Page 12 of Married to the Mafia

“Maybe Larry will know. Might have seen who he was looking for in the bar.”

“Ask him.”

I walk back upstairs. The chip has gone live. The chip that changes everything.

It has a GPS in it. As soon as it goes live, that’s the signal for all the families to get moving. The Capo dei Capi is stepping down as soon as the chip activates.

Whoever marries his daughter takes his post, becomes Don of Dons. King of the fucking country.

That’s going to be me. I will marry whoever has the chip, whether or not she likes it. She’ll walk down the aisle crying her eyes out with my gun in her back, if that’s what it takes to make this happen. Nothing will stop me from having her. Nothing will stop me from taking over.

Not a single goddamned thing.

5

Rose

Rose

Iwake up with a mouth full of sawdust. I sit up and groan, my head swimming. Ah, hangover, my old friend. It’s been too long.

Rolling out of my blankets is a battle. They are determined to stay wrapped around my feet. I curse at them as they wrap tighter around me. In the end, only a full-blown tantrum gets me free.

I fall off the bed and hit the floor, but somehow it still counts as a victory. Then my head throbs again and I’m back to feeling grim.

I try to come around. I also try to remember what happened last night. Somewhere my phone is ringing. I need to answer it. No, it can wait. First, I need to stop feeling like death has taken over my soul.

It was the tequila. That was it. The wine was all right. No problems there. But then we moved onto shots and I was determined to win something. What was it? Most drunk. That was it.

I’m definitely winning most hungover.

How did I even get home? I’m guessing Caroline and Eddie brought me back, but there’s a big blank space between the bar and my bedroom.

I’m still dressed. My hair is insane, and I smeared makeup all over my face. My head is pounding, and I feel like I’m going to throw up any second.

What a splendid night! The kind of night that makes you glad to be alive. The kind of night where you forget about everything. What was it I was trying to forget?

And just like that, I’m back to cursing Dino Gianni. Knocking down the animal shelter to build a mansion. Who the hell does he think he is? If he was here right now,

I’d kick him in the balls and spit in his face. The asshole. Why can’t he go build his great big vacation home some place else? Why here? Why on top of the shelter?

My cellphone’s still ringing. I’m surprised it has any battery left. I look over to the bedside table and see it’s plugged into the charger. Did I remember to do that? Go me. Chalk one up for the home team.

I can’t get to my feet yet. It’s far too early for that. I shift my butt along the floor until I can reach out and grab my phone. The screen is too blurred for me to make out the number. I answer and try to speak. “Hello,” is the word I try to say. What comes out is, “Hurggh.”

I cough and try to clear my throat. There’s an open can of flat cola on the bedside table. I take a swig, swill it around my mouth, and then swallow. Then I try again. “Hello.”

“Rose Silver?”

“Yes, who is this?” My head throbs. I try putting the can against my forehead, but it’s not cold enough to help. What I need is fresh air. I need to get outside. Until my legs let me stand up without throwing up, that’s not happening. I lean back against the bed and close my eyes.

“Dino Gianni. I believe you recently received a casino chip for Gianni’s casino. Is that correct?”

“What? Wait. How the hell did you get this number?”

“Did you receive a casino chip for the value of ten thousand dollars?”

“Answer my question, asshole. Where’d you get my number from?”

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