Claimed by the Enforcer: A Venturi Mafia Spin-off novel, page 16
“You are completely right, Mia.”
“I am?”
“Yes. This is just a case of cold feet, probably made worse by the hormones. Things with Stefano have just happened rather quickly, but he is the father of my child and tomorrow, we will be a family.” I forced a smile, hoping she wouldn’t see through my act.
Mia smiled and squeezed my hand softly. “Why don’t I have Bianca bring you a cup of tea before bed to help you sleep?”
“Oh no. I don’t think tea is necessary. I just needed to talk this out and now that I have, I’m ready to fall asleep.”
“Alright, but if you need to talk any more, I’m just down the hall.”
“Thank you, Mia. For everything.”
I walked her to the door, and she pulled me into a tight hug before disappearing into the hall. I closed the door and climbed into bed, crying late into the night.
Chapter 23
Luca
I barged into Teo’s home just as he escorted Mia into the entryway. "Luca, what are you doing here?"
"I’m sorry for the intrusion but I need to speak with you."
"We were just leaving for the church."
"I know. But this can't wait." My voice was apologetic but firm, letting him know that it was serious.
Teo nodded to me before wrapping his arm around Mia’s waist and speaking gently to her. “Go on out to the car. I’ll be quick.”
Mia smiled adoringly at Teo, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She gently squeezed my arm and smiled up at me as she passed us to the door. As soon as we were alone in the foyer, Teo turned to me with worry in his eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“I know my timing couldn’t be worse, but there’s something I have to tell you—something I need to confess before it’s too late.”
Teo’s brow knitted together, and he took a step closer. “What is it?”
“First of all, you have to know that I never meant for this to happen. I would never do anything to jeopardize our friendship or have you question my loyalty to you or the family.”
“I know that. Luca, I’ve known you for most of my life. Whatever it is, just say it.”
“I’m in love with Mira.”
Teo’s concern morphed into shock as his eyebrows shot up and his jaw went slack. The silence stretched out for what seemed like hours as I waited for him to respond.
“Teo?”
“You love my sister?” His words were cool and matter of fact.
“I do,” I answered firmly. “I promise you that I never meant for this to happen. I don’t even know how or when it happened exactly, but I do, I love her.”
A single, nearly silent laugh bubbled up from Teo’s chest. The corners of his mouth twitched as he shook his head. “I’ll be damned. Mia was right.”
“Mia?”
“She saw something between you two way back at our wedding reception. I told her that she was imagining things.”
“Please, you have to know that I never meant to feel this way. I tried to fight it but...”
“But you can’t choose who you love. Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because if I don’t act now, I’ll lose her forever and I just can’t live like that. I know I’m not the man you’d choose to marry your sister but—”
“Luca, you are precisely the type of man I would choose to marry my sister. You obviously care deeply for her, or you wouldn’t have risked telling me.”
“I do. I care for her more than life itself.”
“Do you know if she feels the same way?”
“She does. Or at least she did before I rejected her for fear of disrespecting you.” A sharp pang of guilt stabbed in my gut.
“My sister is a strong, stubborn woman. She won’t let you off the hook for that for a long time, but she is also a loyal and loving woman. If she gave you her heart once, she wouldn’t take it back easily. But why didn’t you come to me sooner, once you knew that the feelings were mutual?”
“I was afraid that you would see it as disrespect. You are more than my don, more than my best friend, even. You are my brother.”
“You didn’t think that I, of all people, would understand loving someone you shouldn’t? The man who was in love with his brother’s fiancée?”
“Oh.” The realization left me nearly speechless. “I didn’t really think of that.”
Teo glanced down at his watch and came back to me. “We need to hurry. You need to talk to Mira before it’s too late.”
“You’re really okay with this?” I stood there in shock.
“Obviously it’s up to my sister who she is with, but I think she deserves to know all her options, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go. You’ll ride with us.”
Teo and I nearly ran out to the waiting limo. The driver opened the back door, and we jumped inside to find a surprised looking Mia.
“Is everything okay?” Mia glanced between the two of us for an explanation.
Teo leaned in and kissed her lips, but she didn’t have time to return the kiss in her shocked state. “You were right. I was wrong.”
“Of course, I was. About what exactly?” Mia cast each of us a perplexed glance.
“I’m in love with Mira,” I confessed to Mia who grinned. “And I’m going to the church to confess it to her before it’s too late.”
