Page 245 of Merciless Desires

“Jewel tones sound perfect.”

Alessia grinned and nodded at Maria, who sorted through the book of fabric samples in front of her until she found the jewel tones that she thought would be best for my wedding.

Mamma would like jewel tones. She would look amazing in a deep sapphire dress. Gisella would demand to be in green, and Annabella wouldn’t care what color she wore as long as she was included.

Gisella would be my maid of honor. She should have been here, helping me figure all of this out. Annabella would be the flower girl, and Lucia had already offered for her five-year-old son, Gianni, to be the ring bearer.

The three capo wives across from me assumed that they were going to be my bridesmaids. It was assumed since they had offered to help me plan the wedding that they would have a much bigger role in all of this.

I felt like I didn’t have much say in my own wedding at this point, so I agreed, and we moved on to discussing florals. I had spent the morning with the wedding planner discussing approved locations for the wedding, and the capo wives had arrived around noon to “help,” as they had called it.

I wasn’t sure what I would call it. Take control, maybe?

“I have seven sisters.” Lucia nudged my elbow with hers and leaned in as Maria and Alessia argued over dahlias. “I’ve planned seven weddings, including my own. I know it’s a lot to think about, but we want you to be happy.”

I forced a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Is everything alright so far? You can tell us if you hate the jewel tones.”

I shook my head. “No, no. The jewel tones are perfect. I…”

How much detail was I willing to give this woman? Did she really need to know why all of this was kind of upsetting?

“I had wanted to plan my wedding with my mamma, but she’s sick.”

“Oh, no,” Lucia gasped and placed her hand over her mouth, which drew Maria and Alessia’s attention our way. “I’m so sorry.”

“What is it?” Maria asked carefully.

“Her mamma is sick.”

Alessia and Maria also gasped and covered their mouths, staring at me with the damn sympathy I hadn’t wanted to see. I didn’t need their sympathy. I didn’t know their stories, but now they knew mine. Would that be looked at as a weakness?

“She’s okay. She has her good days and her bad days. We…don’t really know what’s going on, but the past six months have been difficult. She couldn’t walk for a few months. She had to re-learn how to walk again through physical therapy. Her heart rate spikes so much that she has chest pain, she feels faint, and she’s passed out a few times, hurting herself in the process.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lucia repeated and carefully placed her hand on my shoulder, testing if I was willing to be comforted. “You must be really worried about her.”

I sucked in a slow breath. “Yeah.”

I wanted the conversation to end. I didn’t want to get into all of it with them when I didn’t fully understand it myself.

Lucia smiled weakly and pushed the fabric samples closer to me. “How about we pick your wedding colors?”

Chapter Thirteen

MATTEO

An eye for an eye.

Dominov’s weak associate howled beneath my grasp, and I commanded my men to hold him still. His eye popped from the socket and flopped against his cheek. I severed the optic nerve and passed the eyeball to Papà.

He inspected it before placing it in an envelope. “Put him back where he was found.”

Our men dragged the Russian with one eye out of our warehouse, and I turned to face Papà.

He passed me the envelope. “Do you know what you’re doing with it?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

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