2

"Why hasn't she married yet?" As the daughter of a Made Man of high rank, she would have been promised to someone in the Family for years-unless there was something wrong with her.

Luca and Papa exchanged a look that alarmed me.

"She was promised to the son of a captain, but he was killed during an attack in Bratva last year."

Immediately recognizing my troubled expression, my father added, "She did not know him. She met him only once, when she was 12 years old." There was more. "You could marry her at the beginning of November. That way the wedding would not be too close to Gaia's funeral." "Why November?"

"That's when she turns eighteen," Luca said. I stared at him and my father. Had they lost their minds? "The girl is almost fourteen years younger than me!" "Given your circumstances, it's the best option, Alessio," said the father imploringly.

"All the other available daughters of high-ranking Made Men are even younger, and I doubt you would be willing to marry a widow, given your past experiences."

My expression became hard.

"Today is not the right time to discuss this." Luca tilted his head.

"Don't wait too long. Felix wants to find a partner for Gianna as soon as possible." I nodded my head, then went back inside. Mom was trying to calm Simona, who had started crying, and Mia was coming out of the living room with Daniel in a tantrum.

I needed a wife. However, I did not have the mental capacity to make that kind of decision today.

Faro handed me a martini before sinking into the chair across from mine in my office.

"You look like shit, Alessio." I turned a tight smile on him.

"Another sleepless night." Taking a sip from his drink, he gave me a disapproving look.

"Say yes to Rizzo. You need a wife. You could have one in less than four months.

He desperately wants you in his family, saving his miserable, otherwise he would not have waited all these weeks for you to make a decision. I'm sure she could have found another husband for her daughter by now."

I drank half my martini in one gulp. "Almost fourteen years between us. You realize I'm going to wait until that girl turns eighteen."

"Then you'll have to marry a widow. Do you really want a woman who hung up with another man after the affair with Gaia?" he asked quietly.

I grimaced. Most of these days I had been trying to forget Gaia, and even Daniel had stopped asking about his mother, realizing that she was not coming back.

Since then he had become terribly silent, never saying a single word. "No," I said harshly.

"No widow." Not only did I not want to risk repeating myself, but all the widows in the market had children, and I did not want my children to have to share his attention.

They needed all the care and love they could get. They were suffering, and no matter how hard I tried, I was not the person who could give them what they needed.

"For heaven's sake, call Rizzo. What's the problem? The girl will be of age soon." I glanced at him.

"Other men would kill for a chance to once again have a hot girl in their bed, yet you play 'woe is me' when one is offered to you on a silver platter."

"If we weren't childhood friends, I would have taken your finger off for that tone," I said. "Good thing we're friends, then," said Faro, raising his glass.

After yet another night full of screaming, I called Felix in the morning.

"Hello, Felix. It's Alessio."

"Alessio, what a pleasure. I suppose you have made a decision about a connection with my daughter?"

"I would like to marry her." This was not exactly the truth. It was the only option to save my sanity.

"I can't wait long. You know I have two small children who need a mother."

"Of course. Gianna is very thoughtful. Could we schedule the wedding for early November, one day after Gianna's 18th birthday?" I gritted my teeth.

"All right. That's reasonable."

"I'd like you to meet her first so we can discuss the details of the party. It will take a lot of work to organize a wedding in such a short time."

"You insist on a big party?"

"Yes. Gianna is our only daughter, and my wife wants to plan something special for her. With our son, she couldn't plan as much as she wanted. Not to mention that, considering our status, it will be an important social gathering, Alessio."

"I can't be involved in the planning. I have enough to do as it is, so your wife should do everything."

"It won't be a problem. Let's discuss the details when you come to visit, shall we? When can you make it?" Sybil had planned to spend the weekend at my house to keep an eye on the children.

"In two days, but I can't stay long."

"Perfect. You made the right decision, Alessio. Gianna is wonderful."

Dad was acting strange during dinner. He kept staring at me as if he was about to say something, but he never did.

It looked like Mom had received an invitation to an exclusive Chanel summer sale. When I had finished dinner, I waited for Dad to excuse me. I wanted to finish the painting I started this morning.

Now that I was out of high school, I was using my free time to improve my painting skills.

He cleared his throat. "We need to talk to you."

"All right," I said slowly. The last time Dad had started a conversation like this, he had told me that my fiancé had been killed during an attack in Bratva.

It had not affected me as much as it should have, considering our planned future, but I had only met him once and that had been many years ago.

My mother had been the only one to cry bitter tears, especially since his death meant that I was left without a boyfriend at seventeen. It was a scandal in the making.

"We found you a new husband."

"Oh," I said. It wasn't that I didn't expect to be married soon, but given my age, I hoped they would involve me in the process of finding my future husband.

"It's Underboss!" Burst from Mom as she looked at me beaming. My eyebrows rose.

No wonder she was thrilled. My late fiancé had only been a captain's son, nothing exciting, in Mother's opinion.

I racked my brain for an Underboss close to my age, but came up empty-handed.

"Who is he?" Dad avoided my eyes.

"Alessio Moretti."

I gasped. Dad often talked to me about business if he needed to vent because Mom was not interested in the details. Moretti's name had been circulating for months now. The cruelest underboss of the Family had lost his wife and was left alone to raise his two little sons.

Speculation about how and why his wife had died was rampant, but only the Chief knew the details. Some said Moretti had killed his wife in anger, while others said she had become ill living under his strict rule.

There were also people who speculated that she had killed herself to escape his cruelty. Neither rumor made me want to meet the man, much less marry him.

"He is much older than I am," I finally said.