Page 41 of Convenient Mafia Vows

How could I forget?

The restaurant is sleek, modern, low lights casting shimmers across the golden accessories. The maître d’ ushers us away from the main dining area and into the salon, a room where large parties can eat in privacy. The seats here are black, coordinating with the black lamps placed along the center of the long table which is already set with white plates, pristine napkins, and a variety of glassware.

Several people are seated around the table, but I don’t recognize Mr. Dragonetti. Olivia isn’t here yet either; of course she isn’t. She’ll no doubt be the last to arrive, wafting in on a fine mist of Chanel No. 5 and demanding everyone’s attention.

Ugh. I don’t like that I’ve allowed this woman to rattle me when I don’t even know her. This isn’t me. I generally steer clear of gossip and drama because who has the time, right? But something about Dragon-face has rubbed me the wrong way, and I don’t even think this is all about Caleb.

The woman is trouble, and like a cat sensing danger, my hackles are up.

Caleb introduces me to the mayor and his wife, a beautiful woman with clear dark skin, gloriously thick black hair, and high cheekbones. I sit between her and Caleb, and she immediately turns around and says, “Where did you get your dress, honey? It’s stunning.”

My shoulders relax a little. You see these people on the news and see their photographs over the tabloids and social media, and your mind automatically sets them apart from the rest of the world, like they’re a different species.

But as the seats fill, and the conversations are like those at any regular dinner party: the latest Marvel movie, basketball teams,the upcoming Met Gala ball, I realize that they’re just people. Sure, they have wealth, and powerful jobs, and designer labels tucked inside their outfits, but strip that away, and they’re just like anyone else walking around New York City.

My stomach lurches though when Olivia Dragonetti, wearing a billowing black and silver gown, arrives with her father and makes a beeline for Suki. They know each other. I don’t know why this makes me feel hot and uncomfortable, but even when they’re air-kissing each other’s cheeks, Olivia’s eyes are on me, reminding me that I’m not like them.

“Ignore her.” Caleb’s lips brush my ear, and my nipples instantly harden as a blush creeps up my neck. “She’s trying to get a reaction.”

Mr. Dragonetti shakes the men’s hands around the table and bends over me to kiss my cheek. His gaze lands on Moira’s ring, and I flex my fingers without thinking. I catch Kyle’s eye across the table, and he winks at me.

Maybe I’m not as bad at this as I think I am.

I catch Rose Weiss’s eye several times between courses. She seems the most genuine out of the women, but her husband Brandon, like Caleb, keeps her close to his side, and we don’t get an opportunity to chat.

Between the main course and dessert, the conversation transitions to business matters. The talk seems to instinctively bypass the women like a bad smell, and I can’t tell if they choose to ignore the topic or if the men warn them in advance to listen but refrain from speaking.

I had no such warning from Caleb.

I don’t fully understand what’s going on, but it seems to me that Mr. Dragonetti still wants to form a business alliance with Caleb despite his rejection of the older man’s daughter. I also get the impression—and this is where it becomes a little bit foggy—that the mayor and police commissioner are here to offer their stamp of approval. Or not. The birthday party is simply a distraction, the glue bringing all the players together.

What I don’t understand is why. What does this have to do with the mayor and police commissioner? Unless they stand to reap some financial benefits from the coalition. A bribe perhaps to overlook some dodgy financial transactions?

Caleb is perfectly at ease, one hand casually resting on my thigh. He’s the doting new husband, refilling my wine glass whenever he notices it empty, murmuring into my ear to check that I’m okay, entwining his fingers with mine between courses. The only thing he doesn’t do is invite me to join in the conversation.

By the end of the evening, my head is thumping from too much wine and from being in a permanent state of alert so that Caleb and I don’t drop our façade.

I excuse myself and go to the restroom where I’m surprised to find my heart racing loudly when I’m surrounded by silence. Exiting the cubicle, I’m caught off-guard to find Olivia Dragonetti touching up her lip gloss in the gold-edged mirror behind the basins. I didn’t hear her come in.

It occurs to me that she was deliberately silent when she came into the restroom, so I take a deep breath and force a smile. I run the cold faucet and splash my face, dabbing it dry carefully with paper towels.

I want to be the first to speak; I’d take some small glory from being the bigger person after our first meeting, but I can’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound like I’m the geeky high school teenager trying to befriend the most popular girl in town.

She beats me to it. “I know what you’re doing.” She doesn’t even have the decency to face me squarely, but instead peers at me via the mirror while she sprays her neck with perfume.

I meet and hold her gaze. “What am I doing?”

“You only want Caleb for his money. Your brother has a whole catalog of debts he’ll never be able to repay, and you’re using Caleb to bail him out.”

My determination to not let her get to me crumbles at the mention of Mason. “How do you?—”

She laughs; it isn’t a sound that other people would want to join in with. “What, you think I don’t have connections? Caleb would never marry someone like you, a waitress from a backstreet café. I don’t know how you trapped him, but I sure as fuck am going to make sure you don’t get away with it.”

Tears prickle my eyes, and I tell myself not to cry in front of her. Anywhere else, but not in front of this woman.

I pick up my purse and turn to face her. “You’re wrong. Caleb and I love each other. We’re married whether you choose to believe it or not.”

An ugly grin spreads across her face. “That’s why his car is waiting for me outside, is it?”

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