“Why? Why me?”
“Because you’re the greatest thing to ever happen to me, dolcezza. You made me feel things that I didn’t know I was able to feel anymore. You’re strong, and smart, and so beautiful.”
Tears are streaming down her face now. I wipe them away with my fingers. “I thought you were going to let them kill me.” I hold her head against me. “Never, Violet. Never. I’ll protect you always. I promise you, dolcezza, because I love you.”
She pulls back and looks at me. “You do?”
“Yes, Violet. I love you. Forever.”
“Forever?”
Now I’m smiling because she keeps repeating everything back to me.
“Oh my God, you’re smiling.”
“Marry me, dolcezza. Say you’ll marry me.” I hold her hand in mine, waiting with bated breath.
What happens next I’m not at all expecting.
She screams.
“YES! Oh my God! Yes!”
I think I actually laughed. Smiling and laughing in the short span of five minutes. Oh, my dolcezza, look what she’s done to me. I hug her tightly to me and she’s already blabbing about how she needs to tell Caterina.
“Do me a favor, Violet?”
“Anything!”
“Just shut your mouth and kiss me already.”
She smiles before coming forward and kissing me deeply.
“I love you Mr. Bianchi.”
“And I love you, Mrs. Bianchi.”
Epilogue
Violet
Who would have ever thought that this southern gal would be marrying the sexiest Italian Mafioso on the earth?
It’s only been a few weeks since Nello proposed and Caterina and I have spent every minute wedding planning. We’re walking through a greenhouse and admiring all different types of flowers. The guards are trailing behind us, which makes it look like they’re either our significant others or in the market for flowers for their own wedding. I say this to Caterina and we giggle together as we create more space between us and them to make it look the latter.
My ring finger is heavily weighted down by a giant diamond ring. Nello said I had to have the best and he wouldn’t settle for a small, modest diamond like I suggested. He lives to spoil.
His family is going all out with this wedding. It’s going to be huge. Of course we wish we could’ve kept it small but that’s not how things work with the famiglia.
There’s officially war between the Bianchis and the Crisantis. Nello doesn’t tell me much more than that. All I know is the night I was taken the Crisantis lost a lot of their soldiers. Gian killed Dante and Nello was thankful for that, although he said he would’ve rather done it himself. Everyone else escaped, including Lorenzo. Thankfully none of the Bianchis were killed although Leo and Maurizio suffered bullet wounds. They are already healing up, though.
The last few weeks have been all wedding talk. I can’t believe I used to have such a different life. It seems like a world away now. I used to think the day Nello captured me as a witness was the worst day of my life. Little did I know, it was the best thing to ever happen to me.
“How about these? Do you like purple?” Caterina holds up a purple flower.
“How could I not? My name is Violet after all!”
“Then I think we just found your new flower!” It’s dainty and delicate. I can’t imagine Nello holding it in his hand. He’d probably crush it. I smile at the thought.
“How about red? Nello loves red.”
“The color of blood?”
“Exactly.”
We silently finger through different flowers and plants and shove different ones in each other’s faces to smell them.
“So, I met a guy.”
“You what?” I drop the flower I’m holding. “And when the heck were you going to tell me?”
“I was planning to tell you! I had to wait for Dominick to go away. He’s so nosy, that guy.”
I laugh. She really can’t stand poor Dominick.
“Spill the details. Where’d you meet him?”
“Online. Where else can I meet a guy these days without Dominick the Daddy trailing me?”
I want to laugh at her nickname but I am too busy freaking out about this news. Online? I have a feeling Nello is going to flip a shit when he hears about this.
“Are you crazy? You can’t go meeting guys online!”
“Shh, keep your voice down. I’m still going to have to drag Dominick with me on dates, but the quicker I can get my family to trust Jeremy, the quicker they will get rid of Daddy Dom.”
“Oh my God, will you stop with these nicknames?” He’s totally going to hear her. “So, Jeremy?”
