An Arrangement for the Mafia Princess

Chapter 6- Enzo

-Enzo-

I’m in trouble. I’m not even twenty-four hours in, and I can’t get my mind off my wife. It doesn’t help that I woke up tangled up with her. It wasn’t a tangle, though. I was bold and touched her scar that I had snuck a peek at in the mirror, and she felt comfortable enough to tell me about the other. I kept my hand there the rest of the night.

I slowly untangle my limbs from hers and sneak out of the bedroom. It’s early, and I know she didn’t sleep well. I’d hate to wake her. I go downstairs to make coffee, but I find my mother seated at the kitchen table, staring out the window, her mug held tightly.

“You’re up early,” I tell her, pouring a mug of my own before taking the seat beside her.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she says, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I’ve never slept well while he was away.”

I put my arm around her and kiss her head. “I’m sorry. I should have checked on you.”

“No, you should not have,” she admonishes. “You were with your new wife. You were right where you should be. How is she?”

I sigh, unsure how much I should even say, but it’s my mother. I tell her almost everything. “The hospital was hard for her. She had a nightmare.”

“Poor girl. It brought up her mother’s death?”

“A bit. Did you know that Reilly was shot that day, too?”

Mamma gasps, turning to look up at me. “No. McCarthy kept it as quiet as he could, and no one understood why. He must have been hiding that.”

“Twice,” I tell her, and she shakes her head. “One was a graze, but it went through her mother.”

“Oh, that poor girl,” she says, sipping her coffee. “I kept an eye on her, making sure she wouldn’t come for you guys. I never, ever heard one cross word about her. I know she and Luca had some mutual friends. He may know a bit about her.”

“I’ll get to know her myself, eventually. It’s going to be hard for a bit.”

“She comes from this world. It’s different, but so much the same. She’ll understand.”

I nod. “I need a driver for her. Sean wouldn’t let her drive.”

“No, Cattivallo, she needs to know. What if she ever needs to get away from a situation? She must learn.”

I wholeheartedly agree, but that’s a problem for another day. I tell Mamma about the deal with Sean and his concerns about Reilly’s safety. I’m certain there’s more to it because he’s never been into anything too severe. Not enough to put Reilly in that much danger.

“So the jewelry is legitimate?” she asks in shock. “Lucky girl. She’ll continue to run it?”

I nod. “Yes, but she’s not been running it now. Sean hasn’t let her do anything for fear of her being hurt.”

“She’ll learn. She did well in school, so I’m sure she’s not stupid.”

I can’t help but smile. I don’t get the impression she’s stupid, either. Sheltered and well protected, yes, but not at all stupid.

I hear footsteps behind me and turn around to see my new wife walking down the stairs. She’s wearing jeans with the knees ripped out and a loose t-shirt. Her outfit is a painful reminder of just how young she is.

“Good morning, Reilly,” Mamma says to her, a small smile tugging at her lips. I know she’s trying to distract herself from Papa, but she’s hurting so badly.

“Good morning, Mrs. Esposito. Enzo,” she says, sitting beside me.

“I told you, it’s Gabriella,” Mamma tells her. “Enzo, get your wife some coffee.”

I stand, turning to my wife. “Cream? Sugar?”

“A little of both,” she says, her cheeks turning pink. I don’t know why she’s embarrassed by that, but I turn to the kitchen to fetch her coffee.

Mamma pats my chair, and Reilly moves to sit beside her. “Always make your husband get your coffee. My husband always did. He knew his place.”

Reilly giggles, and the sound makes me smile. This can’t be easy for her, especially at this time. Toss in that she’s just learned about her father’s illness and watched mine die, and I don’t know how she’s laughing at all. But she is, and I’m thankful. I don’t want her to feel trapped, even though she is.

I place the coffee in front of her. She moves to stand, but I shake my head, taking the seat beside her.

“Cattivello, there were some issues through the night,” Mamma tells me. “You’ll need to deal with those today while I make arrangements for your father.”

I sigh. I knew there would be attacks when word got out that Papa was dead. Our enemies are trying to capitalize while they wait for the election of a new boss. There won’t be one, though, because I was secretly married. It will take a few days, but things will calm down. Hopefully.

“I can delegate,” I tell her. “I need to be with you.”

“You do not,” she says firmly, raising her voice a little. “You will spend the day with my brother, beginning to clean up the messes. Take your brothers with you.”

“But Mamma,” I protest, but she cuts me off, not willing to listen to me.

“I said what I said. Your papa would have been furious if the business suffered because you were too worried about a funeral for a dead man,” she spits.

I close my eyes and take a breath to calm down. I want to yell at her, but this isn't the time. I’m about to argue when Reilly’s quiet voice speaks up.

“I can go with you, Gabriella. I won’t be any help, but you won’t be alone,” she tells her.

Mamma pats her cheek. “That would be wonderful. After we are done, we can go pack up your things.”

If anyone sees them together, people will find out we are married before I intend. I need to speak with Sean before I let the news break outside of the family. My mamma looks so happy at the thought of Reilly going with her, though.

