Mafia Marriage

III (Revised)

Giuliana sat on the beige sofa as she and her father waited for Anthony and Giovanni to arrive. This would be the first official 'date' that the two would go on, though it wasn't much of a date seeing as how both fathers would be present.

"How is this even considered a date?" Giuliana questioned her father becoming more and more irritated as the minutes ticked by. The initial time had been set for 10 AM but now it was 10:30, and Giuliana had a pet peeve for lateness. "You two will be able to talk and get to know each other," Salvatore said taking a sip from his glass tumbler of scotch. "I could do that at the McDonald's with a complete stranger and it wouldn't be considered a date," Giuliana shot back.

Salvatore rolled his eyes, "You know it's not safe for you to go out on your own Giuliana, we've been over this." Giuliana may be preparing to marry a future mafia boss but if it ever got out that an engagement was in the works, the other three Families of New York would be in an all out war to stop the marriage from happening. The first red flag for them would be if Giuliana and Giovanni were to be seen together. "Why are they so late?" Giuliana griped taking a sip of the mimosa that the chef had prepared for her. "Better get used to it, it's part of the business," Salvatore began flipping through the newspaper. He had started off the morning being patient with Giuliana and her host of complaints, but after two and a half hours of it he was annoyed, unfortunately he knew that was what Giuliana was trying to do. In the past two years she was still sweet, but had developed an sneaky way of knowing just how to irritate a person.

The blacked out Cadillac Escalade pulled into the driveway of the massive mansion, carrying Anthony and Giovanni Graziano. They were thirty minutes late, but business had come up and took precedence. "Remember to speak to the girl," Anthony hissed as they were let into the marble foyer by the maid and shown into the sitting room. Giuliana now sat next to her father on the couch, she wore a white cold shoulder blouse, dark wash skinny jeans, and tan high heeled ankle boots. Her jewelry was kept simple to the Tiffany stud earrings gifted to her by Giovanni for her sixteenth birthday.

Salvatore and Giuliana stood up to greet the two Graziano men. Once again they were dressed in perfectly tailored designer dark suits. "Good morning Giuliana," Giovanni greeted as he took her manicured, dainty hand in his much larger, calloused one. "Good morning to you as well Giovanni," Giuliana returned the handshake, "Would you care for something to drink?"

"Scotch on the rocks," Giovanni answered taking his seat next to his father. "I'll have one also," Anthony said sitting down in a leather chair. "I'll be right back," Giuliana went into the kitchen to get the drinks. "Come sit over here Giovanni," Salvatore urged wanting to switch seats with the younger man. The two fathers were trying to force the soon-to-be couple to carry on a full conversation and not rely on others to help them do it. Salvatore was hopeful that Giuliana would at least grow to like Giovanni within the two years between now and the wedding. He himself had grown to love his wife Donatella, and they too had had an arranged marriage.

Giuliana came back carrying a tray with two glass tumblers of scotch on the rocks. She was surprised to see that the place where her father had been sitting was now being occupied by Giovanni. "Here are your drinks," she handed father and son their drinks before reclaiming her seat on the couch, only this time it was next to her fiancé. She picked up her mimosa and took a sip as Anthony and Salvatore became engrossed in a conversation about business. "So how are you?" Giuliana tried to begin a conversation. "Fine," came Giovanni's short reply but then he thought better of it, "I've been busy with work. I have been working on a new hotel in Las Vegas but it's taking longer than expected." The new Vegas based hotel was really just a guise for the Graziano Family to start business with the D'Amato Family in Nevada. The hotel was supposed to be finished a year before the wedding was supposed to happen, but the state of Nevada was looking into any potential crimes that could be used against him, so far they had not found any and time was running out in their investigation.