Page 268 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

Aninfamia.

And… unfortunately… I knew it was probably the truth.

“There are honor killings in the Middle East every day,” Isabella said softly. “Fathers and brothers kill their daughters and sisters just because they had sex before marriage, and those assholes think it besmirchestheirhonor. You think they’d be okay with it if their sisters or daughters slept with anotherwoman?”

“This isn’t the Middle East,” I protested.

“No, but it’s not just the Middle East. It happens in America – in the UK – ”

“Yeah, with Muslims.”

“Islam doesn’t have a monopoly on men who hate gay people,” she shot back. “My father is a relic from the 19thcentury – he never even made it into the 20th, much less the 21st. Me being gay would be just about the worst thing I could possibly do to him, outside of betraying him to his enemies. And he might even prefer the betrayal.”

Shit.

Every single word she said rang true.

“And you were still with Ludavica, knowing he might kill both of you?”

Isabella shrugged helplessly. “What else was I going to do? I love her. Without her, this place would be the loneliest prison in the world. With her, it’s close to paradise. But it’s still paradise inside a prison where we could die any day. And I was deathly afraid the paradise mightend.

“All those suitors my father brought around? I didn’t reject them because I didn’tlikethem… although Ididn’tlike them. But I never expected to likeanyman I had to marry.

“I said ‘no’ because they were all like my father: they hated gay people. I knew that none of them would accept me and Ludavica. And if they found outafterI was married, they woulddefinitelykill her, and probably me. With my father’s blessing,” she added bitterly. Then she gave a dark laugh. “They wouldn’t marry me if they knew I wasn’t a virgin… and they’d kill me if they knew I was gay.”

I remembered what Don Vicari had said to me in the car:

My daughter is a virgin, and she’ll remain a virgin until her wedding night.

I guess I made a face because Isabella asked, “What?”

“Something your dad said.”

“What was it?”

“He basically threatened to kill me if I had sex with you before we got married.”

She snorted. “Besides his 19th-century views on virginity, he probably wanted a Plan B in case you didn’t work out.”

“What do you mean?”

“In case you bailed. If I’m not a virgin, noCosa Nostraasshole my father would approve of would ever want to marry me. And if you bailed, he’d definitely force me to marry one ofthem.”

“But I’mCosa Nostra,”I said. “Why’d you thinkIwould be different?”

“To be honest, I didn’t have a choice. My father got angry I was rejecting all his picks, so he forced me into marrying you.

“But I lucked out. You’re open-minded… you’re kind… and you made an effort. When you read the Rupi Kaur book, I knew there was something different about you. None of the other men would have evenconsidereddoing that.

“And then, when I found out about Caterina, that was the first time I thought,

Maybe this could work.Becauseyoucan be with the womanyoulove… andIcan be with the womanIlove. And my father never has to know.”

I rubbed the lower half of my face.

Everything she was saying made sense. Still…

“What about children?” I asked. “You know your father wants grandkids.”

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