Page 58 of Queen of Misfortune (Shadows of Redemption)
“I need to talk to her first.”
Niko arches a brow. “It’s a little late for cold feet.”
Niko's men stand by every ornate door and stained-glass window inside and out. They’re watching for Giovanni’s men on the off chance they get wind of this wedding and decide to do something about it. To my mind, that’s why we shouldn’t be here. But when I finally got Niko’s hint in his office earlier and we made the plan to for me to marry Lucy to protect her, Niko said that if we were going to really piss Giovanni off and force him out of hiding or into making a mistake, we needed to leave the sanctuary of the penthouse. Of course, Niko has an army of men that any of Giovanni’s men would see. There’s no way they’d be as bold as Niko had been to crash a wedding to kidnap the bride.
“It’s not that,” I say in reference to Niko’s cold feet comment.
He studies me. “You know this isn’t an order by me, right? If you don’t want to marry her?—”
“I want to marry her… ah… I mean…” Fucking hell, what do I mean? I run my fingers through my hair. “This is for the Family.”
Niko’s lips quirk up into a smirk, but he puts his hand on my shoulder. “You’re a brother to me, you know? In the past, that Irish blood of yours would have kept you out of the Family. It definitely would keep you from being a Boss. But you’re my family, Donovan.Mio Fratello.” He pulls me into an embrace.
The heavy doors at the entrance groan open, and Elena steps through, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Niko. I wonder what it would be like to have someone, Lucy, look at me like that. Niko whisks her away from the door and into the safety of the sanctuary.
Lucy steps in, and my heart stops. She moves with an elegance that belies the steel in her soul. She’s regal. Like a queen. It reminds me that I’m not deserving of her. But it doesn’t stop me from taking in her breathtaking beauty. The dress does exactly what I thought it would. It hugs her perfect form, but not in a dirty, sexy way. In a goddess form sort of way. Her long, dark hair is pulled away from the front, cascading in long waves down her back. It’s then I have to admit to myself that Lucy Fiori Conti, soon to be Ricci, has become my singular obsession.
I swallow hard, forcing my feet to move, to close the space that suddenly feels like a chasm. I yearn to claim her… no earn her, even knowing it’s a wish that will never be fulfilled.
She stops short as I reach for her elbow. She pulls away. “You don’t need to manhandle me.”
I close my eyes, praying for strength. “We need to talk.”
“Cold feet? It’s the lace, isn’t it?”
I don’t know what to think. She seems to be babbling.
"Please," I say, gesturing toward a room off the vestibule.
She enters and looks up at me with wariness.
"About earlier," I begin, discovering my ineptitude for apologies. "I may have been… overzealous."
The silence stretches out, and when I turn, I find her gaze fixed on a stained-glass window depicting some saintly figure.
What is going on with her?
“I shouldn’t have been so?—”
“Toady-like?”
I sigh and shove my hands in my pockets.
“Yes. You do see, though, that if you want to stay with Elena and the babies, this is the only way.”
“The only way Niko will allow it?”
I nod. “And Luca.”
“Luca isn’t the boss of me. Neither is Niko.”
“No, but Niko is the Boss of the Leone Family, including Elena. You know that, Lucy. You know that what he wants takes precedence. The only reason he hasn’t shipped you off yet is Elena, but with your father’s actions, you’re?—”
“I know. You don’t have to tell me again that I’m a danger to everyone.” She shakes her head and looks away.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re thinking about all this, but I don’t expect this to be a real marriage. All I ask is that you let me protect you.”
“I get it. I have to stay in the gilded cage. I’m not new to this.”