Page 3 of Fight Me Little Pearl

The smile clears off her astounded face. She’s about to say something when Mama appears beside us.

She stares intently at me but addresses my cousin. “Louisa, your mother requests your attention.”

As Louisa hurries off, Mama sighs heavily. “Bite your tongue, Francesca. Do you really want your cousin to have your husband?”

“I don’t care who has him. I don’t want him.” The full extent of my vitriol comes out now that I’m talking to someone with whom I can be my true self. “I hate him.”

“Francesca.” My mom touches my face affectionately. “Most marriages in our world start this way. But you will see. You will fall in love with your husband.”

“Never!” I declare. “He’s just like Papa. I don’t know how you were able to tolerate pure evil for so many years, but I cannot! I just cannot.”

“Francesca, please trust that no matter how dire our situation is, I would never have agreed to let you marry a man who is like your father. I did my due diligence on Valentino when your Nonno first mentioned him. He’s not as bad as you think he is. He is hardworking, loyal, fair, and a good provider. All the things that make for a good husband and father.”

Mama lowers her head and I instantly feel guilty.

I don’t want her to worry about me when I’m away, and the more I voice my unhappiness the more she will. She’s had to worry too much in her life, and I don’t want to be an additional burden. I’m about to tell her not to worry about me when I see a lone figure standing outside the bubbling crowd. Unlike everyone else who is dressed in luxury and splendor, he is dressed in simple clothing.

My heart soars.

Thomas.

“Excuse me, Mama.” I kiss her cheek and push through the crowd to where Thomas stands.

He sees me coming and forces a smile onto his face. “I’m sorry for crashing your wedding, Francesca. I just had… had… to… to come and see you.” His nervous gaze flits around the garden, and my heart bleeds for him.

“Thomas-”

“Francesca,” he says, and his voice breaks. “This hurts so much.”

“Thomas, I’m so sorry.” I shake my head. “I’m in hell as well.”

“I know,” Thomas says. “But I saw him kiss you, and I couldn’t help but feel like a complete loser. He’s handsome, wealthy, and has everything a woman could want.”

His sandy hair falls onto his forehead. If I am brutally honest, compared to Valentino Thomas looks like a squeaky clean, wet behind the ears, frat boy. But after witnessing the devilish life men like Valentino lead and the evil they wreck, a kind andcompassionate activist like Thomas is the man my heart will always choose. I met Thomas in college, and even though my father had warned me before his death that I could never marry an ordinary man, I continued to keep Thomas in my life.

Because Thomas is the direct opposite of evil.

He chooses to remain poor because he refuses to work with corrupt organizations, and I couldn’t admire him more for being so noble and upright. He stands for truth and goodness. Given the violent circumstances of my upbringing, it is what I believe in too. What use is money when it is ill-gotten?

“Francesca,” Thomas says passionately. “I wish everything was different, but I have to accept that you are lost to me…”

I stare at him in shock. He is giving up? So easily? Why? I know having to see me marry someone else is horrible, but he knows I have no choice. It is a marriage in name only and I have every intention of getting out of it as soon as humanly possible.

I expect him to say more, to change his words, but whatever he is looking at behind us seems to completely choke him up. He has also become white as a sheet and appears frozen with fear. I swing my head around to see the object of his terror.

Valentino is standing behind me, hell in his eyes.

Chapter Two

FRANCESCA

Valentino glances from me to Thomas before saying just one word

“Leave.”

“Oh, okay.” Without even a glance at me, Thomas scurries off like a frightened rabbit.

“Thomas!”

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