“Yes. Jeremy. He’s an artist. He’s got blonde hair, cute glasses. He’s nothing at all like these dark and broody mob guys I’ve been surrounded by my whole life. He’s charming and sensitive. Finally, a breath of fresh air.”
“Have you met him yet?”
“No, we’ve just been talking. But we’re hoping to get together next week. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with Dominick. He’s going to have to keep his distance.”
“I am excited for you. I hope this works out!”
“I know. If I play my cards right, I’ll be hearing wedding bells soon. And I’m not just talking about yours!”
“The only people hearing wedding bells right now are Violet and Nello, Kitty Cat.” I turn and see Dominick pointing to his watch. “Hurry it up.”
I watch Caterina go red in the face and groan. “Urgghhh! I really can’t stand you!”
I can’t help it. I giggle as he leads her out of the green house.
“What are you giggling at?” Piero asks me.
“Oh, nothing.” We exchange a glance before I laugh again and follow them to the car.
Everything is perfect and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Don’t miss Caterina (Mob Men #2)! Coming Early 2020!
Caterina
Caterina
“Absolutely, positively no.”
“Come on, this is insanely unfair. I have no life of my own!” I’m fighting with my twin brother, Nello, in his living room. I’ve had it with him bossing me around.
“I don’t want to hear it, Cat. Dominick is moving in with you and that’s final.”
“Urgghh!” I grunt and dramatically kick the book of color swatches for his wedding from the coffee table. Oh, fuck. I need that, actually. When he turns his back I quickly pick it up. Violet and I plan to visit the bridal shop later to decide on the colors of the bridesmaid dresses for her wedding to my brother. I’ve kind of taken it on as my job to be the unofficial wedding planner. I’ve gone to all her bridal appointments with her so far.
Oh, and Dominick too. Because this man follows me every-fucking-where.
Now, he’s moving in with me. Awesome.
“I cannot take it anymore, Nello!”
“You’re going to learn to deal with it.” My brother’s voice is laced with finality. He’s impossible to work with. I don’t know how Violet puts up with him. “There’s a war going on with not one, but two fucking famiglias and I don’t need you targeted. You need one hundred percent protection. He’s moving in.”
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me. You are ruining my life!”
I stuff the wedding book into my bag and stomp into the kitchen. Dominick is in there, probably listening to the entire argument play out. I don’t even give a shit anymore.
He folds the newspaper and tosses it down on the table. He stands up and stretches.
I immediately try to avert my eyes elsewhere. His shirt lifts up and I quickly peek at a six pack that I try to pretend isn’t there. I also see a tattoo appear under the edge of his sleeve on his inner bicep. I didn’t even know he had that there. I’ve only seen the famiglia one on his forearm that all the men have.
I feel his eyes on me so I pretend to dig around in my bag.
“Ready to go, Kitty Cat?” I clench my thighs together every time he calls me that. I wish he wouldn’t.
“Shut up and stop calling me that.” He gives me a smile that can definitely melt the panties off any girl this side of the Hudson.
He’s a major pain in my ass. But he’s also insanely sexy.
His arms are also gigantic. I’ve seen him sparring with Piero, Violet’s bodyguard, and he was royally whooping his ass. Which actually says something considering Piero is slightly larger than Dominick.
As deliciously handsome and built as Dominick is, I cannot stand him. It’s all his fault I’m alone and single.
Well, not entirely.
It’s actually my dad’s fault.
It’s a long story.
My father was the Don of the Bianchi Crime Family. This meant he was the boss of the entire famiglia. He called all the shots. I spent my entire life under a mass amount of protection. I didn’t mind it, though. It was the norm for me. All of my friends were in similar situations, although nobody had it as strict as I did. I was the Mafia Princess.
Ten years ago he was killed. I didn’t know it right away, but he had a dying wish for me. He made it so I could never be married off for business. It was his way to protect me even after he’d been gone.
Usually by the age of twenty all eligible women in the famiglia have been married off, somehow. Whether it was for the good of the famiglia or to make peace between other families. All my friends got married off or promised to someone and here I was, able to stay single until I chose not to.