“You can’t go anywhere else,” I tell them firmly. “Not until I speak with Sean. Funeral home, church, and then the McCarthy house. Take Rocco and Mario with you.”

Mamma nods. “How long are you keeping her a secret?”

“Until I know everything from Sean,” I tell her. “I’ll figure it out from there.”

“I should go pack my things,” Mamma says, standing. “It will probably take a few days for me to clear out of the master room.”

“No,” Reilly says before I even have the chance.

Mamma shakes her head. “You are married now. You are the boss. This is your house.”

“It’s just a house,” Reilly tells her as I stand. I’m thankful my new wife and I are at least on the same page with this.

“You’re not moving anywhere,” I tell my mother, taking her arms in my hands. “Not to another house. Not to another room. We are just fine where we are.”

“And what of when you have children? You need more space.”

Children? She knows damn well this is an arranged marriage. There won’t be children for quite some time, if ever.

“With all due respect, your son doesn’t even know my middle name,” Reilly speaks up. “I don’t think we need to be concerned about children any time soon.”

Mamma smirks, looking past me. “Well, I know your middle name, Reilly Madeline.”

“Even if you leave the room, we won’t move into it,” Reilly tells her, her voice firm and steady. I don’t know why, but this seems to be important to her.

“Fine,” Mamma says. “We’ll argue next week. I’m going to make breakfast.”

“I’ll help,” Reilly says, standing to join her, but my mother waves her off.

“No. I’d like to be alone.”

I lift both our coffee cups and motion with my head for Reilly to join me. I lead her back upstairs, leaving Mamma to make breakfast alone.

“She likes to cook when she’s sad. I think it helps keep her mind off things,” I explain as Reilly sits on the bed. I give the coffee back to her. “She needs a distraction, and that’s going to end up being you for a while. Sorry.”

Her lips tug into a smile. “It’s fine. It’s just different.”

I’m about to ask how it’s different when I realize she means because no one fusses over her. Reilly hasn’t had a mother since she was a small child, and I imagine Sean has been as busy as I am.

“How are you?” I ask. I don’t know how to be married, but checking on her seems like a good first step.

She shrugs. “I’m fine.”

I nod. She’s not fine, but I don’t know what to do. I did what I had to do, but I didn’t consider that I’d have an actual wife lying in bed beside me in the end.

“I’m sorry about last night,” she says softly, shaking me from my thoughts. “I didn’t mean to scare you, and it doesn’t happen that often.”

What? She can’t be serious. “You don’t have to apologize. Nothing happened.”

“I’m so embarrassed. No one knows about the dreams.”

“Not even your boyfriend?” I ask, arching an eyebrow. “He seemed ready to run out of the house with you before we married.”

She sighs. “He didn’t sleep with me. Like, asleep, in bed. My father would have killed him if he knew we had any kind of relationship.”

Interesting. I noticed their connection within ten seconds of them walking into the room. There’s no way Sean didn’t know. “How’d that start?”

“Why do you want to know?” she asks, looking up to meet my eyes.

“You’re my wife,” I tell her. “I need to know about the men you were with before me.”

He looks down, staring into the mug she’s holding. “I kept running away from the guys that Dad put with me. He got so mad that he assigned his guard to me, Fionn. I knew it was serious, so I tried to cooperate more than I had. He didn’t blindly demand things from me. He’d explain what was going on and what was needed to keep me safe. It made it easier when someone would just talk to me.”

Sean kept her locked up so tight that all it took was someone talking to the girl to get her twisted up. I can’t make the same mistake he did.

“I don’t really know exactly how it started,” she continues. “Fionn didn’t keep his distance like the others did, and feelings just developed.”

I nod. “What do your friends think of him?”

Reilly’s face falls. “I don’t have friends. I did in school, but then we graduated. They all moved away for college, and Dad wouldn’t let me leave. He wouldn’t even let me enroll locally.”

I suddenly don’t have any worries about this fucker. She doesn’t love him. She was just lonely, and he was the only person allowed near her. That gives me hope that we can work something out between us.

“Can he please come work here?” Reilly asks, looking up at me with sad blue eyes that I’m afraid I’ll get lost in. “I swear, I won’t sleep with him. He’s my only friend, though.”

Shit. I don’t want to be the bad guy here, but I have to stop this from happening. “I’ll talk to your father about it when I meet with him.”

She gives me a sad smile, and I know the reality of our situation is setting in for her.

“I need to know who else you’ve f****d,” I tell her. She looks utterly offended by my request. “I need to know who has been close so I can verify that they’re not a threat.”

She sighs, looking away from me again like she’s ashamed. “I dated a guy when I was in high school, Jeremiah. Dad ran him off when he caught us one night. He’s harmless.”

“Your dad ran him off?” I ask, arching an eyebrow. I’ll be shocked if he was left alive.

She looks up at me. “He didn’t kill him. I saw him around after that, but he stayed away from me. He played football with your brother, so ask Luca about him. Seriously, he’s not a concern.”