The Mafia Bride They Rejected Became an Underboss novel · Chapter 16 of 16
Chapter 16: The Bride
The ring inside the box was plain old gold, worn thin on one side.
There was a tiny turquoise set in the middle of it, the color of the sky over Casa Santa Ana.
I knew that ring.
I'd seen it on Tía Marisol's hand every day for four years.
She'd kneaded tortillas in it. She'd slapped Rafael on the back of the head in it.
She'd held my hand in it the first night I couldn't sleep.
"She said that?" I asked. "The day she met me?"
"She said, that girl walked twenty miles to get to my gate. Don't you let her walk away from it." Rafael looked up at me. "I told her you'd hit me with a lamp if I tried."
"I would have."
"I know."
The sun had come all the way up behind him.
His knees were in the sand. His suit was ruined. He was the most powerful man between Chicago and the border, and his hand was shaking a little.
"Eight years ago," I said, "my family put me in that room so I couldn't be anybody's bride."
"I know."
"I walked out of it barefoot. I walked right past here."
"I know, Vera."
"And I kept walking until I found your aunt's gate."
He waited.
I held out my left hand.
"Yes," I said.
He slid the ring onto my finger.
It fit.
It had always fit, probably. Marisol had been a small woman with strong hands.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–8 of The Mafia Bride They Rejected Became an Underboss are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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