Married With Malice: An Arranged Marriage Romance

Daisy has a gift when it comes to makeup. She successfully covered the fading but still visible bruise beneath my right eye. My shoulder remains sore but it’s healing and I’ve left the sling off for today, despite Luca’s worry that I’m doing too much.

My husband guards me as if I’m royalty and made of glass. No complaints about that. I’ll take any excuse to be close to him. I know his concern comes from a place of pure love.

He keeps his hand on the small of my back as we move through the funeral crowd. We’re not really here to pay respects to Richie Amato. We’ve quietly cheered his death and we’re ready to never mention his name again. Luca just wanted to say goodbye his family.

As for my father, there was no funeral. My mother refused to have one. She wouldn’t even accept his ashes after the cremation. My Uncle Vittorio took them instead and promised he would find a proper place for the remains of the Baron of Brooklyn.

If I had to guess, I’d say my father’s remains have either been poured into an open sewer or scattered in a Jersey landfill. Fine by me.

In the week since she became a widow, my mother has begun a transformation. She walks taller and smiles more. She’s left all business affairs in the hands of Uncle Vittorio and looks forward to the new life she’ll have in Sicily where she’ll be living in one of the villas owned by her brother. She’s made us promise to visit. She’ll have a view of the sea.

And she’ll have Sabrina.

I tried to talk my younger sister into coming to Colorado with me and Luca. She could even stay here in New York. Our uncle set up a significant trust for her and she can live anywhere she wants and finish her video game design program. Daisy and Big Man Bowie are staying here. They have big plans for expanding their burger truck franchise.

But Sabrina just smiled and shook her head at both suggestions. “Your husbands need you both. But Mama needs me. At least for a while. And who knows? Maybe I’ll find some strapping Sicilian hunk to sweep me off my clumsy feet.”

She and Mama are leaving tomorrow. Luca and I are leaving tonight. We have tickets for a red eye flight to Denver and then we’ll drive to Bright Hearts Ranch, where we’ll be staying until we get a place of our own.

Uncle Vittorio grumbled a whole lot when I said I didn’t want any of my father’s fortune. Between us, Luca and I have a little money. Enough to put a down payment on a house. He’s already looking at getting his legal credentials in Colorado and wants to open his own law practice.

My uncle seems sure that I’ll change my mind, that I’ll miss access to unlimited wealth. He’s wrong. The trust he’s insisted on setting up for me will remain untouched until I can figure out a way to funnel the funds to charity. I want absolutely nothing that came from my father.

Coping with the upcoming separation from my sisters turns the day into a bittersweet one. I’m trying not to think about the goodbyes I’ll need to say in the hours ahead.

Luca notices how quiet I am as we make the rounds and offer subdued greetings to the other mourners. He draws me into an unoccupied corner and puts his arms around me. My cheek presses to his chest and he gently rubs my back.

“We’ll leave soon,” he promises and kisses the top of my head.

I nod, although at the moment I’m in no hurry to move as I listen to his robust, steady heartbeat and enjoy the feel of his strong hands on my body.

We find the Castelli brothers scarfing down food at the buffet table. Earlier, when Luca asked them what their plans are now, they joked that they’ll just go back to slinging dough in their father’s pizzeria.

Now Luca makes them promise to visit us. I really hope they do. They are Luca’s friends but now I feel like they are also my friends.

Luca needs to see his aunt before we go. She’s in the kitchen and she’s boiling a pot of ziti, although there’s more than enough food spread out on the buffet tables already. Her daughters are there too, along with some of the wives of Richie’s associates.

Conversation comes to a halt and we receive some curious looks but no hostility. When some of the surviving members of Richie’s inner circle balked at the idea of letting Luca just walk away, his Aunt Donna intervened and claimed it’s exactly what Richie would want.

I doubt this is true. But Donna probably knows more than she pretends to know. Richie is gone so she doesn’t need to choose between her loyalties anymore. She was free to do this one last favor for her nephew.

Besides, with Vittorio Messina keeping a keen eye on everyone, the general mood is one of extreme caution. My uncle has made it clear that since Luca is married to his niece, Luca is now protected by the family. With bodies still being buried, no one will be willing to challenge my uncle.

