Married With Malice: An Arranged Marriage Romance

There’s plenty to love and plenty to hate about New York City but I’ll always appreciate the variety. After forty-five minutes of idle people watching in the center of midtown, I’ve heard eight different languages and glimpsed so many unique faces I can’t even keep track.

My phone has stayed in my pocket. I don’t need a distraction that might cause me to miss the reason why I’ve scrapped all other plans to lurk on this corner on a weekday afternoon.

A red digital clock on the face of the bank across the street ticks away another minute and I’m having doubts that Monte got his information correct. According to him, class should have wrapped up five minutes ago. My impatience grows with every second.

A couple strolls into view, advancing at a much slower pace than the other pedestrians who impatiently sift around them. They are both drenched in impeccably tailored lawyer/stockbroker chic and could have been coughed up by any high rise in the area. If I were searching for stock photos of Manhattan Business Creatures they might be the first result.

The only reason they are worth a second look is because they are so engrossed in each other they are holding up foot traffic. She’s hanging on his arm and when he whispers a few words she breaks into peals of tinkling laughter. Her laughter fades and they share an intense soul-searching stare. There’s a possessive quality to the way he draws her even closer to his side.

I never used to take special notice of couples but now I find myself staring at them all the time, like I’m searching for clues to their success. I’ll never know anything about these two. It’s possible they just met yesterday. It’s equally possible they’re colleagues carrying on a tawdry affair while being married to other people.

As usual, I find no clues, nothing that might help unlock the standoff in my own marriage. Life with Annalisa is like playing a video game for the first time when you don’t know what’s behind the next door. There could be a pot of gold or there could be a bomb. But you’re already addicted to playing so you’ll take the chance.

There have been days when I could swear we’re on the same page. Then a cement wall suddenly shows up between us and there are no tools at hand to break through it.

It’s only when we’re having sex that we’re insanely in sync. Saying we have chemistry in the bedroom is inadequate. It’s as if I was created just to fit inside of her body. In those moments I would fucking bleed for that girl.

But those moments always end.

And when they do, Annalisa prefers to keep me at arm’s length. Despite the fact that there are a million conversations I’d love to have with my wife, I’m careful not to make demands. She doesn’t realize that I’m devoted to unlocking all the secrets behind her watchful dark eyes. If she did, she’d withdraw even further. Always guarded, always suspicious.

But two nights ago she accidentally parted with one of those secrets. That’s the reason I’m standing here.

Finally, the tall doors swing open and people begin pouring out. Roughly eighty percent of the students emptying out of Manhattan’s Game Design School are young and male of all different sizes and skin tones.

After a minute, the river of students has stopped jogging down the stairs and there’s still no Sabrina. I could just barge in and start looking around for myself. Monte was sure she’d be here today. Now that Richie and Albie Barone are up each other’s asses with this new alliance, Richie has lent out some of his lower tier soldiers for chores that Albie considers unimportant. Among these ‘unimportant’ chores is retrieving Albie’s youngest daughter from her city classes. Monte picked her up here last week.

At the exact second I decide to climb the steps and hunt down the wayward Sabrina, she appears. There’s some pale, lanky dude trying his best to chat her up as she stares at her phone screen and nearly trips on the bottom step. Her hair is gathered in a high ponytail and she’s wearing an open thick black cardigan over a vibrant pink crop top that’s paired with a matching mini skirt.

The guy she’s with is a total clown. He’s practically tap dancing in front of her and begging for her to notice. He tells a joke and snorts out laughter. Sabrina frowns and pulls her phone screen closer to her face.

Clearly, she’s going to wander right past my nose so I have no choice but to speak up. “Sabrina.”

Her head whips up and she blinks in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Her boyfriend, or whatever he is, edges closer to her. His puny chest puffs out with indignation.

Sabrina crosses her arms and purses her lips. “You could have just texted like a normal person.”

“Let’s go for a walk and I’ll explain.”

