Page 8 of Heartless Union

“You’re getting married?” my best friend, Ashley, asks me over brunch. We’re in our favorite little café in the city. It’s warm and cute inside—just how I like it. “How did that happen? You’re not even dating anyone!”

“My family does things a bit … differently than yours,” I tell her. Ashley and I met at the all-girls school I attended. I was sitting alone in the cafeteria until she sat down next to me, told me we’d be best friends, and that was that. We’ve been close ever since.

But there were things I never told her—like about my father’s job. The Mafia. That’s just not something that should be spoken aloud.

“I’ll say.” She snorts. “So, is this like an arranged marriage or something?”

“Yes. It’s what my father wants.”

“What do you want?”

I stare down at my pancakes. “I want to make my dad happy. He wants me to be protected after he dies. A husband will do that for me.”

“Jeez. You sound like you’re in a cult, Lara. You do know you don’t need a man to take care of you, right?”

In the world of the Mafia I do.

But Ashley can’t know that.

“My father thinks I do, and I’m going to do what my father wants.”

“But you haven’t even dated. Ever! Hell, I’ve been having sex since I was thirteen, and you haven’t even had your first kiss.”

I flush. “That’s because you were always trying to break the rules. I’m not a rulebreaker, Ash. I want to make my dad happy, and this will make him happy. So, for that reason, I want to get married.”

“To a man you’ve never met?” She scoffs, pushing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “That just seems crazy to me. You don’t know this guy. For all you know, he could be a serial killer.”

Maybe he is. Rocco is the son of Leonardo, the head of the Italian Mafia. He probably has blood on his hands. Though so does my father.

It’s something I deliberately choose to not think about.

“I’ll be fine. My dad would never marry me to a man who would hurt me.”

Ashley’s eyes soften. “I know you’re upset his cancer returned. I’m not trying to sound insensitive, but do you think he might be rushing this?”

“What do you mean?” I pick at my pancakes with my fork. Food just hasn’t been as delicious since I found out my dad is dying.

“Maybe he’s not thinking this through. If he weren’t dying, maybe he wouldn’t be trying to push you into a marriage with a man you’ve never met.”

“I’m going to meet him. Tomorrow. It’s not like I’m going to meet him for the first time on my wedding day.”

Ashley shudders. “I should hope not. Fine. Meet him and tell me what he’s like. And then I’ll tell you you’re making a mistake.”

I manage a small smile. That hasn’t happened in a few weeks. “Ok. But, Ash, I’m asking you to let me do this. I need support, not judgment right now.”

“If you want to be a domestic housewife, then so be it. You were always so ultra-feminine. It almost scared me when we first met.”

“You were the one to come up to me,” I remind her.

“Oh, yeah. I did.” She breaks out into a laugh.

I can only watch her. Laughter is not something I’m capable of right now.

My dad and I await the arrival of Rocco and his father.

I look at my dad out of the corner of my eye. So far, he doesn’t look sick, but it won’t take long for the cancer to start really affecting him.

And when that happens, he’ll be gone.

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