Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Santino’s only daughter for Enzo’s eldest son.
Our marriage was to symbolize a peace pact, a business alliance, and the attempt to stop all the killings. It was to prevent any other wars between the Chicago Outfit and the Cosa Nostra.
I was five when I was betrothed to Matteo Salvatore.
And since that night, I was trained to be the dutiful wife to the heir of the Salvatore family.
Perfect wife. Perfect puppet. Perfect pawn.
Perfect liar.
“You know how crucial your marriage to Matteo is.” The smoke of the cigar wreathed around my father’s head as he spoke and the scent of it burned my nostrils.
God, I hated that smell.
“You are my daughter, Serafina. My blood,” he said, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of pride in his voice. “And family is important. Your brother and I have done everything in our power to keep our lineage alive and thriving after—”
“After the War of Broken Oaths, yes I know.”
Damon hissed under his breath, and my father’s eyebrows furrowed with deep contempt.
“It seems you still have much to learn before your wedding,” he snipped before taking another long drag of his cigar and then letting out a sharp puff. “First lesson, you are to never speak of the war again. It is not a woman’s affair and certainly, you never bring it up in front of the Salvatores. Understood?”
Panic coursed through me. I had only been back for two days and I was already slipping… No, this couldn’t happen again.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
Obedient. Graceful. Faithful.
“Six weeks.” My father leaned back against his desk, crossing his ankles. “Your wedding to Matteo is finalized, and nothing will change that. But your job is to have him fall for you. Make him want you. Your marriage is a political alliance, but there is a difference between a marriage carved out of duty alone and one in which a man needs you. Only then will you matter. Otherwise, you are just a body warming his bed.”
A woman in the mafia had little influence, we were merely vessels. To please and to breed.
But there was one thing we could control.
After all, a man obsessed would do anything for his beloved.
In other words, for this marriage to be favorable for the Morelli family, I needed to have Salvatore’s heir trapped in my web of love.
Though… I wasn’t sure if he was even capable of feeling that kind of emotion. Men like him didn’t do love. Just like my father and brother.
That was fine, love wasn’t needed.
I just needed to keep him enticed.
A man didn’t need to love to be obsessed.
There was a fine line between the two.
I swallowed my pride and tears. “I understand.”
“Then, you’re dismissed.” My father waved his hand sharply.
I turned on my heels and walked away like the dutiful daughter I was.
***
The door of my bedroom closed behind me with a soft click. Nothing had changed since I moved away, all the furniture and decorations were still in the same spot, yet everything felt strange to me. New and Foreign.
High ceilings with exquisite crown molding, polished with gold accents and a grand white bed in the middle of the room. Expensive hardwood and a fancy hand-knotted rug that I knew cost a fortune. My mother’s choices were always exquisite and lavish. Fake.
Everything about the Morelli mansion was extravagant… and nothing about it felt like a home that I could call mine.
I hated it.
The apartment I lived in California was better. It was small and cozy: mine.
I even had a roommate…
Who I had left behind.
I wondered where she was now…
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I looked around the unfamiliar bedroom again— unfamiliar because I may have been my father’s blood, but I never truly belonged to this family. Serafina Morelli was sold at the age of five. Not for money, but my life was never my own. I was a prized possession.
My body—
My womb was the vessel that was promised to the Salvatore’s heir.
Our marriage had two purposes: a business alliance and to procreate. Having a child with Matteo was the only way to prove my worth.
I squeezed my fists, my nails digging into my palm. I believed maybe the pain would give me some kind of reprieve from my darkening thoughts but nothing helped. I didn’t know whether to cry in despair or screech in frustration.
A knock rattled against my door before a soft voice called out, “Serafina? Are you inside?”
I swallowed down the emotions clogging my throat. “Yes.”
The knob turned and Lucia pushed the door open, before she peeked her head inside. “May I come in?”
Lucia, in her late fifties, wasn’t just a “maid” for the Morelli’s family. She was my nanny and as close to a mother figure as I could possibly have in my life. But she was also my mother’s confidante, the only one who kept her sane in this world of cruel and dangerous men.