Page 15 of Obsession

“Sam wants to use him,” John says. “He thinks he could be beneficial in getting him out. So for now, we don’t want to piss him off.”

Don’t want to piss him off.The words ring loud and clear in my head. Because Sam wants to use him, I have to marry him.

“I thought you took care of it. With the detective or something?” I’m bargaining now. It’s one of the stages of grief and I’m grieving my life. Every minute is getting me closer to my life sentence of becomingMrs. Russo.

John scrubs a hand over his chin. “Damien killed him.” There’s a hint of emotion, or at least as much as I think he can muster. He feels bad for me. I’m not sure if it’s because he hates Adrian as much as I do, or if he just feels guilty that he’s making me do this. “We need a new plan.”

Fuck.Murder is an easy solution in my family when someone doesn’t do what you want. I learned that lesson as a kid, listening to my grandfather and uncle discuss my father’saccidentaldeath. John got what he wanted from the police, so Damien killed them to make sure Sam stayed in prison.

“You’re going to ask Adrian to defend Sam?” I ask hesitantly. That seems like a bad idea, considering Adrian is in Damien’s pocket currently. Once glance into the dining room shows them laughing together. Adrian’s eyes spot me watching the two ofthem, and he looks at me, possessive and proud, like he knows John is giving me bad news.

“Yes.” John eyes me as I turn back to him. “You can help, ya know? Make him want to get Sam out.For you.”

For you.His meaning is clear. Make him fall in love with me, so in love with me that he’d change his alliance. My stomach sinks a little further.

My uncle is well polished on the outside. He doesn’t look like the gangster the news paints Uncle Junior and Sam as. But underneath his exterior is a ruthless asshole. He tried marrying off both his daughters to Davis LaFontaine to strike a deal. It didn’t matter that Lily proved she’d rather die than marry the congressman. Damien still tried to force Lana to marry him. If Sam and John hadn’t helped Lana run away, he would have been successful.

“And what about me?” My voice shakes. “You and Lana both get your happily ever afters, and I’m just supposed to pretend?”

It takes every ounce of self-control I have left not to cry. I’m resigning myself to a future of unhappiness. Of days and nights filled with the same face. A charade of putting on a daily show. The perfect housewife. What if he wants kids? Then I’ll have to pretend that I don’t hate the man they came from?

And if I leave? If I run?

Who am I without my family?

“It doesn’t have to be forever, Madi.” John touches me gently on the arm, like he wants to comfort me but isn’t quite sure how. I know he doesn’t mean to tear my hopes and dreams apart, but he won’t tell Sam no. Especially not if he agrees with him.

And Sam doesn’t deserve to be in prison, not when I know there’s no chance he ever killed his father. Marcus was good at setting people up when it suited him. Everyone was just another pawn in his game.

“Okay,” I whisper. John gives me a small smile. It’s meant to be reassuring, I think.

"Thank you, Madi.” He squeezes my hand before using it to gesture forward. We need to enter the room now. I have to slip my mask back into place and pretend I’m not falling apart at the seams as I join my rehearsal dinner.

Adrian watches me as my heels tap against the concrete, his eyes sparkling as I get closer.

He’s victorious, a king at the head of the table. He has the career, the money, and now the cherry on top.The girl.

NINE

Adrian

Iwatch as Nonna studies my reflection in the mirror. “You look so handsome.” It’s warm and honest. Something about the woman transforms my current situation, briefly taking me on a trip down memory lane filled with hot summer days, warm chocolate chip cookies, bruised knees, and lemonade.

My grandmother raised me, and in her mind, this wedding today is an honest-to-God marriage. The eighty-year-old woman is blissfully unaware of the fact that Madi hates me and this is all one big show I manipulated her into. I prefer to keep it that way.

Shame burns hot in my stomach at the thought of what Nonna would think if she knew what I was doing. That I’m forcing Madi to marry me. Despite whatever pretenses I spew off, deep down, I know that’s what I’m doing. If I said the word, this wedding would be off in a minute.

But I won’t.

And who’s to say that her mother isn’t just as horrid as her brother? If not me, then it’d just be another man Madi would marry unwillingly.

Nonna’s golden eyes fill with hope as she smooths her hands over the shoulders of my black tux. “The blue is a nice touch.” She smiles, nodding at the teal-colored bow tie I chose.

Instinctually, my fingers come up, running over the fine silk. The wedding planner Caterina hired wanted me to wear a pale pink one. She said it matched the color scheme about three hundred times as she showed me inspiration pictures on her MacBook. I cared little about what the color scheme was, still don’t. I just knew I wanted this color.

As expected, last night when I saw her at the rehearsal dinner, her once colorful locks were dyed a more natural shade of brown. And while I know it’s probably for the best, there’s a piece of me that will miss the wild blue shade. It was fitting for the spitfire girl, the artist with no cares. But it was also the thing her family hated the most about her.

That first time I saw her is still etched into my brain. Stunning, but she looked like she might bite anyone who came too close. Before her, I’d never understood the phrasebeautiful but deadly.

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