Page 95 of 7+Us Makes Nine

I watched her face carefully, seeing the tensed way she held her mouth and the small wrinkle at her brow—the only indicator of her age. Her shoulders rose and fell in response to a deep breath she took.

Then quite suddenly and unexpectedly, she gave a big smile. “Arianna, you’re a young woman now,” she prefaced. I blinked. Could she and Daddy have possibly changed their outdated views and now saw it all right for me to get a place of my own?

I listened with bated breath as she continued. “These are some exciting times that lie ahead for you. Your father and I have decided that it is finally time…It’s time for you to be married soon.”

My ears rang with her words.

So that’s what this was all about.

I swallowed again, nervous, but also feeling somewhat excited. My life danced before my eyes. I envisioned wearing a beautiful wedding gown and walking down the aisle to a handsome groom waiting for me. Thrilled nervousness went through my belly as I thought about the honeymoon and all that it would entail…

I tried to imagine what I would look like, pregnant. What it would feel like. How it was going to be, holding my child…

Living in my own home, with my own family.

Just like I knew my family was involved in the mafia, I’d always known that I would someday have an arranged marriage. That was just the way my family worked. In modern society, so many thought of arranged marriages as a bad thing—as something old, outdated, and out-of-favor. As something wrong. Sordid. Unfair.

But I honestly didn’t share those views at all. While I certainly thought my parents were a bit old fashined in their overall views of gender-relations, the idea of an arranged marriage had never bothered me much. I supposed it was because my own parents had been the product of an arranged marriage, and they were far happier than most couples I knew. Their marriage had survived throughout decades and was still thriving. I saw the love that the two of them shared for one another, and I knew that it was real. I could only hope to someday have the kind of marriage they enjoyed.

And it looked like that day was on the horizon.

“I know it may be a bit nerve-wracking, but your father and I were very careful to find someone we felt would be a suitable partner for you. You know we only want the best for you.”

I nodded. “Yes, I know.”

“Are you scared?”

I shook my head. “No,” I said, genuinely meaning it. I wasn’t scared about the arranged marriage itself. I just simply hoped that the man of my parents’ choosing would be someone I could see myself being happy with for the rest of my life. It wasn’t like they could really know my ‘type.’ Heck, I didn’t even know my type, and my lack of dating experience with men didn’t help matters any.

“Good,” my mom said. She leaned over and brushed my hair behind my ear. “Because I don’t want you to be nervous. I want you to be happy, just like I am with your father.”

I smiled and clasped my mother’s hands. “And that’s all I want too, Mama. I want a marriage just as perfect as you and Daddy’s.”

She beamed at me, her smile so bright and wide that it instantly made her look years younger. At that moment, she could have been my sister rather than my mother. “You’ll be meeting him tomorrow. I can’t tell you how excited I am for you!”

Although I wasn’t nervous, I was slightly taken aback by the fact that the meeting would be happening so soon. I smiled, although I inwardly wondered how long ago my mother and my father had picked my future husband without telling me about it. How long had it taken them to find him? Did any of my brothers already know about him?

However, I knew it ultimately didn’t matter. What was done was done, and I would be meeting my future husband within a day.

I suddenly no longer felt like spending a relaxing evening at home.

Tonight, there was a need to celebrate my last day as a single woman. If there was ever a time to meet up with friends to go out for a night on the town, it was now.

CHAPTER 4

Giovanni

I had initially contemplated going out to the club with friends and treating the night like an impromptu bachelor party, but decided against it at the last minute, choosing instead to keep the night somewhat low-key. Besides, it was easier to pick up women that way when I was solo. I had learned a while ago that women didn’t like being ogled by big groups of men, unless, of course, they were on stage and being paid for it. In everyday situations though, that kind of thing was intimidating. When a woman saw a guy with a bunch of his friends checking her out, it tended to make her feel like prey being chased by a pack of wolves, and I didn’t like making women feel that way.

Even though settling down had never quite been an appealing idea to me, for I loved playing the field entirely too much, it didn’t change the fact that I had great respect for women. One of my biggest pet-peeves was a man who didn’t know how to treat a lady. Guys that abused women made me sick to my stomach, and that included men who tended to get a little too aggressive and touchy whenever a woman wasn’t consenting. My fists had dealt with plenty of guys like that over the years, to say the least.

“Here you are, sir.”

I smiled as the female bartender came over to bring me another beer. With a buddy of mine being the owner of the bar, I never had to deal with waiting in line to place my drink orders. I got served personally and directly.

“Thanks, darling,” I said, winking at her and sliding a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill into the pocket of her apron.

She blushed and muttered a quick thank you before scurrying off. The expression on her face let me know that she likely knew who I was. People were always a little hesitant about receiving what they felt was ‘dirty money,' but they hardly ever turned it down either because, at the end of the day, all money was green.

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