was always up earlier than Mia and I and was already dressed for the day in his usual dress shirt and slacks. My father looked younger than his nearly forty-five age and took pride in his appearance, which often lead to my friends having weird crushes on him. I got my olive toned complexion and curly dark brunette hair from his Tuscany roots and my mother's bright honey brown eyes. Mia and I both had almost the same eyes as Mamma. Both my parents were immigrants from Italy.
"Good morning, cuore mio," Papà said, and I immediately caught on to his disheartened tone. "Did you sleep well?"
If "sleeping well" meant tossing and turning in utter anxiety all night long after raising a gun to one of my father's-mafia's-friends, then yes, I had slept extremely well.
"Like a baby," I said brightly. I even added a smile. "I was up studying pretty late, though."
Dad's usual breakfast of two eggs and two pieces of toast were untouched. Meanwhile, Mia, sitting directly beside him, slathering her hash browns in ketchup.
"Mia, that's way too much ketchup," I scorned her.
"Did I ask your opinion?" Mia sassed, making my mouth pop open.
"Bada coma parli, nell amia casa, Mia," Dad warned. You watch your mouth in my house, Mia. My father was normally extremely lenient with Mia, much more than he was with me, which only lead me to further paranoia that he was upset. And I had a feeling I knew what it was.
"Sorry, Korinna," Mia mumbled, very sadly buttering her toast.
"Is something the matter, Papà?" I asked.
Dad lowered his newspaper so that I could see his face. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept the whole night, either. "You tell me. Is there a reason I might be upset this morning?"
Mia quietly set down the butter knife, appearing uncomfortable.
I swallowed a dry lump in my throat, unable to look my father in the eyes.
"What you did last night is unacceptable," my father began.
"I can explain––"
Papà silenced me instantly with a calm raise of his hand. "No, no, I was not finished. I had organized a last-minute but important meeting last night. I reached out to another mafia to potentially build an alliance. The La Notte's."
A drop of dread landed in my stomach at the name.
The La Notte's were a powerful mafia in the drug industry. Lazzarro La Notte was so rich and well-connected that he was virtually untouchable.
"With the looming threat of our rivals, I took the risk to make a deal with Lazzarro La Notte," Papà continued, as I felt a wave of nausea roll through me. "Their empire has much more money and manpower than mine, but Lazzarro is envious of the Romano's territory. His son arrived last night on his behalf, since Lazzarro is traveling."
I could hardly breathe. I had already put two and two together.
"Imagine my surprise," my father said, "when I find out my daughter held a gun up to the son of Lazzaro La Notte!" He slammed his hand against the table, startling me and Mia. "He is to potentially take over his father's business, and we were to sign an imperative agreement at the end of the night. However, when it came to it, he wouldn't sign. I asked why, of course I did––the meeting had gone so well between us that there was almost no question in my mind our family would finally be safe again. That is when he reluctantly told me of your shameful interaction with him!"
Mia took a large, crunchy bite into her toast, her eyes darting back and forth between dad and me.
"Luckily, he is empathetic toward our situation last year," Papà said at last, but I had a feeling it wasn't time to breathe yet. "We agreed to an arranged marriage between him and you to amend the broken trust you caused. A marriage to strengthen our alliance."
Mia pointed at me and laughed. "Ha-ha!"
I stood up so fast my chair knocked back. "Are you on CRACK?"
My father snapped his newspaper closed. "Stai attento!" Be careful!
I slammed my ass back down. "This has to be some sort of joke! You haven't even heard my side of the story––"
"Did you raise a gun to a La Notte or no?" Papà cut in sharply.
"Yes, I did, but I––"
"How could you be so careless? You know better!"
"Why are jumping to the conclusion that I made a mistake and not him?" I cried, feeling like I was going insane here. "Don't you want to know how the might have warranted that response from me? Don't you care?"
Papà completely didn't listen to me, as his shifted to Mia, who was building her eggs into a mountain with her fingers. "Mia, stop playing with your food Usa forchetta."
I gripped both sides of my head. "I feel like I'm a horror movie."
"Your mother and I had an arranged marriage," Papà said, already back to reading his newspaper. "It is normal in our culture."
"Yeah, and look how that turned out!" I snapped, before I could stop myself.
The look my father gave me made me want to wilt into my seat. I was really playing with fire today. "I'm sorry, Papà. I didn't mean it. Please, just listen to me. Your guests know not to interact with family or come up stairs. Mia told me he walked her upstairs by himself. I found him outside my bedroom, looming in the hallway like a freaking demon. He said he was using the bathroom, but I listened to my gut. I pulled my gun on him to protect myself."
