Page 111 of Till Death Do Us Part

“No, don’t,” Hayden said.

We both glared at him. He lifted his hands.

“This better be worth it, Burton,” I said.

He almost did a little dance but remembered where he was and ran a hand through his hair. He fixed his gold-rimmed glasses, and we followed behind him to the table. Jack stood and fixed his suit when we got there. Hayden made introductions, even though he knew I’d been acquainted with the pompous ass.

“Uncle,” I said as I shook his hand.

“Funny.” He gestured to the seats around the table.

We took them. Fredo took the seat beside me.

“A lot better than roses are red, violets are blue, I’m really not stalking you.”

“Oh.” Hayden sucked in a breath, realizing.

“It was supposed to be funny.” Jack took a drink of whiskey. “You could cut me a little slack.”

“Why? So you can try to force me to marry you again?”

Hayden cleared his throat. “Look at this view! I hope the food is as good. I’ve never been here before. How about everyone else?”

“Look, you’ve got the money,” Jack told Hayden. He looked at me. “I didn’t know how else to get in touch with you. You made a big mistake. Even if you didn’t want to marry me, you should have never married John. You have no idea who he really is. Yeah, he’s charming. So am I. We look a lot alike. But that’s where the similarities end. John only married you to get back at Emanuele and Alfonso.

“Do you honestly think John’s timing in your life was coincidental? He was at Jupiter the same night I was. He knew I was there. I’m positive he heard something about our arrangement, and he wanted to steal you from me to get back at us.”

I had to hide my true reaction from him. Lo had said the guy I’d described had been watching me dance that night. Who was it? Felice or Jack? Or did she notice them both and couldn’t tell the difference because it was dark, and she was drunk?

“Your intentions are pure, ah?” The words came out on autopilot, my mind in overdrive.

“Damn. He’s corrupting you already. That attitude.” He blew out a heavy breath laced with whiskey. “And yes, as a matter of fact, my intentions are pure. I didn’t want to marry you to get back at anyone. I wanted to marry you for you.”

“Bullshit. You don’t even know me!”

“We would have gotten to know each other. So I love the way you look—that’s not a crime. You don’t think John hasn’t noticed your looks? It’s the first thing he noticed about you, sweetie. Trust me. John likes ’em beautiful, just like I do.”

“You sent a man with a gun to my father’s house—a crazy man whoshothim—to force me to marry you.”

“In all honesty, my dad did that. I have the Maggio pride, but it’s nothing like his. I agreed to the marriage, but I’ve been in the same boat as you. I tried to warn him. His plan was going to send you straight to John if things went south. Here we are.”

“You’re adorable when you’re mad,” I quoted him. Not sure why, but that line really stuck in my craw. I wanted to deck him for it. It probably had more to do with timing, but I needed to set it free.

He shrugged. “Well, you are.” He took a drink. “I’m serious, Roma. Our marriage is off the table, but I needed to warn you. You seem like a sweet girl who just got it twisted somehow. Chose the wrong Maggio. But Sal was a bad seed. John is a rotten apple. It didn’t skip a generation with those two because they’re one and the same. Believe me, John’s using you to kill Dr. Corvo a little every day. A slow death. He’s sick over you marrying John.”

Elsa snatched my hand and held it under the table. Fredo stood, taking my arm, leading me out. I went with him, still on autopilot. I’d been trying to ignore the truth since I’d married Felice. I knew I’d broken Babbo’s heart, but I couldn’t find it in myself to put his before mine.

Still.

It was killing me too.

Chapter39

Felice

Celso and Frankie waited by the car. I waited behind the bathrooms. They were in a brick structure that kept me concealed in the shadows. Bright lights lit the baseball field but kept this area of the park in darkness.

Jack and his friends were the last out of practice. They were laughing until I stepped out.

---