“It’s about time.” Mia beamed at me, and I couldn’t help the grin that took over my face.
The ride to the church dragged on as I eagerly awaited our arrival. The moment we pulled up to the church, I jumped out of the car and ran for the side door. I needed to find Mira and I wasn’t about to wait through the line of guests slowly being corralled into the sanctuary.
I checked a couple of rooms before finally bursting into one where a stunned Mira stood in front of a full-length mirror in her beautiful, lace wedding dress.
“Luca, what are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you.” I hurried inside and bolted the door behind me, but Mira scowled at me.
“There’s not much more to say.”
I rushed to her, eagerly taking her hands in mine. “Mira, I love you.”
“That doesn’t change anything. You made it clear to me that it didn’t matter how you felt. We couldn’t be together.”
“I told Teo about us.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “Well, I kept it pretty G rated, but yeah. I told him that I love you and that you felt the same way about me. He brought me here so that I could tell you how I feel. Don’t marry Costa. You belong with me, not him.”
Mira’s hopeful expression faded into one of pain and despair as she released my hands and turned away from me.
“It’s too late.”
“No, it’s not too late.” I took the two paces to her and forced her to turn to face me. “Didn’t you hear me? I told Teo. He’s okay with us being together. I told him that I love you more than my life itself and I meant every word.”
“How could you want to be with me? I’m carrying another man’s baby.”
“I’ll admit that I was shocked when you told me, and I didn’t react well.”
“That’s an understatement,” she said dryly.
“But I’ve had time to realize that I can love that baby. I was thinking of him or her as Costa’s baby, but what I failed to consider at the time was that it is also your baby and there is no way in any scenario that I couldn’t love something that came from you. I will love that child with all my heart just as I love his mama.” I placed one hand gently on her still flat belly, knowing that every word I spoke was true.
Tears sprang to Mira’s eyes and for a moment, I thought I’d finally reached her, but her face fell, and she took a step back, swiping away the tears with her hand.
She took a deep breath and shook her head gently. “It's too late, Luca. You’re too late. I’m marrying Stefano.”
“You can’t be serious. Mira, after everything we’ve gone through, the whole, winding path that it took for us to get here, and you’re just giving up on us when we are so close to having everything we’ve ever wanted?”
“I thought that I loved you once upon a time but that was just puppy love. It was a childhood infatuation that I thought was real before I knew better. Whatever it was that we had, it’s in the past now. My future is with Stefano.” Her declaration was like a dagger being plunged into my chest.
“No. Mira, you are making a mistake.” I grabbed her by her bicep and pulled her to me, urgency building in my chest as I felt my future with Mira slipping away.
I leaned in to kiss her, desperately needing to remind her how good we were together. I had to make her see that we were destined to be together, but her hand came up fast, striking me with a loud clap across the cheek.
Stunned, I released her and took a step back, feeling my desperation fade into something much sadder as I saw our story ending before it ever had a chance to start.
My voice came out in a low, somber tone. “Mira, please. Don’t do this.”
“It’s already done.”
The music started from down the hall, and I could picture each of Mira’s bridesmaids beginning their procession down the aisle. Soon it would shift to signal Mira’s entrance and a sickening realization hit me. She was going to go through with the wedding. She was going to marry Costa and I would lose her forever.
I wasn’t a man to cry, but my eyes burned with unshed tears. I couldn’t show weakness. To keep it together, I needed to make myself angry instead. Anger was better than sadness and hurt.
I breathed in deeply and took a step back, finally resolved to my fate. “Goodbye, Mira.”
I turned to leave but froze in the doorway as she spoke. “Won’t you stay for the wedding? You’re my best friend. I need you here.”
Anger flared in me and that time I didn’t have to try. I whirled around, charged her and pinned her against the wall. I wanted to shake her. To snap her out of whatever delirium was making her think that her best option was Stefano when I knew that she loved me. With my face barely an inch from hers, I growled, “do you honestly think that I could sit there and watch you marry someone else? Why would I put myself through that, Mira?”
“Because I need you.” Her voice cracked, and so did my heart. But I couldn’t let myself care any longer. Caring would only cause pain.
I scoffed and pushed off the wall, releasing her in the process. “Might as well start getting used to me not being around now.” I shook my head and without another word, walked away with the heartbreaking sound of Mira’s sob as the door shut behind me.
