Alina
“I promised I’d come to see you again, didn’t I?” I chuckle and pull Elena into my arms while Mia watches me curiously from her baby chair.
How come I didn’t realize how cute she was last time? Those round cheeks, tiny fingers, serious eyes-ah, everything about her is so precious!
I wink at her over Elena’s shoulder, but Mia doesn’t react, still watching us with a solemn expression. I still find it cute, though, and smile at her. You know, I’ve been paying more attention to babies lately-after
all, I am set on raising one now.
“Ah, it’s good to see you.” Elena pulls back with a soft smile and a slight frown, eyeing me for a moment. “But does it mean you’re leaving
soon?”
I can’t help but laugh at that, the warmth of euphoria spreading through me when I think about Gio. “No, no. I’m getting married!”
Elena’s eyes widen, and she freezes with her lips parted until I can almost hear something click in her mind, and she blinks. “What? When? Why-how did it happen?”
It’s a good question, isn’t it? To be honest, I’m not sure myself how my whole life has changed in the last few days. Just a month ago, I was in my apartment in Southampton, looking for a good work opportunity in London and planning a trip to Europe. Just a week ago, I was in my bedroom at Mom’s house, staring at the ceiling and thinking that I’d never be happy again.
And now…god, now, I’m engaged to the man I love, I am ready to give birth to his child, and I’m the happiest woman on earth!
“It’s a long story,” I say with a shy smile, but Elena quirks an
eyebrow with a pointed look that tells me she’s not going to let it go easily. Not that I expect her to. I came to deliver the news myself, after all.
“We have time,” she says with the authority of a Mafia don’s wife, nodding at the armchair. “Take a seat. Alice, bring us some iced tea.”
The servant leaves with a polite nod, Elena picks up Mia with a cooing kiss, and I take a deep breath to repeat the same story I told Mom and Olga two days ago. It’s not entirely true-I omit the part where Gio shoots a man’s arm just to protect me from getting robbed. First, I don’t want her to know just how dumb I was to get myself into this situation in the first place. And second, if Gio hasn’t revealed to me what Mafia gang he belongs to, I respect his decision.
I don’t want my family digging into his background and telling me that Gio proposed to me only to get a higher position. He knows I’m Russian, but he doesn’t know just how closely I’m related to Olga. His feelings for me are genuine-but I know my family’s habit of being suspicious about every little thing, so I avoid talking too much about Gio and instead focus on how happy he makes me and how excited I am to spend the rest of my life with him.
“So he proposed to you right there?” Elena raises her eyebrows in surprise, leaning on the armrest, and hums. “I thought you hadn’t talked to each other in weeks. Did he plan it all along?”
“No, I don’t think so.” I smile softly, looking down at the ring on my finger and stroking it. “We talked after, and Gio said he’d fallen in love with me so quickly that it scared him. He had to stay away to figure himself out-but when I told him about the baby, it changed everything. He wants to embrace his feelings and build a family together.”
I look up at Elena with a tentative smile. Will she understand me? Or will she, like Mom, complain that I’ve made a mistake and should’ve waited another year before making such a hasty decision?
Elena says nothing for a moment, studying me with an unreadable look and making me nervous. But when I’m almost ready to ask her to say something, Elena sighs and shakes her head before looking me in the eyes with a small smile.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m worried about how fast you dove into it
-”
Oh, come on.
“-but if he makes you happy, that’s all that matters. If you feel
you’re connected…” She looks up at Riccardo, who happens to enter the living room from the kitchen, and smiles. “You should hold on to it and never let go.”
Something in my chest shifts and flutters in response to her words, and my throat tightens with a rush of affection. I blink a few times to clear my vision and chuckle, not knowing how to express my feelings.
“Thank you,” I murmur finally, reaching out to hold her hand. “That means so much to me.”
“Did something happen?” Riccardo lingers at the base of the stairs, studying us with a curious frown, and Elena huffs and shares a glance of amusement with me.
“Yeah.” She turns to him over her shoulder. “Alina is getting married.”
“Oh.” Riccardo frowns, sounding confused, and I can’t help but chuckle. He has the same reaction as everyone else. When his gaze
automatically darts to me, I demonstratively show him my left hand with a proud smile.
At that, Riccardo hums and walks closer, looking at the ring with more interest. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“Nobody knew.” I shrug, for some reason, feeling proud for being able to catch the mighty Riccardo Messina off guard.
“Did you meet here?” I nod. “Uh-huh.”
“Interesting.” Riccardo hums, and Elena frowns and looks up at him as if she hears something I can’t. He glances at her, meeting her gaze for a moment before turning to me with a smile. “Well, congratulations. I’m glad you found someone before Olga would convince you to marry-”
“Riccardo!” Elena gives him a glare, and he shrugs.
“It’s true-but it’s not the point. Alina, when do you think we can meet your fiance?”
Oh. I blink and open my mouth, not knowing what to say. I haven’t thought about that.
“Not to be a bad brother-in-law,” Riccardo continues, taking a seat next to Mia’s blanket and giving her a quick kiss before turning back to me. “But if we plan to become family, it’s time for us to get to know him in person, don’t you think?”
Uh, well, I guess it does make sense…
“This weekend is going to be sunny, so I planned to throw a barbecue for the family. Maybe you could bring him? I promise not to scare him.” He chuckles, watching me with a piercing gaze, and I don’t know
what it is about Riccardo’s presence, but I can’t find it in me to tell him no.
“Sure…” I clear my throat when I catch my voice sounding weird. “Sure, I will talk to him.”
