Page 8 of Ruined in Vows

“Well, me of course,” Mamma speaks, glancing at her grandson with so much love it's palpable.

“I want you there with me,” I pout.

“And she will be. Marcia will be joining us,” my brother tells us.

Marcia is Romeo’s nanny. Nico hired her around a month ago to help Ocean when the new baby arrives. She started soon after, so everyone could get used to the new arrangement, a settling in period of sorts. It all seems to be working out. Marcia is an amazing middle-aged woman and the mother of one of Nico’s soldiers, so he knows that he can trust her. He would never hire just anyone to look after his son. Or allow them to spend so much time with his family. He lucked out with Marcia. She is great. I think it is also nice that she is around the same age as my mamma and she has some one closer to her age to talk to.

“Can Athena join us?” I ask hopefully.

Athena is my best friend from school, my only friend really. She comes from a prominent family background, her father owning one of the largest personal investment management companies on the East Coast. Johnson & Co., Wealth Management.

Davis Johnson is a force to be reckoned with in his own right, building his company from the ground up. I also know Papà, and now my brother, are one of Davis’s biggest clients, so it might not be all above board, but still, most everything in the world is corrupt, from high powered politicians to your normal looking white picket fence family, so who can blame Davis for taking a piece of the illegitimate pie?

Nico mulls over my question for a long moment. When an exasperated growl leaves his lips, I know the answer. “Sure. But I don’t want either of you thinking this will be some girly holiday where you can have free will. You will have guards with you at all times and abide by my rules.”

“Paranoid much?” I huff.

Nico shrugs. “Yes. This shit with the Russians and whoever is helping them is quiet right now, but it could escalate at any time after what I did to Vadim. In fact, I am just waiting for the moment they retaliate. And when that moment comes, I don't want any of you in the crossfire.”

I sag in my chair. Do I think my brother is overkill sometimes? Yes. But he is only looking out for his family, making sure that we are safe and I can't begrudge him that. After all, we have both lost so much already. Which is why I insisted on the wedding to Riccardo. We will find the truth of Dante’s death and Riccardo’s involvement. I owe the love of my life that much. Especially when I am committing the ultimate betrayal by marrying another man. Even if my intentions are tofind evidence, I know Dante will be rolling in his grave at my acquiescence to this marriage.

Shaking the thought away, I clear my tight throat. “Okay,” I agree. “But please can you let me know the details of when we will be flying, so that I can talk to Athena?”

“Sure,” Nico drawls thoughtfully.

Something else crosses my mind, and I grit my teeth at having to even ask this. But it's my reality now and so I blurt, “What will we tell Riccardo?”

My brother’s gaze snaps to mine, anger igniting in his blue eyes. “I don’t give a fuck what that asshole thinks. He can't stop you going anywhere. You are not his wife. Yet.”

Snorting a laugh at Nico’s temper when it comes to the subject of my fiancé, I shake my head. I think he is having a harder time coming to terms with this than me. “I didn’t mean it like that. But Riccardo could have someone trailing us. I don’t want him to know we are going to Vegas in case he follows us there.”

“Right.” Nico muses before shrugging. “We will tell him you are going to Miami for a last-minute girl's trip before the wedding. A bachelorette party of sorts.”

Rising from my chair, I round the table, bending so that I can drop a kiss to my brothers’ cheek. He usually hates any kind of affection but has gotten better at showing and allowing it since Ocean and Romeo came into his life. He will always be the terrifying mafia don, only now he has a softer side he doesn’t mind his family seeing.

“Thank you,” I tell him, before straightening.

Turning on my heel, I move to leave the dining room. Just as I reach the door, Nico calls out to me.

“For what?”

Grinning, I glance over my shoulder, knowing he will hate the next words out of my mouth.

“For being the best big brother a girl could ask for.”

He grimaces, proving I know him better than he thinks.

Chapter 6

Luca

Slowly walking the casino floor, I take note of the opulence and grandeur of the place as if I am seeing it for the first time. Sometimes, it feels like I am. Shoving the thought away, I continue my round, frustration bubbling beneath my skin when I feel Benito following my every move. Being watched like this makes me feel like a goddamn child, but Vincenzo insisted on it.

My cell phone, buzzing in my suit jacket pocket, draws me from my frustration. Fishing it out, I pause, my jaw ticking at the name flashing on the screen.

Caterina.

The brief thought of why I have no recollection of my wife, or any sort of feelings or emotional attachment to her, crawls beneath my skin. Surely, if what both Vincenzo and Caterina have told me, about us being childhood sweethearts, then I should feel some kind of way about her, that I should know her despite my memory loss. My stomach twists, a small voice in the back of my mind telling me to question things, but…

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