Page 29 of Sworn to My Heart
“Are you okay?” she asks without adding much more, and I hear the sadness in her voice.
“I’m fine, I just needed time to process everything,” I tell her, trying to sound a bit optimistic because ithurts to hear her like this.
“Can I come over?” she asks in a weak voice.
“No need,” I reply and immediately hear a sigh of despair in her voice. “I am coming down to you now,” I add, and I can almost feel her smile widening. I end the call and quickly head down to her apartment.
The door is open when I arrive, and Cora is standing there. As soon as she sees me, she runs to me and pulls me into a tight hug.
Neither of us seems to know how to start the conversation that hangs like a dark cloud over our heads, so we just remain silent and head up to the second floor of her apartment, her playroom.
We sit down, and Maria immediately serves us coffee andcookies, as if she read my mind. I hold the cup and sip carefully.
“I understand from Mariano that Luca told you everything,” she says. I nod in response.
“Not everything. I still don’t understand your connection to this well-structured crime system,” I reply, my voice filled with curiosity.
She straightens up and starts to explain, seeming excited that she can finally get it off her chest.
“I’m sure Luca told you he was born and raised in the mafia, as were Mariano and Pedro.” I nod, realizing that Luca didn’t tell me much about his personal life, only about the mafia.
“I was also born into the mafia, but to a different family. I grew up in Las Vegas, groomed and trained to be a good wife for my future husband. My future was sealed from the age of two. In the mafia, you can’t marry for love or desire, only for the sake of strengthening alliances,” she explains, pausing to look at me. It seems like she’s waiting for my permission to continue.
I’m surprised and angered by her words, but I nod, and she goes on, “The family in Las Vegas wanted to strengthen their ties with the family here in New York. Luca, Mariano, and Pedro’s father, Francesco Spallo, was the underboss and successor to the boss of all bosses at the time, also known as the Capo dei capi, who was based in Italy and managed all his business from there. When he passed away, Francesco took his place, while also still functioning as the Capo of New York. My father’s way of getting close to him and elevating the family’s influence was to give me, his only daughter, to Luca, Francesco’s eldest son, as his wife.”
I cringe at the thought of Luca marrying another woman.
“Francesco had other plans for Luca and managed to satisfy my family by offering Mariano instead. Neither I nor the Spallo brothers could refuse the union, and so it was. Five years ago, at the age of twenty, I married Mariano.” She finishes her story andsmiles at me sheepishly.
I take another sip of my coffee, which has cooled slightly while I’m absorbed in her story.
“I don’t understand, you and Mariano seem so happy together. It doesn’t look like this was forced on you at all,” I say, my heart going out to her.
She immediately laughs. “I was terrified for my future until my wedding day and even a bit after. I knew I was moving to New York to live with a man I had never met, and I was still a virgin. I adored my parents and had a lovely childhood. They didn’t deprive me of anything but didn’t let any man come near me since I was promised to Mariano. I was so scared but never naive so I did my research. I knew much more about the mafia than what my father wanted to reveal to me. Women are not supposed to get involved in these matters,” she pauses, takes a cookie, and dips it into her coffee.
“I was proud of the honor I brought to my father by getting married. But I was afraid he was marrying me off to a monster. The rumors about Mariano’s father preceded him. He instilled fear in anyone who even heard his name. Because of that, I didn’t let Mariano get close to me. On our wedding night, we did our duty. But after that, I kept my distance from him. He saw the fear in my eyes, and instead of punishing me, he tried to make me happy in other ways. He would send me flowers, watch movies with me, and slowly I started to fall in love with this man, who was my husband. It seems I captured his heart from the first glance,” she says and smiles at me.
I laugh; her smile is infectious and impossible to ignore. It seems the black cloud in the room is beginning to lift.
“I’m glad you got your happy ending,” I say, feeling a bit of sympathy for the life she led. She places her hand on mine and says, “I can be overprotective at times, but you’d have to be blindnot to see what happens when you and Luca are in the same room.”
I shake my head in disagreement. “Maybe it was like that until two weeks ago. Now, not so much,” I reply, my voice tinged with disappointment. She falls silent, probably aware that Luca has been distant. She’s really good at getting information out of the brothers.
“Let’s go out for a drink tonight!” Cora suddenly exclaims, trying to change the subject with enthusiasm. “These two weeks apart made me really miss you.”
I hesitate but realize I need to shake off the dust that has settled on me over the past weeks. I agree.
“I don’t feel like going to a club tonight. Let’s just go to a bar, have a few drinks, and then come back to watch a good movie,” I suggest. She seems pleased and suggests we go to a new dance bar that opened about fifteen minutes away. I smile, agreeing, and she immediately drags me upstairs to her room.
She dresses me in a white mini skirt and a tight purple crop top. I’m surprised when she decides to dress similarly, only in different colors.
“Are we going for the Powerpuff Girls look?” I ask, laughing, remembering how we used to watch that show on my laptop when we first met and were drunk.
She ignores my teasing and smiles proudly, as if she had sewn the clothes herself. We finish getting ready quickly and head downstairs, where Graham and Abert, one of the trusted men Luca assigned to guard me, are waiting.
“Great, now we have two babysitters,” I whisper to Cora, and she shrugs in resignation.
Cora shows them the address on her phone, and Abert immediately calls Luca to report. He approves, and we head out.
