Page 233 of Marcello

I finished the sentence for him silently:

…in the Cosa Nostra.

Papa gave a clipped laugh. “Up until a few months ago, you could’ve had your pick of the Rosolini boys – but they all got married rather suddenly.”

I knew all about the Rosolinis. They ran Florence and Tuscany.

Don Leonardo Rosolini had died half a year ago, which had fragmented the empire. His son Dario had succeeded him as soon as he got out of prison, but Leonardo’s brother and consigliere Fausto had gone and formed a new family of his own.

Dario had a lot of brothers whose names I couldn’t remember.

Maximus?

Nico, maybe?

Papa harrumphed. “Though it’s probably a good thing you never married any of them… not after what they pulled in Rome.”

“What did they do?”

“Erm, nothing – never mind.” My father’s face suddenly darkened. “But I found out at the Council that one of the Rosolini boys married the Widow of Venice’s granddaughter. Lucia Fioretti is the perfect example of why I never let you do whatever you wanted – all that freedom turned her into a foul-mouthed little tramp.”

I have some bad fuckin’ news for you, Papa…

“But Lucia still married a Rosolini – right?” I pointed out.

“Which is why we have to marry you off, and soon. Other families are making moves and shoring up alliances. We have to act quickly before we’re locked out.”

Instead of arranging my marriage, it sounded like he was plotting a business merger.

Which, of course, he was.

I would have ordinarily been furious –

But I had my own plans he knew nothing about.

Papa frowned. “I have to say, you’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would.”

I scrambled for a legitimate reason I wasn’t freaking out.

“Well, I’d really like to leave this house at some point.”

“Oh, you’ll definitely be able to do that!” he said cheerfully. “After the wedding, you’ll most likely move to Rome. Since Don Severino runs everything that goes on there, you’ll be able to go anywhere you want in total safety.”

I noticed he’d totally dropped all pretense about You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.

Still, living freely in Rome might have been an incredibly attractive prospect –

If I wasn’t already in love with another man.

Then a new thought occurred to me. “Wait – does that mean I’m going out to a restaurant with Luca?”

Papa scoffed. “Of course not. If the Camorra found out, they’d kill you both.”

Of course they would.

“You and Luca will have dinner here at the house with me and Mama.”

Oh, joy.