A knock sounded and a second later Leonas poked his head in. He gave me a sly smile that made me want to hug and punch him.
揥e should probably leave. This is family business,?Luisa said to Sofia. After hugging me, they slipped out, leaving me alone with my brother who still smiled broadly.
He sauntered over to me and patted my shoulder. 揟hanks, Sis.?
揥hat for??
揊or making all my past wrongdoings look like a piece of cake.?
I grimaced. 揟hat bad??
揚retty bad, yeah. I mean, it could have been worse if you抎 killed Clifford to evade marrying him, or if you抎 been caught banging Santino in a cupboard during the wedding party, but otherwise you really picked the worst possible moment to decide you couldn抰 stand Clifford.?
揧ou really know how to lift my mood,?I muttered.
揑抦 trying,?he said with a smirk, but I could see tension in his eyes. Leonas always pretended he cared about nothing, but our family and the Outfit meant a lot to him, and I might have hurt both today.
I swallowed, guilt weighing heavy on me. 揑t抯 not even that I can抰 stand Clifford. He isn抰 bad. He抯 nice, with a great career ahead of him.?
Leonas made a face as if he doubted it. 揙nly if voters give him pity votes after today, but being left at the altar doesn抰 really scream tough future leader of the state.?
Had I really ruined Clifford抯 career today? I didn抰 want to believe it. 揌e抯 really ambitious and clever. He抣l turn today into a great story and advantage for him.?
揥hatever. I don抰 give a fuck about him, but we should really rack our brains how to make sure the Outfit leaves this shitshow as the winner.?
揑抦 surprised you think we can still win after the mess I made.?
Leonas shrugged. 揥e might have to fight dirty, but that抯 all the more fun.?
Over the years, my wife had surprised, and even shocked me on several occasions, a feat few people managed.
Today my daughter and wife both had given me the greatest shock of my life, and not just me.
I knew they hadn抰 agreed on making such a public affair out of it, but they both shared a boisterous temperament that sometimes chose unfortunate moments to burst through.
揤alentina, what is going on??I muttered under my breath. The shocked silence was quickly turning into disbelieving whispers. I needed to get the situation under control before it escalated even more.
揑抦 sorry, Dante. I couldn抰 let Anna marry Clifford. She wouldn抰 have been happy.?
I stood with a tight smile.
Maximo Clark looked ready to explode and his wife was already fanning herself with the wedding program in a very attention-seeking way.
I cleared my throat audibly, then waited for silence to descend in church. 揥e must ask you to leave now. We have matters to settle and this wedding won抰 happen.?
Then I turned my focus on the Clarks. Maximo was motioning for his son to come toward them. Valentina in turn was already rushing toward Anna who still stood in the front with a wide-eyed look.
I didn抰 allow my frustration to grab the reins. I had to handle Maximo and Clifford first. They could cause a scandal I didn抰 have the necessary patience for. Once that was done, I抎 deal with my erratic wife and daughter. I had a feeling there was more at play here.
A suspicion had festered in me ever since I抎 seen Anna at Santino抯 side when he抎 been shot, but I抎 chosen to distrust my instinct, because I didn抰 like what they were telling me.
Valentina and I had always thought by arranging a marriage with Clifford, we抎 make sure Anna had more freedom than other girls in our world. We抎 taken our own marriage as reassurance. Our love had developed with time, and we抎 thought Anna would make the same experience.
If I抎 known she was in love with Santino, I would have canceled the wedding myself. Any bond was bound to fail if one of the parties entered it while being in love with someone else. My marriage to Valentina had almost crumpled because I抎 clung to my love to my late wife, no matter how hopeless that love was.
Anna抯 love wasn抰 hopeless. Or hadn抰 been. Right this moment, my emotions were too complicated to decide about Santino抯 fate.
I stepped into the small room where Anna had gone. Her expression turned apologetic the moment her gaze met mine, but before the change, I抎 seen the blatant relief and joy on her face. Joy over having stopped the wedding.
揑抦 sorry, Dad. I know I caused a mess.?
揧ou did,?I agreed.
She swallowed, wringing her hands in front of her body. She cast her gaze up to the ceiling. 揑抳e tried to convince myself every day in the last few weeks, months even, that marrying Clifford would be okay. That I could do it, that I had to do it out of my duty for the Outfit and not to disappoint you and Mom, but today the only thing I could think about while standing beside Clifford at the altar was how Santino was doing and that I wanted to be by his side. If I抎 gone through with the wedding, I抎 eventually have tried to escape it and caused an even bigger scandal.?