I thought this was the greatest news ever. I thought my life had turned around. My dad saved me from a life of misery married to someone I didn’t love.
Sounded great at first. But slowly, I realized it was a curse.
The first few months were all fun and games. I made new, unmarried friends and went out partying. The nights in New York City were unbelievable. The parties were lavish and the amount of money we spent was unbelievable. The alcohol flowed and we laughed until we cried. The men I met were gorgeous and flashy. Their mouths delicious and the one night stands even hotter.
But before long, my twin brother Nello swooped in and took away all my fun. I was stripped of my credit cards and forbidden to see my friends. I was dis-enrolled from my college classes and introduced to my new best friend. Rafaello. He was my new bodyguard. He had to follow me everywhere I went. At the time I was still living with my mother, so she made sure I didn’t leave without him. I said good bye to any type of independence. Any type of freedom. Anything that gave me will to live.
I fought back for a while. I cried and begged. But eventually, after a few years, I learned to accept my new life. It didn’t mean I was accepting it happily, but I accepted it.
I still had the same amount of freedom I had growing up, which wasn’t much, but having Rafaello following me around meant no more dating or going out with friends. Not that anyone from my old life was even left to hang out with. They were all married with kids to their new husbands.
It was a lonely life.
It wasn’t until a few months ago when things started to change for me. Things were finally looking up. My brother met Violet and I finally had a friend. I finally had someone to socialize with. Someone who wouldn’t look at me oddly when I had a bodyguard following my every move.
Nello even let me enroll in online classes at the local university, not that I really knew what to major in. At this point in my life I had already accepted my fate, that I would never amount to more than a sheltered Mafia Princess.
Seeing my brother and Violet in love gave me hope. I started to think maybe there could be a future for me. Suddenly, dating with a bodyguard lurking behind you didn’t seem so bad. Maybe, if I met the right guy, I can get Nello to loosen up a bit and excuse him from his duties.
It sounded easy enough, maybe if my bodyguard was still Rafaello. But this is all proving to be much harder now that Dominick’s been assigned as my new bodyguard.
He goes beyond the word bodyguard. It’s more like shadow. He’s everywhere. I mean yeah, Rafaello was also everywhere, but Dominick is worse. It’s like everywhere I turn he’s there.
Up until five minutes ago, Dominick lived in my apartment building. I live in the penthouse suite and he’s a few floors below. My brother worked it out that way so Dominick could be there to help me in a moment’s notice. However, having him move in with me is a little outrageous.
Although, it’s kind of my own fault.
I tried to meet a guy online. I was desperate for my own happily ever after now that Violet’s living a fairytale with my broody, angry, selfish brother. Not sure how that’s possible, but whatever.
Anyway, I decided to find a guy online. Someone nothing at all like said brother and all his little clones. I don’t want a mafia man. I want normal guy with a normal life. This was I can create a new life for myself. One that is the complete opposite of this Mafia Princess life.
Jeremy was my first online match. He was perfect. He was super cute and sensitive and into art. He read poetry and liked to volunteer. He could give me the new world I was hoping for. The one where organized crime was just hearsay. He could save me from this life.
I wanted to go out to dinner with him but I needed a little favor from Dominick. I asked him if it would be possible if he could just back off for the night and let me go on the date. Well, what did that fucker do, he ratted me out to my brother.
Nello flipped a shit and said I was crazy for trying to meet anyone online in ‘these times’, whatever the fuck that means, and instead he had one of his cronies threaten Jeremy. Now not only is Jeremy ignoring me, unless he’s sleeping with the fucking fishes, but my brother decided to tighten the reigns on me.
By having Dominick move in with me.
It’s completely outrageous.
It’s utterly unfair.
We’re walking out to the car now and Dominick’s large hand touches my waist as he leads me down the driveway. I feel an electric charge as his hand touches the bare skin of my midriff.
He opens the car door for me as I get in.
“Thanks, Daddy Dom.” I roll my eyes. It’s war.
Antonello (Mob Men Book 1) Page 16