"It is clear to me," Papà began, "you are so detached with your fantasy life at college that you have forgotten our ways. When I raise my gun, it is a last resort. It is with the intention to fire. What you have done has shamed me, and you didn't even come to me afterward to tell me. Your recklessness could have killed our entire family. Do you understand this?"
Feeling like I wasn't getting through to him, I slipped right into desperation to try and appease. "Papà, I recognize that I made a mistake. I'm so sorry. Please, this is a little extreme. This is my whole life we are effecting. Marriage is a big deal. I haven't even been in the room with this guy for five minutes. I don't even know his name!"
"His name is Lucius."
I thought I was going to have a heart attack. "You're making me marry a guy named after the DEVIL?"
Mia giggled behind her hand.
"We should have this conversation in private, Korinna."
"Why?" Mia asked with a wry smile. "I'm just going to eavesdrop, anyway. Is Korinna really marrying Lucifer?"
"Lucius," Papà corrected her.
"His last name literally means night," I jumped in. "DEVIL...OF THE NIGHT!"
My father's face tinged a reddish shade. "It is too early in the morning for your dramatics. You're overreacting."
"I'm overreacting?" I had to laugh, I mean, was I in a fucking crazy house right now?
Papà leaned his elbows on our kitchen table and rubbed his tired looking eyes. "I understand you are overwhelmed. But please understand my words now. The La Notte's are an important alliance to this family. Your grandmother had an arranged marriage in this way, too. You can speak with her about it when she stays for Thanksgiving. She understands our ways."
I kept my mouth shut for as long as I could. "Nonna is a superstitious traditionalist. She thinks I've been single all this time because one time a broom accidently brushed over my foot. Fifteen years ago! She genuinely believes I'm cursed because of it!"
"Well, now the curse will be broken. You will have a fiancé in Lucius."
I could not believe this was happening.
"This guy is a total psychopath, Papà! Who in their right mind jumps right to marriage when they feel insulted? It's 2021! People have actual conversations to settle problems!"
"So, we agree there is a problem between you two, and it must be emended," Papà said, clearly having much more trust in Lucius' mental stability than I did. "Lucius's father has graciously extended help to us, and I feel a marriage is the perfect way to thank him. I heard the La Notte's have quite a few younger children in their extended family. I'm sure Mia would love to make a few new friends."
Mia looked up at me from across the table, then at Dad. "What's that supposed to mean? I have..." She counted on her hand. "Friend."
"Marriages will strengthen us, Korinna. Lucius said he would stop by tomorrow evening to discuss things with you. Talk to him and get your head on straight. If you want me to keep paying for your schooling, you will do this for me. Otherwise, I will disown you."
The ol' holding your inheritance over my head threat always got me good. Although I planned on paying every nickel back to my father, I needed my inheritance to pay for school to get my doctorate, otherwise all my life goals went out the window.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" I asked, feeling like I was at the verge of tears. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd genuinely cried. "You hate that I'm pursuing psychology. That I want my own life away from all of this, just like Mamma."
Papà's cold expression let up a little bit as he sat back in his seat, and I realized there must have been a little truth to it. When he opened his mouth to respond to me, Mia dropped her utensils loudly onto her plate.
"May I be excused to make cereal?" Mia asked in a quiet voice. "My toast is burnt."
I wiped my hands over my face, having forgotten she was even at the table. Here I was worried about being forced to marry a psychopathic criminal and Mia was concerned about toast. "Your toast is not even burnt, Mia. Just scrape it off with a knife."
"Are you dumb?" Mia asked, holding up her half-eaten toast for me to get a better look. "The toast is charcoal."
"Cos'ho appena detto, Mia?" Dad shouted, startling the entire table. "Apologize right now!"
Mia turned ashen with fear. "Sorry, Korinna."
"No phone for the rest of the day," Dad said. "No tablet, either."
Mia's head lowered in shame.
"What is wrong with you lately and this new attitude?" Papà continued to correct Mia, taking her tablet off the table. "Go get dressed for school. Gemma is already waiting for you in the dining room to start today's lesson."
Mia's lip wobbled, before she pushed her chair back and ran from the room. Papà looked after her with remorse in his features and ran his hand over his face.
"You know Mia's struggling with being homeschooled," I said, knowing there was no way I was getting through to him right now with my own situation. "She's lonely. She wants to go back to school."
"It's not safe yet, Korinna. Which is why we need the La Notte's." Papà threw his napkin down as he rose from his seat, the pure disappointment in his face making me feel terrible. I hadn't seen my family show this much emotion in a long time. Not since Mamma had left. "You will marry Lucius and that is final."
Papà left the room without another word, leaving me with the sickening realization that in an instant, everything had changed. And this was just the beginning.
I'd been offered to the Devil.
***
"YoU'rE mAkiNg mE mArRy a GuY nAmeD aFteR tHe DEVIL???" LMAO.
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KISSES,
Kat
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