Chapter 24
Mira
I watched as Luca walked away from me for what I was certain would be the last time. Through all my trying, I’d finally succeeded in chasing him away once and for all. And while I had done what I had to do to keep him safe from Stefano’s threats, it didn’t make it hurt any less.
I wiped the tears from my eyes as my father joined me in the entryway.
“Are you ready, Mirabella?”
“Si, papa. As ready as I’ll ever be.” I forced my voice to come out evenly.
My father took my hand and rested it in the bend of his elbow before giving it a little squeeze. “You look so beautiful, tesoro mio. I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t make me cry, papa.” I gave a half chuckle, half sob and he squeezed my hand again.
The music shifted to signal it was time for me to enter. I took a deep breath as the double doors opened wide and we stepped through into the ornate cathedral packed to capacity with all mine and Stefano’s friends and family, with one exception.
My heart squeezed and my steps nearly faltered as I thought of Luca, but my father steadied me. Before I knew it, we were at the altar.
“Who gives this woman to be married?” The priest’s voice dragged me from my thoughts, and I jolted.
“I do,” my father said proudly, pulling me in for a kiss on both cheeks before handing me over to the monster that would soon be my husband.
Stefano took my hand, holding it just a little too tight as I took my place on the altar facing him in front of all our family and friends. A sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach, and it wasn’t from the morning sickness that had already come and gone. As the priest began the ceremony, I felt like I was in a bad dream. Like it wasn’t really me standing up there looking at a man I’d thought I knew but found out that he was a stranger...a cruel stranger.
As the priest spoke about love and devotion, my heart ached, thinking of Luca. I glanced out into the crowd, a shadowy figure stood in the back doorway and for a moment, his cold eyes met mine. I wanted him to say something, anything. I wished he would storm in, refusing to let the marriage happen, instead, he blinked, his face still unreadable as he turned from me and walked away, and a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye.
“Mira,” Stefano said impatiently, and I looked back at his irritated expression before glancing at the priest who was looking at me expectantly.
“Do you take this man as your lawful husband?” he repeated.
I took a deep breath, wanting to scream out ‘no! No, I don’t!’ but instead, I forced a smile and nodded. “I do.”
Stefano loosened his grip on my hands as the priest repeated the vows and Stefano answered. “I do.”
We slipped the wedding rings on our fingers but mine felt more like a noose than a promise of love. I didn’t hear anything else that was said until the priest finally announced, “I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
It was everything I could do to not recoil as Stefano grabbed me and kissed me passionately. Once he released me, we turned to face the crowd as they clapped and watched as Stefano walked me back up the aisle.
We stepped out of the church and birdseed rained down on us from our excited guests as we hurried to the waiting limo. It would be taking us to the reception which would take place in the elegant ballroom of my family’s most elegant hotel.
“You embarrassed me in there,” Stefano hissed once the privacy partition had been raised.
My eyes snapped to him. “Embarrassed you?”
“You hesitated. Were you even listening to the priest during our vows?”
“Of course, it was just very overwhelming.”
“Well, I don’t know how much you had to bribe him to go against my wishes but just because he didn’t say the word obey don’t think it wasn’t implied.”
I hadn’t even noticed. “I didn’t—”
“It doesn’t matter. The evidence I have on your family is enough to keep you in line.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep from yelling in frustration. I just needed to make it through the day. I needed to keep up appearances a little longer, then I could go back to being ignored by Stefano who seemed perfectly content with me just being his human incubator as long as I put on a good show to make him look good if people were around.
We were announced as we entered the reception, followed by applause and cheers. Stefano led me into the middle of the dance floor, all eyes on us as the band played an overly sappy love song.
Stefano held me tight against him, feigning the ever-loving husband and all I wanted was to push him away.
After our painful first dance, I stood beside Stefano, feigning joy as we greeted guest after guest. He had all but forgotten I was there as he became lost in conversation with one of his business associates while I continued to greet our guests. I was startled when Alessia slinked up to my side and gently tugged at my arm to get my attention.
“Mira, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” I turned to Stefano and squeezed his arm to get his attention.
“I’m sorry, just a moment,” he said politely before turning to me, quietly seething. “Never interrupt me when I’m speaking to an associate.”
I scowled. “I just wanted to let you know that I’d be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just girl talk.” I motioned to Alessia, hating that I had to explain myself to the likes of him. He gave a nod and went back to his conversation.
Alessia led me to get a drink and found a small corner of the room where we could talk semi-privately. “How are you?” she asked with genuine concern in her expression. “After everything?”
