Summer L
The ninth time Raphael Bellandi postponed our wedding for his adopted sister, Cosima, I finally understood. I was the villainess in a mafia novel.
The first time, Raphael's mother claimed she'd suddenly come down with the flu. Cosima was delicate and might catch it at the wedding. Canceled.
The second time, Raphael's best friend claimed he'd been in a car accident and couldn't carry Cosima on his back during the bouquet toss. Canceled.
The third time, the fourth time... A different person, a different excuse.
The ninth time, the one making excuses for Raphael was my best friend, Sofia, of all people. She said a blizzard had grounded her flight, so the new designer bag she was bringing Cosima wouldn't arrive in time. Apparently, we had to postpone the wedding again.
Cosima Bellandi is the heroine of this book.
She's also Raphael's adopted sister, the woman he loves but can never have.
Everyone wants them together. They've ruined my wedding again and again to make it happen.
In the original plot, I ignore my family's objections, chase Raphael like a lovesick fool, and use my power as a mafia princess to force him to marry me at once.
Then, on our wedding day, he leaves me at the church and flies to New York to give Cosima a seashell necklace he made himself. I pull my Browning on him, only to fall into his trap and get shot dead.
The book calls that their "happily ever after."
The grass over my grave grows ten feet tall, and no one ever visits.
This time, he brushed it off as if it meant nothing. "We'll just pick another date."
My stomach turned.
I didn't beg or scream. I calmly tore up the wedding invitation he'd handed me, one strip at a time.
"Raphael, the wedding's off. We're done."
Raphael frowned. "Vera, throwing a tantrum won't get you anywhere. Where would you even go without me?"
Instead of answering, I called a number I hadn't dialed in years. Someone picked up after one ring.
"Dad, I'm ready to come home.
"And while you're at it, pull every resource we've used to prop up the Bellandi family."