Donna hands a wooden spoon to her daughter and approaches Luca for a hug. “Thank you for being here, both of you.” She releases him and peers up into his face with maternal fondness. “You’re really leaving tonight?” she asks.

“Yes. Anni and I already have our plane tickets.”

“But now you’ll be with Cale.” A melancholy smile crosses her face. “I remember the day you came to live with us. You were such good boys, you and your brother. And Richie loved you both so much.”

Manipulation and threats don’t equal love.

But Luca is kind enough not to argue with her. He changes the subject.

“You should visit us in Colorado sometime,” he says.

Donna tucks a strand of wispy hair behind her ear and considers this. “I would really love to see Cale’s baby girl. She has red hair like her mother, doesn’t she?”

“She does,” Luca says. “You could call him. I think he’d like that. And he can send you more pictures of the baby.”

Without Richie’s codes and commands standing in the way, there won’t be anything keeping Donna from seeing her exiled nephew and his family.

She touches his cheek. “I’ll miss you, Luca.

He smiles. “We’ll see each other again, Aunt Donna.”

Donna turns to me and brushes her lips over my cheek. “Goodbye, Annalisa. Give my love to Sadie and Cale.”

“I will.”

Luca’s arm slips around my waist. “Aunt Donna, do you mind if I take something from Uncle Richie’s office?”

She’s both surprised and pleased by the request. “Of course you can. Anything you want.”

Donna returns to her stove and Luca steers me through a series of hallways and rooms until we reach Richie’s office.

I’m curious about what he could possibly want to keep from here. It’s unlikely he’s looking for a souvenir to remember his uncle by.

Luca walks straight to the mammoth desk and picks up a framed photo sitting on the corner.

“I’m not leaving her here,” he explains. “She’s coming with us.”

I recognize his mother in the photo. She’s young here, probably in her late teens.

With the picture frame tucked under his arm, Luca is now impatient to go and suggests we leave through the back door.

Most of our belongings will be shipped once we find a place to live. All we’re bringing with us are a few suitcases and those are waiting at my mother’s house. We’ll leave for the airport from there.

Vittorio and his men have basically taken over the house. Two of them are standing outside. Another one holds the door open.

Luca inhales when we walk in. “I’d recognize the scent of Big Man Bowie’s Burgers anywhere.”

We find Daisy setting the dining room table. “You’re just in time for dinner!”

Big Man Bowie promptly strolls in, balancing a platter piled with hamburgers on his palm. He sets it down in the middle of the table.

“Hope you’re hungry,” he says, always eager to feed the world.

“Starving,” I reply.

“I can carry that, Mama,” Sabrina complains as she trails my mother, who holds a tray of wedge fries, another Big Man Bowie specialty. I’ve learned he seasons them with garlic salt and smoked paprika. I’ve promised not to share this information with anyone.

“No no no.” My mother keeps the tray out of Sabrina’s reach. “You can, um, go get the napkins.”

“The napkins,” Sabrina mutters. “I’m capable of more than getting the napkins. It’s not as if I set fire to the dining room or something.”

“Too soon,” I say, glancing at the scorch marks left on the wall from the great Christmas Cake Inferno.

Sabrina blows me a kiss and flounces away. She nearly crashes right into our uncle, who appears somewhat perturbed to be tasked with carrying a tray of burger fixings.

“Ah, thanks, Uncle Vittorio,” says Big Man Bowie. “You can just find an empty spot for that.”

The cranky look my uncle throws at my sister’s husband says he neither appreciates being called ‘uncle’ by him or being ordered where to place food.

Big Man Bowie, more adorably clueless than ever, smiles with encouragement and points. “Like that spot right there. Go on, go for it.”

My uncle exhales loudly but follows instructions.

“Here, Vittorio.” My mother pulls out the seat at the head of the table. The chair has only ever been occupied by my father. “You sit here.”

He shakes his head. “This is your house, Giulia. You sit at the head of the table.”

She slides into the chair with the grace of a queen. There’s a flush of happiness on her cheeks. I have to say, I don’t dislike this fearsome uncle of mine. No matter what kind of reign of terror he inflicts out there in the mafia realm, he makes my mother smile so he’s all right in my book.

Sabrina returns with an armful of napkins. Then the toe of her boot catches on a throw rug and she spills the napkins all over the floor.

