Page 11 of Vow of Desire

I should be happy. Every mafia girl wants to be married. To have honor and respect through her husband.

So why am I not happy?

A knock at the door makes me gasp.

“It’s me.” Matteo.

I swish my mouth with water before opening the door a crack. “I’m currently using the bathroom. Please leave me alone.”

“You ran out of the room like death was chasing you. I had to see if you were all right.”

“You care if I’m all right? I thought I was your second choice. You wanted Emma, if I recall.”

“It wasn’t Emma herself I wanted. It was the fact that she was promised to me and Gabriel went back on his word. But now you’re promised to me and I don’t intend to let you go. So if you’re thinking about running, Luciana, then think again.”

I frown. “I wasn’t going to run.”

“You ran out of the dining room.”

“Yes. To throw –,” I stop myself. It’s not proper for a woman to talk about vomit in front of her soon-to-be husband.

He raises an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” I mutter. My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. “I just needed a moment to myself. I’m not planning on running. I know what this marriage entails. Peace for my family. For my father. If I don’t marry you, you might kill him. Am I correct in assuming that?”

“You are correct.” He steps into the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. Alone with Matteo again. Soon, I’ll be alone with him every day. Why does that make my heart squeeze in panic and also make my stomach flutter at the same time? “I will kill your father if you don’t marry me. I agreed to this marriage for peace. So did your father. So did Gabriel. I would suggest you don’t try and ruin it. That would be a good idea.”

“I wasn’t going to run.”

“You don’t like me,” he comments, looking me up and down. It’s so… clinical.

“I don’t really know you. How can I dislike a stranger?”

“You don’t like me but you’re too polite to say, is that it? How good are you really, Luciana? How proper of a mafia daughter are you?”

“I am very proper,” I say hotly. “Don’t insult me by asking.”

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

I flinch, stepping back. “How dare you ask that of me. Why does that matter?”

He shrugs. “It doesn’t. I don’t care if a woman is a virgin or not. I am just trying to figure out how much you have done. Since we’ll be married tomorrow. And then it will be our wedding night.”

The thought of my wedding night sends an icy chill down my body. “Are you going to hurt me? Is that why you’re asking?”

“I told you I won’t beat you.”

“But will you… expect things on our wedding night?”

“We have to be properly married, Luciana. For peace. We can’t give anyone a reason for an annulment.”

“I have to give my body to you?”

“Isn’t that what you were taught?”

I swallow hard. Matteo isn’t wrong. Iwastaught to give my entire being to my future husband. But that was when it was just a fantasy I’d be married one day. Now it’s a reality.

“Am I that repulsive?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. “Do you think I’m disgusting?”