Page 56 of Married to the Mafia

Brandi blinked, bringing her gaze into focus as another voice greeted her.

“Good morning, Brandi. I hope you slept well,” said the first of the women Brandi had technically never met. Her almost sister-in-law held out a perfectly manicured hand, lips lifted in a patient smile. “You probably already know, but I’m Grace. It’s nice to meet you.”

Brandi accepted the handshake in stupefied silence. No one had warned her she would be making introductions before breakfast!

Grace was a couple of inches taller than her, with naturally dirty blonde hair she had piled up in loose curls that flattered her face nicely. Though Brandi was aware that the woman was pregnant, she certainly couldn’t tell. Grace had soft curves, all tastefully covered behind expensive clothes, and looked every bit the professional billionairess she was.

“Good morning,” Brandi finally managed to say.

The other unexpected guest pushed to her feet and rounded the table to come and stand beside Grace. She wore a warm smile to go with her tasteful knee-length dress, her brown hair clipped so as to curve over one shoulder. This woman was visibly younger than Grace, probably also younger than Brandi, curvier, and several inches shorter. She also held out her hand. “I’m Felicity,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind us joining you for breakfast. We wanted the chance to meet you before you walk down the aisle.”

Brandi made a mental note to pay a little more attention to the pictures on Mikey’s walls and politely shook Felicity’s hand. “Good morning,” she repeated. “It’s nice to meet you both. Sorry, I’m a little slow before coffee.” She aimed for a smile and felt relief when they laughed.

“Why don’t we all sit and enjoy some breakfast, then?” Eleonora suggested from her place at the table. “Everything will be right out.”

Brandi moved toward the seat she’d claimed the evening before when they’d chatted over dessert and watched as the other women reclaimed designated seats as well. They were still sliding their chairs into place when Eleonora’s butler bustled into the room with steaming mugs of coffee and herbal tea, before disappearing again.

“You’ll have to forgive Iris,” Eleonora said, “she would have loved to join us this morning, but first-time pregnancies can be difficult.” Her lips lifted in a knowing smile. “Sometimes most of all for the father.”

Grace laughed softly, the steam on her tea spinning around the cup before she lowered it. “Iris did say she promises to make it to the wedding.”

Brandi took a moment to swallow her own sip and set her drink back down before saying, “Then you’ll all be even. Since I’ve already met Iris once.” She offered them a grin even as the first plate of food was set onto the table.

Conversation subsided for a moment and attention shifted to the meals suddenly before them. Brandi let the first bite of egg and melted cheese hit her tongue and nearly moaned with delight. Apparently, the De Salvo family had monopolized all the amazing cooks in the area.

“So, Brandi,” Felicity started, “obviously we all know how this arrangement between the two of you started, but Cristiano told me that Mikey seemed pretty genuinely distressed over your whole kidnapping thing.” She layered some egg and potato onto her fork but raised her gaze to meet Brandi’s stare. “He said he almost felt like a third wheel in his own car, listening to you two talk.” She smiled and popped the bite into her mouth.

Brandi felt heat rush to her face.

Grace shifted in her seat. “I have to admit I’m curious about that, myself. Were you in some kind of secret relationship before?”

“Secret—” Brandi cut herself off at the sight of genuine curiosity on her companions’ faces. Even Eleonora held a look of amused intrigue. “No,” she said firmly. “He never even used my given name before last week.” Was that only a week ago? It felt like so much had happened, like so much had changed.

She nearly missed the look exchanged between Felicity and Grace before Grace said, “So, you’ve been keeping your feelings to yourself for a while?”

“I haven’t been keeping anything to myself,” Brandi insisted. “We’re not marrying because we’re head-over-heels in love.” She stabbed another bite onto her fork, averting her eyes from the table as a whole. A lot really had changed, she realized. Despite herself, the words she was trying to hold back slipped out. “I’m not sure I’d even know what that looked like.”

Her mouth was full of too much food when Eleonora spoke in a soft, steady tone. “Sure you do. You’ve seen it all around you, at the very least since the day you started working for Michele’s company. Deep in your heart, you know you’re surrounded by it even right this very moment.”

The potato lodged awkwardly in her throat and Brandi struggled to swallow it down.

Grace lowered her fork. “If I had to guess, I’d say you’re looking for an ideal. A repeatable formula,” she said. “You’re looking for something that all examples of ‘true love’ might fit into, and when any one sample slips past the parameters of that formula, you dismiss it as a failure. Maybe it’s lust, maybe it’s desperation, maybe it’s nothing at all—the one thing it can’t be is real, enduring love.” She smiled at Brandi. “And I imagine you have your reasons for that. But you’re only hurting yourself by refusing to recognize that that’s not the case at all.”

Brandi finally cleared her throat, coughing roughly. “What?”

Felicity spoke up again. “Are you afraid that because your family situation was messed up, you don’t really know what love is?”

Brandi sat back in her chair. “I’m not good at making friends, because I was isolated as a child. I’ve never had a successful, or overly deep relationship … because I never knew what that looked like. I never had a role model.” The words were true. The words had always been true. But for the first time, they sounded frighteningly like a cop-out.

She hated that.

Felicity snorted. “If our futures are dictated on where we come from, I better excuse myself.” She narrowed her eyes on Brandi when Brandi looked up again, but it wasn’t a glare so much as a stern, meaningful stare. “If Cristiano has taught me anything, it’s that I am not where I came from, my value is not determined by the people who abused me, and my ability to grow and to love is only restricted by me.” Her expression softened. “You don’t need a role model to be happy. Love should make you happy, and make you want to share that happiness.”

Eleonora reached over and laid a hand on Felicity’s nearest arm. “Beautifully said, sweetheart.”

Happy? Brandi wasn’t so strangled by depression that she didn’t understand happiness. It just wasn’t something she sat down and thought about. What she was was thrown off by the intensity of Felicity’s words—by the entire conversation—though some part of her also understood.

It was a confusing, daunting feeling.

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