Page 48 of Convenient Mafia Vows

“Emily, this is my wife, Victoria.”

It takes several beats for his words to sink in. She blinks once, twice, three times. “Wife? You got married without telling me?” She faces Moira. “Mom, did you know about this?”

Moira raises both hands in mock surrender, and I suspect that Emily has them all wrapped around her little finger. “I only found out yesterday.”

Emily shakes her head at her mom and brother, then smiles at me. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you finally tamed my brother. Please don’t tell me that you belong to the same motorcycle club. No, you’re too beautiful to be a biker.”

She comes and takes my hand and leads me and Abigail through the house, talking incessantly.

“This calls for a celebration. I’ll get Nikos to fix us a drink and bring it outside to the decking, and you can tell me all about how you two met.”

I glance over my shoulder at Caleb who grins and shrugs. He obviously isn’t prepared to argue the point with Emily; she has probably done him a favor by keeping me busy so that he can escape and attend to whatever business matter is so urgent.

Nikos must be the gardener. He is a young man with olive skin, thick dark curls, and eyes that are all for Emily. At her request, he goes inside to the kitchen which is larger than my entire apartment to fix us cocktails, while Emily drags me and Abigail to a decking area complete with blazing firepit and woolen blankets.

Emily sits on a sofa and tucks her legs beneath her. When I’m seated with Abigail on my lap and a blanket thrown over us, she says, “Sorry, I should’ve said congratulations, but I’m still processing the news. Where did you get married? Why weren’t we invited? When did this even happen?” She squeals like a child. “I always knew Caleb would do something like this.”

Her enthusiasm is infectious, and I can’t help laughing.

“Auntie Vicky has a diamond ring,” Abigail chimes in.

Emily’s gaze drops to the emerald on my finger. “Mom gave you her ring! It looks so beautiful on you Vicky.”

She automatically shortens my name, and I think that we could be good friends if this marriage was real. There is something very likeable about Emily, and I find myself wondering if she knows Olivia Dragonetti.

I’m angry with Caleb for leaving it to me to tell his sister the truth. I don’t want to be the one to dampen her excitement, but I can’t lie to her.

“Emily I?—”

Nikos comes outside with our cocktails and a special drink for Abigail complete with cherries, a slice of pineapple and a sparkly streamer, which he sets down on the huge glass-topped table between the sofas.

“Thanks, Nikos.” The way Emily looks at him, I can tell that she’s smitten too, but it’s obvious that neither of them have plucked up the courage to say anything.

She sits back and sips her drink through a straw, waiting for me to spill the beans.

Deep breath. This was Caleb’s idea; I’ll tell her the truth, and then he can fill in the details when he gets back.

“Emily…” I puff up my cheeks. This is way harder than I thought it would be because, after last night, I wish it wasn’t just a marriage contract and a prenup agreement. “I hate to disappoint you, but we’re not really married.”

She furrows her brow. “So, what, you’re just engaged to be married?”

I shake my head while tears sting my eyes.

“I don’t understand. You’re wearing Mom’s ring.”

I keep my voice low; Abigail is trying to spear the cherries out of her drink with the cocktail stick streamer, but she hears everything, and I can already see how much she likes Caleb. I don’t want to shatter her illusions of him.

“Caleb asked me to pretend to be his wife. Kyle drew up a marriage contract. It’s only temporary while Caleb resolves the situation with Olivia Dragonetti.”

I catch a glimpse of movement from the corner of my eye and turn around to find Mr. Dragonetti watching us from inside the open kitchen doorway. I don’t know how much he overheard, but he turns around and heads back inside the house, and I realize that I’ve literally destroyed Caleb’s plans because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

14

CALEB

“Wordon the street is that Olivia Dragonetti is behind the shooting.” Terry comes straight out with it. No messing around.

Now that her name is in the frame, it makes perfect sense. She followed Victoria to the restroom, made certain that she left the restaurant exactly when she needed her to, and then sat back and watched the scene unfold.

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