Chapter 7 Celestina

CELESTINA

Aunt Josephine looked incredibly pleased as she entered the library where I had been hiding all day from her and my uncle. "Phoenix had a meeting with Salvatore Greco today."

I put down the book I was reading, trying to keep my face emotionless. "And?"

"Phoenix showed Salvatore a photo of you, and he agreed to marry you."

She watched me expectantly as if she thought I'd do a happy dance because Salvatore had approved of my looks. I swallowed hard. "That's good news." It was all I could manage, and it lacked enthusiasm.

My aunt pursed her lips. "Celestina, really, I don't think you grasp what this means."

Oh, I knew exactly what it meant, and that was the problem. "It takes some getting used to, the idea of marrying him, Aunt Josephine. Don't worry, by the time I'll have to marry him, I'll be able to convey my excitement properly."

It was a blatant lie. If I managed not to flinch at every touch, that would be a huge success.

"Well, you don't have much time. Cosimo Greco insists things progress quickly. The wedding is set for four weeks from now."

I dug my fingers into the leather of the armchair, the color draining from my face. "Four weeks? But that's not enough time to plan everything."

Definitely not enough time to mentally prepare myself for marrying a Greco-if I could even prepare for something like that.

"Don't worry. I already contacted a few bridal shops. Of course some of the most popular dresses are already sold out, but they assured me that they have enough beautiful pieces left." "That's good," I said in a monotone voice.

Aunt Josephine nodded. "Caroline and Alejandra will join us. I already talked to both of them, and they are excited. Caroline was so nice to make an appointment with the best bridal store in New York. New York seems the most sensible choice, given that we can't expect the wife of the Capo to travel all the way to Baltimore. Of course, the store managed to squeeze us in tomorrow. Who could refuse Caroline Romano?"

"Tomorrow?" I asked horrified.

"Isn't it wonderful?"

"Wonderful," I managed to say.

Aunt Josephine frowned again. "Anyway, Altair and Phoenix are trying to figure out the best place to hold the wedding. It's not going to be New York. Phoenix doesn't want the Grecos in his city." Didn't he? I almost laughed.

"I'm sure there are enough other options," I said quietly.

"Yes, yes. I'm sure," Josephine said, smiling. "I should call a few florists and make arrangements with them."

I didn't bother pointing out that it wouldn't make sense until we knew where the celebrations would take place. This was Aunt Josephine's show, even if I was the main attraction.

When she left, I closed my eyes. Four weeks.

Four weeks until my wedding night.

Four weeks until Salvatore would want to claim his prize.

Four weeks for me to figure out a way to hide that someone had taken that prize years ago.

Sickness washed over me, and I pressed a hand to my stomach.

Ten minutes later, Alejandra called. "Did my mother already talk to you?" "A few minutes ago," I said.

Alejandra sighed. "I don't like this, Celestina. Four weeks, really? It's like they can't throw you at Greco quickly enough, as if they're worried they might start feeling guilty if they waited any longer."

"At least that leaves less time for me to fret." I'd worry anyway. My nights would be haunted by even worse nightmares than they had been before.

"Even Damion is wary of the Grecos. He showed me a video of Salvatore Greco in the cage. It's sick."

"A video?" I echoed. "Where can I watch it?"

There was silence on the other end. "Don't. Don't watch it."

My throat tightened. "Where?"

"It's a forum in the Darknet that the D'Angelo uses to show their cage fights and illegal street races."

"Give me the log in information."

"Celestina-"

"I'm nineteen, not nine. I want to see him, Alejandra. I need to." If I was faced with this monster the first time on our wedding night, I'd bolt. I needed to see what he was capable of, even if a cage fight wouldn't even begin to cover it.

"Give me a sec. I need to ask Damion for the info again." I heard rustling followed by silence on the other end for a while until I heard muffled voices. After what felt like forever, Alejandra spoke again. "Do you have somewhere to write it down? It's long and complicated. The Darknet uses several steps to keep people out."

I grabbed the pen and paper that I always kept close by when I read a book; I liked writing down my favorite quotes. "I'm ready."

