The Men Who Abandoned Me Watched Me Marry a Mafia King

Maybe my gaze was a bit too intense, because I noticed a faint blush creeping up Lorenzo's ears, an unguarded thing on a man whose name made other men lower their voices.

"Gioia," he hesitated. "You... you're not having second thoughts about the union, are you? Are you unhappy with me?"

I quickly shook my head, then nodded emphatically. "No, no, I'm really happy with you!"

Hearing this, the man immediately smiled radiantly. It was so radiant that it seemed like a spring sunlight melting the last patches of snow, an expression I doubted his soldiers had ever seen cross his face.

Lorenzo told me he had pulled some strings to move the sealing of the alliance pact to today, and I was more than willing to go with him to the courthouse where his people had already smoothed every signature in advance.

By the time Tommaso and Geffri arrived with Lizetta, Lorenzo and I were looking and smiling at each other. At that moment, all I could hear was the pounding of my own heartbeat.

It was not until I heard Tommaso's familiar voice calling my name that I realized I had been staring at Lorenzo like a lovestruck fool. "Gioia! Why didn't you pick up your phone? We were worried sick when we couldn't find you!" he scolded.

"Geffri even went back up for you, and all he found was the cat. You didn't even bother bringing the poor thing down! She's been shivering non-stop!"

Geffri nodded along, giving me his piece of mind and complaining about me in the same breath.

Lizetta quickly jumped to my defense. "Don't be too hard on Gioia. We forgot about Vera too, didn't we? Thank goodness Geffri went back and helped me rescue her." The cat wound itself trustingly against Geffri's wrist, oblivious.

Her meaning was clear. The only reason Geffri returned to the house was to rescue her cat, not me.

I checked my phone. It had been two hours since the fire alarm went off, and sure enough, I saw a single missed call. I swore my phone had buzzed for just a second before the call abruptly ended.

Their supposed "concern" struck me as ironic.

The smile on Lorenzo's face faded the moment the three of them showed up, especially when he noticed the cat trembling in Lizetta's arms. He pulled me behind him with a quiet, possessive certainty, his tone anxious when he said, "Gioia, you're allergic to cat fur. Stay back."

Then he drew an allergy pill from his pocket. He wanted me to take it.

His protective actions made the two men's faces darken.

"Allergy pills aren't candy. You shouldn't just hand them out recklessly!" Geffri snapped.

I stopped Lorenzo's hand, reassuring him softly that I had already taken my medication that day.

He was not convinced. When he saw me cough a few times behind my hand, his expression filled with worry.

"If you're coughing, then something's wrong," he insisted. His eyes turned sharp as he looked at the group, and the easy charm was gone from them entirely. "The three of you, and the cat. Stay away from Gioia."

He didn't wait for a response. He took my hand and drew me away from them as if they were some kind of danger that needed answering.

This was the first time anyone had ever taken my allergy so seriously, least of all a man I had just met. Even if my uncle had warned him in advance, his concern for me far outweighed the so-called "care" I had received from Tommaso, who had been raised beside me for ten years.

Maybe Lorenzo's sudden appearance set off some alarm in Tommaso and Geffri's hearts, because they called after me, "Gioia, who is he?"

Before I could answer, Lizetta asked in a voice full of curiosity, "Is he your new man, Gioia?"

Both Tommaso and Geffri scoffed in unison. "No way. This has to be an act. She's just trying to get back at us for not paying attention to her lately."

I didn't want to explain myself to these two overconfident men. But I also didn't want to cause any misunderstanding with Lorenzo right after we had bound our Families together.

I squeezed Lorenzo's hand tightly, our fingers intertwining, and drew out the witnessed alliance pact, its red seal catching the light. Waving it in front of Tommaso and Geffri, I said, "Let me formally introduce you to him. This is my husband."

Their smiles froze.

They were stunned into silence.

Then they burst out laughing, as if I had cracked the world's worst joke.

"Gioia, that's not funny at all!" they said, almost doubling over.

But their laughter died away when I opened the pact fully, revealing the unmistakable seal of authenticity, the kind no rival in any territory would dare contest.

Panic washed over their faces, as if something precious had slipped right through their fingers.

Geffri's jaw worked, and for once the loud man had nothing to say.

"Gioia Marchetti, just because we forgot to grab you in the fire doesn't mean you should marry the first man you see!"

"Go back to the courthouse and tear it up. Now."