Ultimately, there’s no harm in it, right?
Sooner or later, Gio will have to find out that I’m closely related to the most powerful men of Chicago-if he hasn’t figured it out already. I mean, he did say my last name when he proposed even though I’d never mentioned it before. But if the truth about my family will change the way he treats me, well, it’s better to find out sooner than later.
Still, I find myself hesitating to write Gio a message. Is this a good idea? Will he get along with the Messinas? Ah, there’s only one way to find out-so finally, I tap the screen to send it.
My family wants to meet you. They invited us to a BBQ party this Saturday. Will you join me?
A few minutes later, when I come back to the room after another rush of nausea-it’s nice to know the reason behind it, but it doesn’t make it easier-I see that Gio has read the message. Usually, he responds right
away, and silence from his side makes me anxious. Damn it. I hope I didn’t make a mistake. It’s not that weird to meet your fiancee’s family before the wedding, right?
I bite my lip, pacing around the room and scrolling through my recent photos to distract myself, when I finally hear the sound of a new message. Thank god!
Yes. I’m sure it’ll be fun
I breathe out, feeling the weight of doubts falling off my shoulders, and smile to myself. If Gio will be there with me, it’ll be fun indeed! Just thinking about him cracking jokes with Louis and playing games with
Maxim makes me so excited I clap my hands with a giggle. Oh, I can’t wait!
The weather forecast proves to be true. Saturday morning greets me with bright blue sky and birds singing behind the window; it must be one of the last truly warm days in Chicago this year. Mom, of course, refuses to join me to drive to Riccardo’s mansion, so I drive away on my own, singing along to my favorite song on the radio and feeling aglow with happiness.
Isn’t it funny how everything feels better under the sun?
I arrive at the mansion sometime before noon, and the first thing I notice is that there are more cars than I expected. Of course, Louis, Paolo, and Matteo are here, all with their families, but what about everyone else?
Who are these men hanging out on the third floor? I frown, covering my eyes to look up, when I catch voices not far away.
“Should I take the salad back inside? I’m worried it’s gonna get spoiled.”
“Misha, leave the birds alone! God, this kid is gonna climb into the bushes.”
“How’s Dolce? You know, I was thinking about getting a dog for Paolo, but…”
“Elena? I think your sister is here.” Oh. I guess I got caught.
I turn away from the entrance and follow the voices until my gaze
catches Irina waving a hand at me. It looks like they’ve already set up the tables, the grills are exuding the smell of renowned barbecue, and the Messina family is spread all over Riccardo’s backyard. The kids are playing in the swimming pool, the men are gathered around the coolers with beer, and even though it’s the first time I’m taking part in a family party, it looks exactly as I expected it to be.
“Are you alone?” Irina frowns in confusion after giving me a quick hug, and I chuckle.
“Gio will join us a bit later. He said-oh, it must be him.” I excuse myself with an apologetic smile, picking up my phone. “Hey!”
“Hi.” Gio chuckles at my enthusiastic greeting, but I can hear that his voice is low. “Are you there?”
“Yes. Waiting for you,” I add with a smile, glancing around. “Did you receive the location?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way.”
“It doesn’t sound like it.” I quirk an eyebrow. If he was actually riding his motorcycle, I wouldn’t be able to hear a word.
He huffs with a smile. “Yeah, I can’t trick you. I stopped to get some gas, but I’ll be there soon, I promise.”
“Good! See you then.” I move the phone away from my ear to hang up when I hear him call me all of a sudden.
“Wait, Alina?”
I hum. “Yes?”
“You know that I love you, right?”
Oh. I blink as the word sends a wave of warmth through my entire body. I don’t think he’s ever said it out loud. And even though it’s just three words that change nothing between us, they make me so happy I feel like I’m ready to burst.
“I love you too,” I whisper into the phone, holding it close to my lips with my heart pounding in my chest, before raising my voice to add, “Now, hurry up! I want to see you!”
I laugh at my own silliness, but Gio only chuckles. “Sure. I’ll see you soon.”
He hangs up, and I turn back to the party with a smile so bright Irina immediately catches it and quirks an eyebrow. “What, did he propose to you again?”
Well, he might as well have!
Finally, I join the gathering, and Elena and Irina introduce me to the people I haven’t had a chance to meet so far. Jacinta, Paolo’s wife, greets me with a kiss on my cheek and a beautiful smile, catching me off guard
with a few affectionate Spanish words she murmurs in the process. I distantly know Sasha, so we share a reserved smile-as an active member of the Bratva, she’s not one to melt into greetings so easily.
Louis is in the middle of introducing me to his cousin Matteo, and Matteo’s wife Liss when my ears finally catch the familiar sound of Gio’s
motorcycle. Well, it took him forever to get here, but better late than never, huh?
“I guess it’s my time to do the introductions,” I say with a chuckle, turning around.
Indeed, it is Gio I see in the parking lot, and at the sight of him I light up from within. I haven’t seen him since Thursday, and I already miss him! I wave my hand at him, glancing at Louis who goes still all of a sudden. Huh? At the same time, I catch a movement from the corner of my eye and see Liss put her hand on Matteo’s shoulder with wide eyes.
“It’s him.”
What? What is she talking about?
I turn back to Gio-and as if in slow motion, I see him drop the helmet on the ground and reach behind his back. What? No, no…
My smile drops, and with my heart frozen in horror, I watch him take out a gun, aim at the crowd-and I flinch when I hear a gunshot.