The Men Who Abandoned Me Watched Me Marry a Mafia King

My husband and I sealed our alliance pact today, but the two men I was raised beside, the ones who once swore my name would be entered into their Family's book, had no idea. They were too busy fussing over the woman who had supposedly "saved my life."

To lift her spirits, they had even bought her a darling Ragdoll cat as a token of their gratitude. They had completely forgotten that cat fur could put me in the ground.

So when I came home, freshly discharged from the safehouse infirmary, my throat closed, my lungs failed, and I went straight back under a doctor's care.

And they did not believe me when I told them the woman had staged the whole "rescue" from the first breath.

The moment I came to in the emergency ward, I called my uncle to arrange my marriage.

After my parents were buried, my uncle was the one who had set aside a good match for me.

——

The instant he heard I consented, Don Marchetti moved with the speed of a man closing a deal before the other side could think twice. He did it because he feared I would go soft in the head again and waste my years torn between two boys raised in the circle.

"Gioia Marchetti," he said, "didn't I warn you that those two are barely fit to be called your friends? I'm a man. I know for certain neither of them has the makings of a husband. A man reads another man's flaws better than any woman ever will. And still you wouldn't listen."

Then: "We get the pact witnessed first. Seven days from now, you'll have the union before the whole table."

I used to think my uncle, being a man, could never understand what a woman feels.

After all, only you know whether the shoe fits. But before I had ever slipped these ones on, they had already cut me a hundred times over.

"Don, send me his information. I'll set the witnessing now," I told him.

A union was a matter between two people. I had to take charge of something.

As it happened, just as I was about to fix the appointment, Tommaso Bellini and Geffri Lombardi caught my words and pushed into the hospital room.

They asked me in one voice, "What appointment? What are you going to register?"

I saw no reason to keep it from them, so I answered plainly, "I'm getting married."

The two exchanged a look. When they understood that neither of them was the groom, they both let out a relieved laugh. "You're joking, right?"

I paid them no mind and kept arranging the time on my phone.

Out of habit, they leaned in the way they always had, to see. But before they could read the screen, Tommaso's phone rang with the meow of a cat, a ringtone he had set just for Lizetta Conti.

"Tommaso. I think someone's in my place. I always triple-lock the door when I leave, and now it swings open with one turn." Lizetta's voice came thin and frightened.

Tommaso shot up without a word, and he and Geffri rushed out together.

On his way through the door, Tommaso called back, "Lizetta, don't go inside. Wait for us at the usual spot."

I listened to the panic in his voice and the hurried footsteps fading down the corridor.

They had not known her a full month, and already there was a "usual spot" for the three of them.

I smirked and confirmed the earliest date the witnessing would allow.

On the day I was discharged, Tommaso and Geffri finally showed their faces again.

They were in a hurry. They kept pushing me to move faster, so I told them kindly that if they had something more pressing, they were welcome to go on ahead.

Geffri muttered at Tommaso, his face dark. "Didn't I tell you we should've split up? Now Lizetta's waiting on us, and if anything happens to her, you'll be the one to answer for it."

Tommaso fired back, his eyes full of anger. "You think I want to be standing here?"

Once, they would have come to blows over who got to bring me home. Now I was nothing but dead weight between them.

I smiled and flagged a taxi from the curb. Seeing it, they hauled me back out of the car, annoyance written all over them.

"Gioia, what do you think you're doing? Lizetta put together a surprise to celebrate you getting out," they said.

Before I could refuse, they dragged me into their own car.

The moment the doors shut, they dialed Lizetta and talked with her the whole ride, lively as could be. I had become invisible, so I closed my eyes and rested.

Only when we reached the bar did I understand that the so-called surprise for me was in fact a birthday party for Lizetta.

Hands full of beautifully wrapped gifts, Tommaso and Geffri hurried toward her. They were the same presents the two had picked out for my birthday this year.

Seeing the gifts had found a new owner, and having no interest in playing the supporting part, I turned to leave.

Out of nowhere, a cat lunged at me.

Without a second thought, I kicked it away, sending it flying with a yowl.

Lizetta, still wearing her party hat, stormed up to me.