___________________
✨ How can I live in the moment✨
When my thoughts never feel like my own and
Don't know how to admit that I'm broken
✨ How can I be alright? ✨
___________________
"Stop fussing with your tie!" My brother's wife - Alicia - bats my hands away and starts redoing my tie. I huff but don't say anything. I'm aware I have been a pain in the ass recently, but Alicia is too nice to say anything and I have a feeling Dante feels guilty - although he shouldn't and I have told him so - so I am trying to tone it down. It's not like it is their fault my father is forcing me into an arranged marriage.
For two days, Dante and I talked, argued, and discussed every angle of the situation. I can't escape because of multiple reasons. The main one is, the familia doesn't just let people go, they hunt you down and make you regret every breath you ever took. And I am not cutout for a life on the run. And the other reason is that if I do manage to escape, it would start a bigger and bloodier war between us and the Alekseev brotherhood. I refuse to be responsible for any type of bloodshed.
Dante tried talking some sense into my father and even I tried to reason with him about why this was a horrible idea. Tried being the keyword here.
My father have always been an obstinate man but Dante said he was being especially bull-headed on this matter. Even after Dante advised him about how any of our cousins would be a more suitable choice for this marriage. My father pointed out that the Russians had specifically requested his son, seeing as how he was the capobanda.
The only thing Dante managed to do was find out who my future wife is. Eva Alekseeva. 27 years old and second in command in the Alekseev brotherhood. Infamous for her ruthless determination and cold heart that spares no mercy on her enemies. The only daughter of Alexei, the pakhan of the Alekseev brotherhood, she has been raised to take his place someday. Rumor is, she beheaded her father's uncle when he betrayed them.
I'm not in any way involved in this world, but I have heard enough to know that Eva Alekseeva is not what I pictured my future wife to be like.
But it doesn't matter. I have accepted my fate. Sort of. And I am determined to try make the most of the situation. I mean, how bad can she be?
"Don't touch your tie." Alicia scolds.
Instead of playing with my tie, I start pacing the room while waiting for my father to finish a business call. We are all going to this fundraising party with a bunch of important people that I don't care about. I don't attend these parties very much. My father has always hated us standing together in public. It is like shining a spotlight on all the ways we are different. He much prefers to pretend I don't exist. What I care about however, is that Eva and her father will be attending the party this year, too.
"I think I am going to throw up." I raise my hand to tug at my tie but stop at the murderous look in Alicia's eyes. She may have fixed my tie more than once since I came out of my room half an hour ago.
"Honey, you need to calm down. Nothing is going to happen tonight. You are just going to meet her and her father."
"By her, you mean my freaking bride. And my father-in-law." I run a hand through my hair and sigh.
"Don't think of it that way. Just focus on the part where you will meet a beautiful girl. That's it." Dante shrugs as if it really is that easy.
"Horrible advice." I scrunch my face at him and he rolls his eyes just as Riley - their 7 years old daughter - comes barging in.
"Uncle Sebby!" She jumps straight into my arms and I manage to catch her just in time.
"My ray of sunshine!" I laugh as she hugs me extra tight. "I missed you, Ray-Ray."
"I missed you, too!" She places a loud kiss on my cheek then wiggles out of my hold to show me a new Barbie doll Dante bought for her. Then she starts showing me her other dolls and chatters on about them. Before I know it, my father is coming downstairs and it is time to go.
I kiss Riley goodbye and promise to buy her a new doll next time I come to see her, all the while ignoring my father's disapproving looks. Thankfully, he loves Riley. He likes Alicia, too- even though she hates him.
I was 12 when Alicia and Dante got married and she moved in with us. She saw my bruises and scars even more than Dante did. She was the one that always got between me and my father when Dante wasn't home.
"Car is ready, sir." One of the guards opens the door for us.
I close my eyes and do the only thing I have always done when I was scared. I picture my mom. I see her bright smile and the twinkle in her eyes. I hear her musical laugh and soft voice. How she always smelled of apples.
"I love you, my little sweet boy. I will always be with you."
She used to say that a lot. Almost as if she knew she would leave me all alone too soon.
YOU ARE READING
The Mafia Queen's Husband
Romance♔ She is cruel, ruthless, and arrogant. She is stunning, cunning, and deadly. She insists that we are not equal in this arranged marriage. She is the boss. She makes the rules. She can make me kneel in front of her with just a sweep of her lashes. S...
