Page 5 of Vincenzo's Promise
To lead the Family that had been run by my father’s family for decades, going back to Italy, he’d had to choose. The love they’d shared couldn’t change who he was and couldn’t change who my mother was. It had been shitty circumstances all the way around. Yet, never once had he denied me; he just never told the world of my existence, except for those within his organization. He even gave me his last name, ensuring my protection until the day he died. He’d gotten caught between the world he’d created for me and mother and his reality.
“Papa, I don’t even know this man, and you expect me to marry him?” I asked. “Do you know how crazy all of this sounds?”
“My beautiful, Bella,” his rough palms caressed my face, “things in my world are not like it is in yours. That’s why I’ve worked so hard to keep you away from it. Marriage is just transactional to men like me. It’s not done out of love or because you want to spend the rest of your life with that person. It’s done for power, territory, and dominance. I wanted more for you than this. I swear I did. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me.”
While my father could have never married my mother, he’d given Stella the world, including his love, and his wife hated her for it. So, when his wife, my brothers’ mother, found out about me, she gave him an ultimatum—send us away or let the criminal world learn his dark secret that he’d fallen in love with his mistress and fathered a black bastard. To them, doing such a thing was almost criminal, and it would have tainted my father, making him unfit to run the Scuderi Family.
He did what his wife wanted to keep his world from knowing the truth.
It wasn’t unusual for men like my father to have children outside of marriage, but it was forbidden to fall in love with their mistresses, especially if she was a black woman, and treat her like she was his queen, like his Donna, more than he had his own wife.
The day she died was also the day he died.
Unintentionally, he’d destroyed my mother, destroying himself in the process. Nothing was left for her when he chose the Family instead of their love. Not even I could have saved her from her fate.
“If you know this isn’t what I want, and you don’t want this for me either, how could you even ask?” I asked.
“Because if you do not do this for me, for your brothers, he will kill us.”
My eyes widened, and I looked at my brothers. The solemn looks on their faces confirmed my father was telling the truth.
My heart sunk to my gut like a lead weight. He’d never asked me for anything, but it angered me knowing I had to give myself to a man I didn’t know, give up everything I desired in a marriage, because of their recklessness.
I wanted to marry for love, have a fairytale wedding with my father walking me down the aisle and my brothers as my husbands’ groomsmen. All that was gone now because of them.
I wanted to cry, scream, and yell about how unfair it all was before telling them all to go to hell for dragging me into their mess.
But, I couldn’t.
I couldn’t show that kind of weakness in front of them, in front of his men. I always made the best of any situation, and this time would be no different.
I exhaled deeply, rubbing my temples and resigning myself to my fate—a loveless marriage to someone I didn’t know, just like my father had done all those years ago. I didn’t really have a choice, did I? It was either marry this stranger or attend my family’s funerals. Then, I would be truly alone.
“Why would he kill everyone, and why does he want me?” I demanded. “No one knows who I am. What’s so important about me?”
“The why is not important, Bella.” He grabbed my hands. “Just know he will kill us if you do not agree to do this.”
Commotion at the back of the room drew our attention.
Guards quickly surrounded us on all sides, just in case anyone attempted to attack my father. I’d learned at an early age exactly who Cyrus Lombardo was. It was something he couldn’t keep hidden, and something my mother had refused to hide from me. She’d wanted me to know precisely who the man she loved and the man I’d idolized was, the kind of power he wielded, and the target that was always on his back. He needed protection because of his enemies, and so did we. She’d wanted me to never let my guard down because his enemies were also mine.
A young man, no more than nineteen—at the most in his early twenties—raced towards us. He whispered in one of the guard’s ears, and the guard turned to my father to explain the situation. My father sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering curses in Italian.
“Let him in,” my father called out then mumbled under his breath, “Son of a bitch.”
His guards stood aside, letting through whoever needed to speak to my father. By the looks on my father’s men’s faces and the way their hands hovered over their guns, they were not happy with the intrusion either.
Two men stalked towards the table with expressionless faces. They both were insanely handsome, but only one caused my heart to race. His eyes seemed as though they bore into my soul. The way his tailored suit clung to his massive frame, and the power he exuded, had me salivating. One thing I enjoyed whenever coming to visit my father was the devastatingly gorgeous men. However, my father and brothers always kept me on a short leash, so I never had the chance to indulge.
While in college, I’d tried to date once, and when my father caught wind of it, the young man disappeared. After that, no other man approached me. I was livid, to say the least.
To this day, my father denied having anything to do with it, but he informed me no one would have his only daughter until I was married. Only my husband deserved that privilege, not some no-good frat boy. While I’d agreed with him on that point, the guy was not a frat boy. We were both in medical school, and he was the son of a State Senator, but Cyrus couldn’t care less. He wanted a certain life for me, and he wanted me to wait until I was finished with medical school before I even thought about entertaining anything serious.
After a few failed attempts at a normal relationship, I went through a frightening experience that had me questioning every man that attempted to approach me. I couldn’t trust anyone because I didn’t know who was out to harm me. Now that I’d finished school and the threat was gone, I had every intention of opening myself up to the possibility of finding someone to share my life with.
I was lonely. I wanted someone to love me. Someone for me to love.
When the two men arrived at our table, my father’s usual cold demeanor slipped back into place. The only time he wasn’t cold and calculating was when I was around. My brothers placed their silverware on the table and the guards escorted their wives out of the restaurant.
