“We need to tell everyone,” Chloe said. “They have a right to know what we’re walking into. It was one thing when we thought they were just ordinary criminals. This takes it to a whole new level.”
“I’m more worried about what’s going to happen when we leave the shop,” I said. “What if they’re waiting outside?”
“I’ll text Gage,” she said. “He’s supposed to be the muscle in our heist/wedding planning gig.”
Gage. For a moment I’d forgotten about the night she’d blown me off for him, and the pain came rushing back.
“Your eye is swollen,” I said. “If he threw Kyle down the stairs just for knocking on your door, who knows what he’s going to do if he sees you like that? We can’t have him running around in a protective frenzy trying to find Mario so he can toss him down the stairs. It will compromise the mission.”
“He’s got a gun,” Chloe said. “He can keep us safe.”
“We kept ourselves safe,” I retorted. “We beat up a mob boss’s son. We don’t need Gage. We’ve always been fine on our own.”
“Babe.” Her face softened. “What’s wrong? And I don’t mean what happened this morning.”
“I don’t know.” My voice wavered. “I don’t know anything about Gage and neither do you, and yet you let him into your house when Olivia was there. You put her in danger instead of calling me.” I didn’t know if it was the fight or the adrenaline or the shock or if it really had anything to do with Gage, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. “It’s always been you and me,” I said. “Ride or die. I was nothing at home growing up. No one had time. No one cared. I was a nuisance, a burden. I had to be good. I had to be quiet. I had to disappear. But you saw me.”
“I still see you,” she said. “It’s still you and me.”
“And Gage.”
“I don’t understand why you’re being like this.” She knelt on the floor in front of me, taking my hands. “You’ve never had a problem with any of my boyfriends, and I’m not even seeing Gage. He’s been over a few times—”
“Not just that once? A few times? And you didn’t tell me?” I studied her face. The answer was right there. “You like him,” I said.
“I do like him.”
“And he likes you. I see it every time we get together. He looks at you like he’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life, which of course you are, but only I’m supposed to see it.”
“Aw, babe.” She gave me a half smile.
“It feels different than when you’ve been with other guys.”
“You aren’t going to lose me,” Chloe said, understanding. “Look what you’ve done for me. The crew, the heist, the danger, the wedding . . .”
“The Mafia,” I added. “Don’t forget them.”
Chloe wrapped me in a hug. “If it’s going to be a concrete coffin, we’ll be in it together. You and me.”
“I tasked Gage with elephant rides and entertaining the kids,” I said, “but now it seems we do need his fighting chops and maybe even his guns.”
Bella returned a few moments later with a cup of coffee and a plate of macarons. “I’ll need to find another dress.” She cast a wistful glance at the counter, where the sales associate was deep in conversation with the dressmaker. “I thought at the very least I’d be able to have the dress I wanted.”
“You can have the dress you want,” Chloe said. “If you really don’t want to push back, you can wear a cloak or a half jacket to cover your shoulders, or we can ask the store to add some lace to the bodice. If they can’t do it on short notice, Simi has relatives who can. The bigger question is, do you want this relationship? My ex was like Mario, and I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t get better.”
“I don’t have a choice.” She looked around, lowered her voice. “Our dads arranged the wedding to unite our families. There is no backing out. Ever.”
My heart went out to her. Even though my dad was a tailor and not an evil mob boss with armed bodyguards and a stolen necklace in his safe, I knew just how difficult parents could be when it came to marriage.
Something clicked in the back of my mind. “Is that why you’ve had five wedding planners? You were trying to stall?”
“There’s someone else,” Chloe blurted out. “You’ve got a secret boyfriend.”
“Bennito DeLuca.” Bella’s bottom lip quivered. “I love him.”
“Why don’t you just run away?” I’d effectively run away when I left home and moved into Rose’s basement suite, although I kept going home for Sunday dinner. Nani’s cooking was just that good.
“My dad has had me followed since the day he told me about the match because he knows I don’t want to marry Mario,” Bella said. “I’ve only been able to see Ben when I go to public places, and then we have to pretend we don’t know each other. I managed to sneak out at night a few times by climbing out the window, but someone saw me leaving the boathouse in the morning and my dad got security drones to patrol the grounds.”
“Did you ever talk to your parents about him?” Chloe asked. “Did you tell them how you feel? Simi’s parents are constantly trying to set her up, but when she says no, they respect her decision.”
“My father only cares about my older brother,” she said. “He’s being groomed to take over the family business. I’m a piece of property to my father, a pawn in his game. He ignored me for most of my life until he needed a way to unite our families. I tried to drag out the wedding with unreasonable requests, firing the wedding planners . . .”
I could feel her pain. I’d also been overlooked as a child, but I didn’t share her hatred, anger, or bitterness. Therapy and my parents’ belated interest in my life were helping me forgive and move on. I wanted Bella to be free to do the same.
“I didn’t think you were really a bridezilla type,” I said.
“It was working until you said you could get an elephant.”
That was the downside to having a large family. There was no problem that couldn’t be solved.
She squeezed my hand, her dark eyes beseeching. “You have to help me. Please. I can’t marry Mario. You have to quit. My father won’t let me fire you.”
I didn’t have to look at Chloe to know what she was thinking. She was everything that was good in the world. There was no way she’d agree to continue our wedding planner charade.
Not with the Mafia involved.
Not when Bella loved someone else.
Not even if it meant she’d go to jail.
Nineteen
By the time I got home that evening, the gossip mill had done its work. My parents were still up and waiting for me at the kitchen table with Nikhil. I knew right then it was going to be bad. They only trotted my older brother out when I was really in trouble because they knew he would always back them up.
Usually, I’d sit quietly and endure the tirade, but after what had happened at the wedding dress shop, I wasn’t in the mood. I had more important things to worry about than family drama.