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I stood on a spot, watching criminals in our backyard, dressed gorgeously and smiling happily.
How could they be so happy after what they had done to people?
"This must be my sister-in-law." A blonde man walks up to me, smiling and puffing his Cigarette.
The smug grin on his face revealed his arrogant nature that instantly irritated me.
Before I could say a wrong word, my mother intervened.
"This is Pari." She squeezed my hand as if warning me to chew out whatever I was about to say.
"Pari dear, this is Nicholas. He's going to be your brother-in-law soon." She looked between us, laughing nervously.
I'm sure Nicholas didn't need me to speak. The look on my face revealed my distaste and anger toward this ceremony, more than any word ever could.
"Nicholas!" A chubby woman shouts from nowhere, slapping Nicholas on the back.
"Nonna?!" Nicholas frowned.
"Don't go flirting with your brother's wife. It's forbidden." She sounded like she had told him the same thing over and over again.
Nicholas looked like he was about to argue but after another look at the woman, he shook his head and walked away, spitting some Italian words I didn't understand.
"Never mind the boy." She turned her attention back to me, smiling.
"Dio Mio!" She gasped, coming closer to me.
I looked at my mom who only passed me a pitiful smile.
In less than a second, the woman was touching my hair and shoulders.
"Magnifico!" She whispered to herself.
"Enzo will like this one." She smiled at my mother who of course, smiled back.
"You truly are a goddess, Pari."
I hated everyone here but something about this woman was so warm and welcoming.
When she touched my hair, I genuinely wanted to jump into her arms.
Clearing the thought of liking anyone of these murderers, I spoke, "Where is Enzo?"
I tried to sound as happy as my parents wanted everyone to believe I was.
Suddenly, her smile disappeared, "You weren't told?"
"What?" I turned to my mom who looked confused and clueless.
"Enzo will not be attending the engagement party. I tried to make him come but he is as stubborn as his grandfather." She was about to laugh at her joke but stopped.
"I thought you knew about that."
"Did something happen to him? How could he not make it here?"
I didn't care about that bastard. Matter of fact, I wished something terrible would indeed happen to him so I could regain my freedom.
But how rude could he be not to show up here?
Someone called the old lady. She quickly kissed my cheeks and scurried off.
"The devil didn't attend his own engagement party but the forced bride did. You hear that, mother? That's the person you're willingly giving your daughter to."
Without giving her a chance to respond, I walked away.
I thought they would try to know 'the bride' but instead, they only spoke with my parents.
Maybe my parents had arranged for it to be like that so I wouldn't do anything that would put theirs lives in the line.
Or maybe, they didn't care at all.
I was nothing more than a debt being paid.
They had no reason to care about my presence at all.
While I'm still roaming, I bumped into someone.
"Hi there," Her voice was so shrill, I immediately wanted to walk away but she was already in front of me, preparing to have a conversation.
"I'm sorry." I apologized, trying to walk past her.
She instantly jumped in front of me, refusing to let me go.
"You must be the soon-to-be bride of the Morretti family." She didn't sound pleased with that.
For some reason, I wanted to worsen how she felt toward my soon-to-be position in that family.
"You don't seem to be a Morretti." I smiled wildly, looking around at the other criminals.
Everyone was engaged in one conversation or the other except her.
If anything, she seemed like an outcast who was unwillingly allowed here.
Her nauseating smile disappeared, replaced with a hard frown.
"You don't seem like you could handle being a Morretti."
That confirmed my suspicion.
She's not a member of the Devil's family.
Why was she even here?
My anger and hatred towards these people fueled my boldness.
I took a step closer to her, "At least I'm going to be a Morretti."
I hated the sound of that but I loved that she hated the sound of that too.
"Gloat all you want now, girl. You won't last a day with Diavolo."
Her shit eating grin soon returned to her face, "I hope you'll have the same fire after you see what Hell is."
Satisfied, she walked away.
I wanted to drag her back by her hair and show herself how much fire I've got but she was the least of my worries.
I didn't know a lot of Italian words but I knew what Diavolo meant.
My soon-to-be husband wasn't just the devil as a criminal.
Even amongst his own, he was referred to as The Devil.
Just how much mess had my parents gotten me into?
Mint mixed with Citrus suddenly hit my nose, dragging me out of my head.
My heartbeat slowed to a dangerous pace.
My senses became hyper aware even as every bone in my body went cold.
Waves of fear went throughout my body, reminding me of what the Scent meant and who it belonged to.
The tears in my eyes began to dry up when the Scent began to fade.
Curiosity got my body moving again and I began following the Scent.
I kept walking until I found myself in front of my father's office.
I had just raised my hand to knock when the door flew open.
"Pari?" It was my mother who walked out.
"You should be at the party."
"Y-yeah. I was just wondering where you left to." I stuttered, looking around for anyone else.
"I came to pickup up something I forgot." She shut the door behind her.
I didn't realize she was now holding my shoulders until she touched my face.
"I'm right over here, Pari."
The Scent was still lingering in the air and I had been looking around for signs of someone other than my mother and I in this part of the house.
"Do you smell that?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Never mind." I shook my head.
"We should head back." I steadied my breathing, focusing on absolutely anything but the Scent painfully stuck at the back of my throat.
Whatever questions she had concerning my sudden behavior, she swallowed them and returned to the party with me.
I couldn't have imagined that Scent.
It was too strong to not have been real.
I spent the rest of the evening looking over my shoulder for signs that my past was back to hunt me.
Even after the party ended, I could still smell Mint and Citrus in the air.
Falling asleep was difficult and when I did fell asleep eventually, I was transported back to that night.
But this time, he was the one who pulled the trigger at me.
