Page 32 of Bratva Bride

“What were they like? Were they as hot as they look online? Come on, tell me everything!”

I shook my head, laughing softly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were obsessed with them.”

“Oh, I am. I wanna spread my legs and have their babies.” She took a chunk out of her biscotti, crunching on it loudly.

One of the elderly women at the next table gasped and stared at Tatiana in shock. She didn’t even notice.

“Which one?” I asked curiously. The last thing I wanted was my best friend crushing on my fiancé.

Tatiana placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, staring off into the distance with a dreamy expression. “The younger one. Vincenzo. He’s gorgeous. I’d let him fuck me anyway he liked and wouldn’t even care if he didn’t call me back the next day.”

“Well, who knows, maybe you’ll get your wish. You’ll see him at the wedding.”

Tatiana sat up straight, her entire attention on me. “Wedding? Whose wedding?”

I smirked into my cup. “Mine.”

“What?!” she yelled, gaining the attention of the entire café. “You’re getting married?! To who?!”

“Who do you think?”

“A De Luca?” she breathed in reverence.

I tapped my nose and put my coffee back on the table. I picked up my BLT and took a bite, laughing silently at the look of complete bewilderment on my best friend’s face.

She raised a hand and shook her head. “Hold up, hold up, hold up. How did this happen? Aren’t they Cosa Nostra? Don’t they have some deep-seated tradition in thefamigliaabout only marrying other Italians?”

“They do, but Arturo doesn’t care. They need my father’s guns to help fight off the Outfit and in exchange they are offering access to their territory as well as Chicago when the Outfit is out of the picture.”

“Alright, I’m following so far. How did the topic of marriage come up? That’s a pretty big leap in the opposite direction.”

I nodded, taking another bite. “We’re officially entering into an alliance with them. One of the ways to solidify that is with marriage. Alessandro’s only daughter is ten years old, so she’s out. That leaves me.”

“Wow. So is this like, against your will?”

Scoffing, I wiped my mouth with a napkin, taking another sip of my coffee. “You think I’d ever do something I don’t wanna do?”

“True.” Tatiana exhaled. “Holy moly, this is insane! When’s the big day?”

“Less than a week.”

Once my father heard my decision to marry Arturo, he immediately sent word out that a union between the Bratva and La Cosa Nostra was taking place. He gave me a week to plan the wedding, which was fine with me because I only wanted something small.

For the second time in the span of five minutes, Tatiana yelled at the top of her lungs. “What?! You can’t plan a wedding in seven days! Are you crazy?”

Pushing my plate away, I leaned back in my chair. “Yes, I can. You know me. I don’t need or want a big flashy wedding. I’ll be fine with something small and to the point.”

“Oh my god, you’re gonna give me an aneurysm,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “You’re thePakhan’sonly daughter. You can’t have a mediocre wedding. I won’t allow it.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m going to plan it, dumbass. And it’s going to be grander than Meghan and Harry’s royal wedding.” She nodded slightly, like she’d made up her mind about something and finished off her biscotti.

Groaning, I ran my hands down my face. If she was planning my wedding it meant it was going to be beyond over the top. Her extravagance knew no bounds.

“We’ve got so much to do and so little time to do it in.” She pulled out her phone. “We need to plan the menu, pick the flowers, locate a venue, choose the bridesmaid dresses, send out invitations, find a wedding dress for you-”

“Alright, stop,” I barked. “No, no, and hell no. This is exactly what I didn’t want. I don’t want to plan it. Thinking about it gives me a headache. If you wanna do it, fine. But I don’t want to be involved.”

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