Reborn, My Sister Stole My Marriage novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Page Four

Dominic lays out the terms in a diner, with Benny commenting, and shows Fiona that Roisin has been on a Brancato account since March.

The black car was parked under the streetlight with its engine running.

A round-faced man in a leather jacket jumped out of the driver's seat and opened my door before I reached it.

"Mrs. Ferrante," he said. "Almost. Benny Orsini. I'm the driver, the friend, the guy who irons the shirts. Don't mind me."

"Benny," said a voice from the back seat.

"I'm just saying hello."

Dominic Ferrante sat in the far corner with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled back.

Up close his eyes were grey, and he looked at my face for a second longer than he needed to.

Then he looked away.

"Thank you for coming out," he said.

"You said you'd wait all night."

"I would have."

"Why?"

"There's a diner on Fourth Avenue," he said. "I'd like to buy you pancakes and answer what I can."

Benny made a small sound in the front seat.

"What?" Dominic said.

"Nothing. It's the first time you've said that many words in a row."

The diner was nearly empty.

We took a booth at the back, and Benny sat at the counter with his back to us and his whole body turned to listen.

Dominic put a sheet of paper on the table and slid it across.

It was the Ferrante agreement, page four.

"Read the third clause," he said.

I read it.

Neither party may compel the other to share a bed, a room or a meal. The marriage is for two years. Either party may end it after that date without penalty.

"You wrote this."

"My lawyer wrote it. I told him what to put."

"Most men in your position don't write that."

"Most men in my position want a wife," Dominic said. "I need a vote. Your father's union controls the docks. The old Don only lets me back into the city if the Keane family backs it, and they only back it if I'm married to a Keane. That's the deal. It's not a love match, and I won't pretend it is."

"And me?"

"You're protected. The Ferrante name is poor, but nobody in New York will touch my wife. And you have a seat of your own in the family matters. Not a chair behind me. Beside me."

I looked at the paper.

It was a good contract, better than any I could have written.

"Why mine?" I asked. "Your signature was dry before I picked up the pen."

"I asked your father for it two weeks ago."

"Why?"

The waitress came with two coffees and a plate of pancakes and went away again.

Dominic waited until she was gone.

"Because your father's votes follow you, whether he knows it or not," he said. "And tonight you looked like a woman who needed out."

"That's not an answer."

"No."

"You told me not to drink tea."

He didn't move.

"Everyone in Jersey knows the Brancato women lose their babies," he said at last. "The old wives call it a curse. Nobody says whose tea it is, but nobody takes a cup from Rosalia either."

"I've never heard that."

"You wouldn't. They keep it in the kitchen."

That was a lie, or at least half of one.

I didn't know what the other half was.

I ate a bite of pancake, because it was there and it was warm.

"All right," I said. "Next question. What happens if I sign something I haven't read?"

"You already did. I'm sitting here."

"I read the first page."

"Then you're braver than I am."

Benny, at the counter, snorted into his coffee.

Dominic reached into his jacket and took out a folded set of papers, stapled at the corner.

"I had your father's accountant pull this," he said. "I'm sorry. I thought you ought to see it before Friday."

It was a bank statement, Brancato Holdings, a small account.

Every month since March there was a transfer for four thousand dollars, to the same name.

Roisin Keane.

There was a second page, a lease on a Tribeca apartment, in Roisin's name.

The rent was paid by the same account.

"March," I said.

"Yes."

"She's been seeing Nino since March."

"Your sister didn't steal your fiancé tonight," Dominic said. "She'd already taken him. Tonight she just wanted you to watch."

I put the statement down and my hand did not shake.

It surprised me how little it hurt.

I had loved Nino once, when I was twenty-four and didn't know better.

This time I only felt tired, and then something much colder and clearer than tired.

Roisin had known about the contract for months.

She had planned the whole scene, from the pushed folder to the practiced apology, and she had counted on a girl who would cry.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're not angry."

"I am. I'm saving it." I turned the paper face down. "What's the date for the wedding?"

Something crossed his face. It was almost a smile, and it didn't last.

"Friday," Dominic said. "Saint Rose, eleven in the morning."

"Friday is three days away."

"Nino arranged it himself. He asked the old Don to marry both Keane daughters at once, in the same church, with the same priest." He turned his coffee cup a quarter turn on the table. "He wants you to stand next to your sister."

"He wants me to watch her get his ring."

"Yes."

I picked up my fork.

"Then I'd better find a good dress," I said.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend