Page 81 of Vow of Desire

“I’m glad. It’s nice having someone care for me like this. I love you,” I say again. It just feels right.

“I love you too.”

After a while of sitting in the room and watching TV, Gabriel shows up. “I was told that you had left and came back by the nurse. She wasn’t happy.” His eyes find mine. “Luciana. My father told me you were resting at his house.”

“My father actually kidnapped me and was holding me prisoner. But I assumed he didn’t tell you that. He tried to kill Matteo. Make sure my father stays in line and doesn’t do anything so stupid ever again.”

Gabriel looks stunned. I’ve never spoken to him like this before. “I’ll… do that. I didn’t know any of that had happened. Did that all really happen?” he asks Matteo, who nods. “Shit. Rocco is losing his mind. I promise. I’ll make sure he doesn’t cause problems.” He clears his throat. “I was thinking more about our Dante situation. I know who’s a good candidate to offer up for marriage. You’ve never met her before.”

“Who?” Matteo asks.

“Sienna Lanza. Her father, Carlo, was a good man. A high ranking mafia official. That should make Dante happy.”

I jump to my feet. “Sienna? You mean my best friend Sienna?”

Gabriel’s face remains ice cold. No shame. No embarrassment. He truly believes this is the best course of action and whenhe believes something, he will not change his mind. “Yes. Your friend Sienna. I didn’t know you two were best friends though.”

“The best of friends. How could you do this to her? She just lost her father and now you’re going to give her over to that madman? He’ll torture her every day!”

He holds up a hand. “We don’t even know if Dante will agree to a marriage. I have to ask him first. Your friend may get lucky.”

I cross my arms. “And if Dante does agree? Then Sienna is screwed.”

“If a marriage deal brings peace like it did for you and Matteo, then why can’t it happen between Dante and Sienna? You two worked out. Everything will work out again. It has to. The only other option is war which puts us all in danger. Like you said: Dante is a madman. If he’s left to his own devices, he could kill us all. So I want to put him on a leash. This marriage will allow that. So I am not sorry, Luciana. These things happen.” Gabriel gives me and Matteo a nod before leaving the room.

I sink back into my chair as all the fight leaves me. Why do mafia girls have to pay the price for the sins of mafia men?

Chapter Twenty

Luciana

Iwant nothing more than to warn Sienna about Gabriel’s plan but he made it clear I wasn’t allowed to tell her anything. He doesn’t want to risk her running and ruining his plan. His plan to marry her to a lunatic.

“I can’t stand for this,” I say after me and Matteo are back home. He’s doing a lot better after a few days in the hospital. My infection is completely gone and I’m feeling healthy again. I’m feeling like myself again.

“I know you can’t.” He leans back against the couch, watching me as I pace around the room. “Sienna is your friend. But Gabriel wants this and what Gabriel wants, Gabriel gets.”

I sigh and sink onto the couch. “It’s just not fair. It wasn’t fair when I had to marry you. When I was kept in the dark until the last possible moment.”

“I know. But it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? We love each other.”

“Because you fought for me. You showed me that you can be a good man. But Dante? He’s evil. Pure evil. Sienna is going to break being married to him. She’s already broken from her dad dying. She was finally feeling better and when Gabriel tells her what she’s going to have to do… I’m worried. She might die, Matteo.”

He rubs my arm and I find myself leaning into his touch. Things have truly changed between us. “I know. I don’t know Sienna like you do. But you have to trust that your friend is strong enough to survive this. It’s either go to war with Dante or an arranged marriage.”

“I don’t know why Gabriel can’t just kill Dante. I don’t want you to kill him since I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“I appreciate your concern for me, though it’s a little insulting you don’t think I’m capable of killing Dante. I promised I wouldn’t go after him. I don’t want to put you at risk again. So far, Dante hasn’t come for us and I want to keep it that way.”

“The sacrifice just has to be my best friend,” I mutter, crossing my arms. “It’s terrible.”

“I know. But there’s nothing you can do. All we can do is focus on our future together.”

I lean my head on his shoulder where it belongs. Where it feels right. “I know. Our future. I like the sound of that. I never thought we’d get to this point.”

“You were fighting with yourself for a lot of it.”

“I know,” I sigh. “And I’m sorry. I was torn between what I thought I was supposed to be and what I wanted. But I just had to learn to trust you and now that I do, I know I made the rightdecision. I’m happy with you, Matteo. I want us to continue this. We still have so much more growing to do as a couple.”