Dad wasn抰 stupid. He knew what I was asking. Frederica stepped up to the bed and put her hand on mine. 揟oday抯 Anna抯 wedding day.?
I tried to swing my legs out of bed, almost ripping the IV out of my hand and fell forward when another wave of dizziness crashed down on me. Dad caught me, or I would have faceplanted.
揥hat are you doing? You only just woke. You need to stay in bed!?
揑 have to stop the wedding. I don抰 care if I have to rush down the aisle and pull Anna away before she can say I do, but I have to stop her from marrying him.?
揑t抯 three in the afternoon, Santino,?Frederica said gently.
It took my befuddled brain a moment to process her words. I抎 memorized the wedding schedule because of the safety details. The ceremony had been scheduled for two p.m. Anna was already married.
I shook my head slowly and sank back against the pillows. 揊uck.?I closed my eyes. 揊uck.?
揧ou抣l find someone else,?Frederica said.
揑 want her. You wouldn抰 understand. God can抰 really leave you so you don抰 really have to worry about getting your heart ripped out.?
Frederica nodded but she still touched my hand.
揝orry,?I gritted out. I tried to stand once more. 揗aybe it抯 not too late for an annulation.?
揝on, Anna chose Clifford. She抯 not worth fighting for.?
I didn抰 want to believe it. Maybe Dad was right. Anna had chosen Clifford over me, or rather she thought she needed to do the virtuous thing and do her duty to the Outfit and her family. But one thing was sure, she hadn抰 chosen me.
揥e抣l find you a good wife,?Dad assured me.
揑 don抰 need a wife.?
揇on抰 covet someone else抯 wife,?Frederica reminded me.
I had no trouble being the second man, the occasional lover. With other women, it hadn抰 been a problem in the past. With Anna? The mere idea that Clifford would touch her made me raving mad.
I stood. Dad had to grip my arm to steady me. 揑抣l kill him. That抣l solve the problem. Not a sin if I抦 coveting a widow.?
揘ot if you made her a widow in the first place,?Frederica said.
揂nything you do against this marriage now will lead to severe punishment, Sonny. Dante won抰 take it kindly if you do something stupid.?
揑 don抰 fucking care.?
揝he doesn抰 deserve you. You deserve someone who chooses you!?Dad shouted.
揑抣l check on Anna one more time,?I told Dante. He squeezed my hand briefly, a rare public display of affection, which meant all the more because of its rarity. I could tell that he was slightly nervous. For a father to give his daughter away in marriage was a major step, and for someone as protective as Dante in particular.
揟alk her out of it,?Leonas muttered under his breath.
Dante gave him a warning look.
Leonas had made his opinion blatantly clear. He thought it was a mistake to marry Anna off to Clifford. He and Dante had butted heads on several occasions because of it. He抎 been against the marriage from the start. At first, I抎 thought on principle to oppose Dante抯 decision. As most sons in our world, he tried to rebel against his dad抯 authority, at least in private.
I shook my head at him. Now wasn抰 the time or place for him to express himself. I knew boys, contradicted their fathers on principle, but he needed to know his boundaries. He was already eighteen and had to learn to accept his father抯 decisions.
I turned and headed to the side door before I slipped into the hallway behind it that led to the room where Anna could gather herself one more time before the ceremony.
Sofia left the room. As one of Anna抯 best friends, she抎 helped Anna get ready. Worry flooded me when I saw her expression. She quickly smoothed it when she spotted me, but I抎 seen the concern on hers.
揝ofia,?I said with a small smile. 揥hat抯 the matter? Is Anna feeling unwell??
揘o, no,?Sofia said quickly. 揝he抯 perfectly fine. Just a tad worried about Santino still. She feels guilty.?
Of course, this was about Santino. I抎 felt increasingly strange vibes between him and Anna since their return to Chicago.
Anna had been very close-lipped which had made me even more suspicious. Something had happened between them, but they both knew better than to show it. I hadn抰 mentioned my concerns to Dante. He would have interrogated Santino and possibly drawn conclusions that would have cost the latter his life.
Over the years, I抎 sometimes questioned my decision to have Santino guard Anna. He抎 done his duty and done it well, but I knew I wasn抰 privy to everything that had happened.
As a mother, it was a bitter pill to swallow that your daughter didn抰 confide in you. It made me doubt myself and my relationship with Anna. I抎 always thought we had a very close bond. Maybe I was being too sensitive, which was probably linked to my oldest daughter becoming a wife today.