Page 73 of Mafia Boss

After fumbling with the phone, Mom shouted, “Okay, sweetheart.”

Before I could click off the phone and regret this whole thing, I blew out a deep breath and decided to just get it over with. “I’m getting married.”

I paused to let them have a moment of happiness, just a moment of glee, that their only daughter had found someone to love her unconditionally.

When I heard the joyful chatter, I grinned. “Tonight, I’ll be Cristian Ricci’s wife.”

All the chatter and whispering stopped, gasps echoing through the other side of the phone. My stomach tightened even more, this time in eagerness.

“Don’t worry. We’ll pay you a visit soon. We’re both thrilled to see you.”

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“Roxie! You ready?”I shouted, glancing down at my phone.

We weren’t having anything big for the wedding, obviously, since this was last minute, but I hadfriendsat the courthouse who could marry us in fifteen minutes. And I wanted to make Roxie my wife tonight. I had waited all my life to have her, and I wouldn’t pass up this opportunity. She could change her mind by tomorrow.

Our bedroom door opened, and I stared at Roxie with wide eyes, my heart … racing.

“What happened to the white dress?” Chiara said when Roxie walked out of our bedroom, dressed in a black spaghetti-strapped sheer-mesh dress and a thick silver choker that sparkled under the living room light.

Roxie smiled at me. “I changed. White isn’t really my color.”

I grabbed her hand and twirled her around. “But black is.”

“You’re okay with me wearing this?” she asked with wide eyes.

Wrapping my arm around the small of her waist, I pulled her to me. “You look sexy.”

“Enough with the cuteness!” Chiara said. “I’m getting jealous, and we’re going to be late.”

After I grabbed Roxie’s hand, we hurried out of the apartment, down the elevator, and out into the good ol’ New York City night. Since traffic was horrendous and the courthouse was only a few blocks down, I walked beside her toward our future.

It felt so surreal. Hell, all of this did.

Three blocks later, I urged Roxie up the front steps of the courthouse with a smile. A car skirted up to the side of the road, my sister parking in the midst of traffic and storming out of her car and toward us.

I looked over my shoulder at her, cursed, and told Roxie to go in. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Roxie looked at my sister, gnawed on the inside of her cheek, and nodded. “Okay.”

After Chiara glanced between us, she and Alessandro followed Roxie into the building. I blew out a breath and turned on my heel, facing her for the first time since the yacht party. To say I had been avoiding her would be an understatement. I didn’t want to hear her complain.

“What happened to Alessa?” she asked, hurrying up the steps.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She stopped in front of me and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping a red-bottomed heel on the pavement. “Last time she texted me she said that she was going to see you. Where is she?”

“I have no idea,” I said because, well, I didn’t.

After Roxie had killed Alessa, my men had taken care of her body. She could be six feet in the ground, burned, or down in the river by now. I didn’t know where she was, and I’d like to keep it that way because, knowing Alessa, her ghost would come and fucking haunt me.

“What happened to her?” my sister said. “I know that you know.”

Deciding that she’d find out sooner or later, I pressed my lips together. “Roxie killed her.”

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