After jotting everything down, I listened to another one of Alejandra's warnings before we ended the call. Clutching the paper in my sweaty palm, I walked to my room to grab my laptop. My fingers shook as I logged into the forum. There was a list of fights from the last few years. I entered Salvatore's name in the search engine, and several fights popped up immediately. I clicked on the latest from only a few weeks ago.

The camera was trained on a massive cage. A broad man stood inside of it, but he was in his thirties and didn't have any hair. He was too old to be Salvatore Greco. A hush went through the crowd and another man stepped into the cage, taller than the first, and I froze. For several moments, my breath stuck in my throat. If a mere video already summoned that kind of horror, what would real life Salvatore do?

Salvatore was tall and muscled, and every inch of his torso and arms was covered in tattoos. Flames and knives and screaming faces, and more images and words I couldn't make out. The flames traveled down his arms to his wrists. They also snaked into his fighting shorts, ending on his muscled thighs.

His expression was focused but completely emotionless.

My fear turned into pure terror when the fight began. Salvatore was a fighting machine. Every single one of his hits was precision, but what was worse was his analytic expression. He didn't look like he was fighting in a cage. When his opponent landed a hit, Salvatore's face hardly reflected any sign of pain. He kicked and punched hard and fast, without mercy, even as his opponent fell to his knees. Salvatore was on top of him in a heartbeat, ramming his knee into the man's back so he sprawled out on the bloody floor. Even that wasn't enough. Salvatore wrapped his forearm around the man's throat and cut off his air. His opponent thrust his elbow into Salvatore's side, but he didn't even wince, only tightened his hold further and eventually the man passed out. Salvatore released him then and stood. His gaze flitted over the crowd until it focused on the camera. It was as if he was looking straight at me, and the cold, hard look in his eyes awakened the horrors I couldn't shake off.

I couldn't believe this was the man I was supposed to marry.

I didn't sleep more than two hours. Every night, Uncle Bennett's face haunted my dreams as he hovered over me and broke me, but this night it was a different face that had hovered above me, a beautifully cold face.

When our bodyguard drove us to Philadelphia to pick Alejandra up, my aunt tried to involve me in a conversation about dresses, but I was too upset to engage in any kind of interaction. I was glad when Alejandra joined us in the backseat. After one glance at me, she quickly distracted her mother by talking about her summer plans with the kids.

I sent her a grateful look before I trained my gaze on the window, watching as the landscape

rushed past me.

Unlike many women, I didn't have a dream dress. I never looked at wedding dresses unless I was at a wedding.

Caroline waited with her bodyguard inside the store because it was hailing. The moment we

stepped inside, a vendor rushed over to us. "Who's the happy bride?"

Alejandra, Caroline, and Aunt Josephine looked at me, and the vendor touched my arm. "Exciting, isn't it? You're going to be a breathtaking bride. I can tell."

I gave her a small smile and followed her toward the display of dresses. "Why don't you

browse the dresses and show me the ones you'd choose for me?" I asked, sinking down into one of the plush armchairs.

That garnered a look from the vendor, but at this point I didn't care anymore.

Caroline and Alejandra nodded immediately and set out to look for dresses, but Aunt Josephine's

expression made it clear that she disapproved. However, after a moment she began looking for suitable dresses as well.

Of course, Aunt Josephine chose dresses that would have made most Disney princesses jealous. Too flashy, too eye-catching, just too much. Not me at all. Luckily, Caroline and Alejandra worked together and found dresses that were closer to my taste.

I chose a simple white mermaid, off-the-shoulder dress with lace trim around the neckline. A sheer veil was attached to the neckline as well and fell down my back and over my bare arms so I didn't feel quite so exposed.

"Beautiful," Caroline said with a gentle smile. She was still trying to figure out my true feelings

regarding the wedding, but I had learned to hide them well over the years. It was the only way to survive after what happened.

Alejandra nodded, her eyes watering, and even Aunt Josephine seemed pleased with my choice- even if it wasn't as flashy as she'd originally planned. "You look very elegant and sophisticated. A true lady."

I took a deep breath, hoping Salvatore would treat me as a lady. The man I saw fighting in the cage didn't strike me as someone who would.