The Mafia Don's Vetoed Bride novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Certificate

Fabio came back at eleven that night, alone, on foot.

The man at the gate called up to the house, and Cassio told him to let my brother through.

I met him in the kitchen.

He had walked six miles from the train.

His good shoes were ruined, and he stood on the tile with his hands hanging.

"Is anyone with you?" Cassio asked from the doorway.

"No. I swear it."

"If anyone followed you, my men will find them in ten minutes."

Fabio nodded without looking up.

"Sit down," I said.

He sat.

He looked at the table for a long time before he spoke.

"It was Papa's idea," he said. "The funeral. Mama begged him not to. She cried for three days."

"But she did it."

"He told her you'd get hurt if she didn't. He said the families would ask why the wedding kept failing, and if the Veto ran out, the Mancusos would walk, and we'd lose the docks."

"And you believed that."

"I believed Papa."

He heard how that sounded as soon as he said it.

"Edoardo asked for the first veto," he said. "Five years ago. He said he wasn't ready. He asked Papa every spring after that, and Papa asked us."

"Why wasn't he ready?"

"Because of Silvia."

I felt that land in my chest, and I kept my face still.

"How long?"

"Since the year he proposed. Maybe before. They were careful, and nobody was supposed to see."

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