“I meant to do that,” she says, grabbing for the scattered napkins.

I help her pick them up. “Of course you did.”

With the enthusiastic support of Big Man Bowie, we heap food on our plates.

“Know what these could really use?” Luca muses beside me as he examines a fry. “A dash of hot pepper.”

I reach over and pinch his thigh. “You’re mean.”

“You love me.” He winks.

Yes, I truly do.

The weather is unusually warm for late February. I’m starting to feel panicked at the knowledge that the clock is continuing to tick away precious moments. Luca and I will need to leave for the airport in a few hours.

First, I want a few minutes alone with my sisters and suggest taking a walk.

We remain on the impeccably manicured grounds of the estate as twilight settles.

There’s not a square foot of this property that doesn’t make me think of my sisters. We’ve all spent our lives here. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be back.

And I don’t know when I’ll see Daisy and Sabrina again.

I’ll never cry a single tear for my father. But the impending separation from my sisters makes my throat tight and my limbs feel heavy. The three of us have always stuck together. Now we’ll all be in separate corners of the world.

Daisy notices my tears first and folds me into a soft hug. “I’ll miss you, Anni.”

I’m finding it tough to speak. “I’ll miss you too. I can’t believe you girls won’t be with me anymore.”

Sabrina joins the hug huddle and stretches to kiss my cheek. “We’ll always be with our Anni.”

We let ourselves cry for a little while. This is a good day and also a heartbreaking one.

Luca watches us with his hands in his pockets. He hangs back by the patio and waits for us to finish drying our tears. When the sky darkens and the air begins to pack more of a chilly bite, we walk across the lawn for the last time.

My husband holds his hand out and I slide my own hand into his large palm, leaving the embrace of my sisters for that of my husband.

This stiff funeral dress isn’t the most comfortable choice to travel in so I change to comfy leggings and one of Luca’s hoodies.

My mother hugs me for a long time. She whispers endearments in Italian and I sob on her shoulder a little. When she finally lets go, she’s blinking away tears of her own.

Big Man Bowie treats the moment with solemnity and shakes Luca’s hand. I’ll miss his jaunty grin and infectious positivity. He and Daisy make an excellent team. When I tell him this, he grins and says his next specialty burger will be named after me.

That’s quite a tribute.

When it’s time to say goodbye to Daisy and Sabrina, I feel sure that little pieces of my heart are splintering off.

But no, that’s not the way love works.

We’re just moving on to different phases of our lives. No matter where we go, our bond is unwavering.

“Sisters forever,” I whisper to them and then let go of their hands.

They wave and blow kisses as the car to the airport pulls away.

Our flight experience is a new one for me. I don’t know what will happen to my father’s private jet. Vittorio can keep it as far as I’m concerned.

But as Luca and I squeeze into our cramped coach seats, I couldn’t be happier. He insists on giving me the window seat even though there’s nothing to see outside but the inky blackness of night. Leaning against my husband’s shoulder, I fall asleep and dream of him. When I wake up, the sky is beginning to grow pink.

We watch the sunrise together and as the plane begins its slow descent to the ground, the excitement is beginning to take over.

Luca and I are free.

We’re in love.

We’ve survived the darkest twists on our unpredictable odyssey.

This is the finale we deserve.

The sun is peeking over the horizon as the plane comes to a smooth landing. We’re taxiing toward the airport gate when Luca checks his phone and turns the screen around for me to see.

“The realtor must have sent this message just after we took off. Our offer was accepted. The house is ours and we’ll close in two weeks.”

I can’t stop myself from squealing and pulling him in for an excited kiss.

The house in Sleepy Rock is a charming one story brick house on three acres. I fell in love with the pictures.

The place might need some cosmetic work and it’s not a huge house, nothing like our last one with its cold open floorplan and grey walls. Our new house will be just cozily large enough for the family we plan to have.

The plane stops moving and there’s a loud ding that collectively launches the passengers out of their seats.

Luca steps out into the aisle, drags our carry-on bags from the overhead bin and gallantly holds his hand out with a smile that contains my future. “Let’s go home, Anni.”

I let him pull me to my feet and drop a quick kiss on his lips. “I’m already there.”