The Mafia's Obsession novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Dawn at the Altar

Silvio marries Vittorio at dawn in front of an uncle who smiles too wide, and in the bedroom he swings at his new husband.

Silvio told Gianna the next morning, standing in the kitchen with a cup of cold coffee.

"You're not marrying him," he said. "I am."

She stared at him with her mouth open.

Then she threw her arms around his neck and held on so hard he could not breathe.

"I'm sorry," she said into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Silvio."

"Don't be. It's a name on a paper."

"It's not just a paper."

"Then it's a name on a paper and a wall around you," he said. "Go to work. Sell flowers."

She nodded and wiped her face, and she would not meet his eyes.

He decided she was ashamed of being relieved, and he let it go.

Uncle Ottavio took the news at lunch, in the back room of the dock office.

He listened with his soft hands folded on his belly.

Then he laughed, and it went on a little too long.

"Brave boy," Ottavio said. "Your father would be proud. Vittorio Sartori will take either of you, I'm sure."

"You don't sound surprised."

"I'm a man who has seen a lot of weddings. Nothing surprises me." Ottavio smiled wider. "Wear the good suit."

Silvio only owned one good suit.

It was black and it was five years old, and he wore it on Saturday at dawn into a stone chapel behind the Sartori house.

The chapel held twenty men in dark coats and no women.

Ottavio sat in the front pew, beaming.

Gianna was not there, because Silvio had told her to stay home.

The priest looked tired.

Silvio stood at the front with his hands at his sides and his heart going.

Then the doors opened, and Vittorio Sartori walked down the aisle alone.

He wore a charcoal suit with a white rose pinned to the lapel.

He did not look at the men or the priest.

He looked at Silvio from the doors to the altar, and he never once looked away.

Silvio's mouth went dry.

He told himself it was fear.

"Do you take this man," the priest began, and Silvio missed half of it.

"I do," Vittorio said, before the priest finished the sentence.

Silvio heard himself say it too.

His voice came out low and rough, and Vittorio's mouth moved slightly.

Vittorio took Silvio's left hand in both of his and slid the same gold band onto it, the one that had fit in the study.

His hands were warm and hard, with calluses on the palms.

Then he put his own heavier band in Silvio's palm and held out his own hand, and waited.

Silvio's fingers shook as he pushed the ring over the knuckle.

Vittorio looked down at it.

"You may kiss your husband," the priest said.

Silvio had planned to give him a cold peck on the cheek.

Vittorio took his face in one big hand, tilted his chin up, and kissed him.

It was not a polite kiss.

It was slow and hard and deliberate, his mouth opening Silvio's, his thumb pressed against the hinge of Silvio's jaw.

Twenty men watched.

Silvio's whole body went hot from his collar to his knees.

His hands came up and gripped Vittorio's lapels, and he did not push him away.

He kissed him back before he could decide not to.

Vittorio made a low sound against his mouth, and then he let go.

Silvio stood there breathing hard, his lips stinging.

In the front pew Ottavio stopped smiling and checked his watch.

Nobody threw rice.

Vittorio steered him out by the small of the back, and the heat of that hand went through the suit.

The black car took them up the hill in silence.

Silvio stared out the window and twisted the ring on his finger.

"You can say it," Vittorio said.

"Say what?"

"What you want to call me."

"I'll save it."

The corner of Vittorio's mouth lifted.

At the house a woman took Silvio's coat, and a man he did not know carried in his single bag.

They went up a wide staircase, down a hall, and into a bedroom with a bed big enough for four.

A fire was lit.

The door closed behind them, and the lock clicked.

Silvio turned around.

Vittorio stood with his back against the door, loosening his tie with one hand.

"You're going to want to hit me," he said. "Go ahead. I'd rather you did it now than after you've thought about it."

"You think I won't?"

"I think you'd better."

Silvio hadn't thrown a punch in five years.

He set his feet, the way his old trainer had taught him.

"Hit me, then," Vittorio said softly.

Silvio swung.

← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →

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