Now the boyfriend is openly huffing and puffing. Maybe he’s good with computers but he’s not very smart if he doesn’t realize he’d be outmatched before he raises his skeletal fists.

Sabrina finally notices his existence just as he’s about to explode with resentment. “We don’t need to work on the project today, Alec. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The dude fucking deflates. Now I just feel sorry for him. It’s like watching a puppy get stepped on. He gazes at her with a woeful look, which she doesn’t even notice, then slinks away and disappears into pedestrian traffic.

“I hope he gets home in one piece,” I say. “Now that he’s blinded with tears.”

She rolls her eyes and adjusts the strap of her pink Hello Kitty backpack. “He’ll survive. And no matter what Anni did to you, I’m sure you deserved it and even if you didn’t, I’ll always take my sister’s side. So if you’re here in search of an ally, you’re wasting your time.”

“The sibling loyalty is noble. Anni didn’t do anything to me. There’s a question I need to ask you.”

She gestures to a nearby vendor cart. “Buy me a pretzel and perhaps I’ll cooperate.”

“That sounds fair.”

Sabrina waits until I’ve paid for her pretzel and handed it over before she grins and says, “I want a soda too. Go get it.”

Clearly, she’s got a little bit of Anni in her. Once Sabrina has her pretzel and her soda she finds it too difficult to juggle everything so I end up holding her Hello Kitty backpack.

Though Sabrina might have a few things in common with her sister, she’s so oblivious to the rest of the world it’s downright comical. While she happily sucks on her soda straw and licks pretzel salt from her fingers, she takes no notice of the stares and open leering from passing men. Most of them avert their eyes when they catch me glaring.

Sabrina is nearly twenty-five, not much younger than me and Annalisa, and yet I still think of her as a kid. She’s completely unaware of the risky attention she collects. I feel very much like a protective big brother as I walk beside her.

“So what do you want?” she says as we proceed down Fifth Avenue. She’s not hostile, only curious as she peers up at me.

“I want to know about one of your father’s men.”

She scrunches up her face. “Shouldn’t you ask him? I’m no expert on my father’s goon squad.”

“He’d never give me an answer to this particular question.”

“This is starting to sound exhausting. You’d better cut to the chase before I get hungry again or you’ll be buying me a hot dog too.”

“Fine. Which one of those bastards on your father’s payroll put his motherfucking hands on my wife?”

She stops walking and astonishment makes her jaw drop. Then something clicks in her brain and the shock disappears, replaced with some sadness. “You’re talking about Rocco, aren’t you?”

Rocco. A regular member of Albie’s crew. Big guy, mid-thirties, with a gut like a truck tire and the face of a work mule. The day of the wedding, he was in the car that escorted us to the reception.

“Tell me what he did.”

She frowns and glances at the passing traffic. “What did Anni tell you?”

“Not much. I don’t think she intended to tell me anything.”

“Then I probably shouldn’t tell you either.”

“But you will. Because you know he deserves to pay a big price for whatever he did to her.”

She sighs and comes to a halt in front of the iconic public library. “It was years ago. Anni must have been around sixteen at the time. She and Daddy argued a lot in those days. She wanted to get a job. He said no and told her not to mention it again. When she argued, he slapped her across the face.” Sabrina winces and sighs. “Anni finally had her fill of being bullied. She actually slapped him back. Brave, but foolish. He shouted to Rocco to haul her upstairs and lock her in her room. He’d done that before. Rocco’s always been a jerk but this time he was way too rough.”

“What does that mean?”

She swallows hard. “While he was dragging Anni through the house he dislocated her shoulder.”

“Fucking hell,” I mutter. A surge of murderous intent is so powerful I can almost feel my hands wrapping around the bastard’s meaty neck and squeezing the light from his eyes.

Sabrina bites her lip and looks down, pained by the memory. “Her arm was so horribly bruised. She also had bruises all over her back, like he’d slammed her into a wall. She wouldn’t talk about it. Mama begged Daddy to get medical help for her. He refused to take Anni to the hospital and he was livid when Mama called a doctor to the house anyway. Daddy paid him off to keep quiet after he fixed Anni’s shoulder. She’s not one to complain but it still hurts her sometimes and will pop slightly out of place if she moves it the wrong way.”

My low opinion of Albie Barone becomes downright subterranean. He handed his daughter off to a monster who brutalized her. Then he left her in agony and permanently damaged her. Worse of all, he has still kept that fucker around his house.

This level of fury is new to me. Under most circumstances, I know how to keep a level head. But there’s more than anger boiling my insides. I’m longing to wrap my arms around Anni and make a vow that I’ll tear the jugular out of anyone who harms her.

I tried to find a way to tell her this two nights ago in the kitchen but didn’t get the message across. She retreated from me anyway. Then she pretended to be asleep when I climbed into bed.

Whether this will solve anything or not, Anni has suffered long enough without justice for what was done to her. This is going to change.

Eventually my prolonged, brooding silence starts to alarm Sabrina.

“Luca, don’t get any big ideas about challenging my father.”

“Not to worry,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

There’s no way I can make a direct move against Albie, not yet. There’s my wife to think about. And Cale and Sadie. Aunt Donna. My cousins. They could all potentially suffer.

On the other hand, Rocco Vincente might be one of Albie’s favorites but he isn’t a made man, meaning he’s not off limits. Consequences are overdue but they’re coming.

“Thank you for telling me,” I say to Sabrina.

The way she raises her chin with stubbornness definitely reminds me of her sister. “Don’t thank me. We didn’t have this conversation.”

“We sure didn’t.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I told you not to worry.”

She nervously plays with her ponytail. “Just try not to get killed, okay? My sister doesn’t deserve to be a widow.”

“I have no plans to take a dirt nap anytime soon.”

“Good to hear.” She nods to the library. “I want some peace and quiet. Do me a favor and throw these out, will you?” She hands over the remains of her pretzel and soda.

“Sure. Is there a driver coming for you later?”

“I’ll call home if I want one.” She grabs her backpack and starts climbing the steps.

At least she understands her own accident-prone nature and holds onto the railing. What she doesn’t notice is the balding creep standing at the bottom and following her with beady eyes. He licks his lips and starts up the steps.

I seize his arm before he gets far. “You don’t need to go to the library today.”

He tries to shake loose. “Who the fuck are you?”

I tighten my grip and take a pointed look up the steps where Sabrina is disappearing through the entrance. Then I look back at him to make my meaning clear. “I’m the guy who knows what’s on your filthy mind and I don’t like repeating myself.”

“Fuck you,” he complains and I finally release him. He stumbles, glances behind him to make sure I’m not chasing, then hurries down the sidewalk.

I need to touch base with Monte. He’s hanging out at his father’s Lower East Side pizzeria today. The place is known for their basement poker games that were my first introduction to high stakes betting back in high school. Lessons were learned that I carry to this day. I still stop by now and then for old time’s sake.

Monte is agreeable when I ask him to swing by the library later and escort Sabrina home to the Barones’ Long Island castle. She’s bound to get annoyed if she sees me watching over her but Monte can say he has orders from her father. For all Albie Barone’s paranoia about his own personal safety, he’s disgracefully unconcerned about protecting his daughters.

“Come on down for a visit,” Monte urges. “Have a calzone. Dad was just asking about you.”

“Another time,” I say. “I’ve got some legwork to do. But let’s meet up for a late dinner. Nico too. I’m gonna need your help with something but I want to warn you it could mean some trouble.”

“Count me in. Getting bored with being the local chauffeur and messenger boy.”

There are few things more valuable than good friends who will have your back no matter what kind of twisted shit you cook up. I’ve always been on good terms with the Castelli brothers but we’ve only gotten really tight within the last year. They are loyal and unflinching and won’t go tattling to Richie before I can set things in motion.

If there’s any fallout from my revenge plans, I’ll deal with it later.