“Fuck.” I slid down the wall, drawing my legs up to my chest. This was going to give Henry even more of a reason to fucking hate me.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I’m not like other girls. I’ve never thought much about my wedding day. It would happen because I am Papa’s only child and he most definitely would shove me down the aisle to marry whatever gives the Cosa Nostra power.

In this case, it is an alliance with our enemy, because whether Papa likes to admit it or not, the peace between our two families means more than the way it looks to our joined enemies.

“Hey, baby!” Betty enters behind me, putting Wolf to the floor as he runs his little feet across the room and jumps up on my lap.

“You look pretty, Mama!” His little hand rests on the side of my face, and I search his eyes, circling his cheek with my thumb.

“Thank you, baby boy.” My eyes flick up to Betty, who is standing there with raised brows. “Oh, don’t look at me like that.”

“Well, look!” She raises her hands in the air. “I’m just saying, I’m against this. What happened after Wicked swooped in and did Prince Charming with you?”

I shake my head, rocking back and forward on the rocking chair, my mind lost on the lace dress pooling around my thighs. “Nothing. He refuses to let me into whatever he is keeping from me.”

“Did he say anything about old man psycho who used to drug you in your bed as a child being the same person who he calls Skully?”

I place Wolf on the floor and he runs back to Betty. “No. I didn’t say anything to him after I blurted it out in a drug haze.”

Betty scoops up Wolf. “Mmhm. Well, you’re a better woman than me, but we already know this.”

I stand from the chair, brushing my hair over my shoulder and turning to face Betty. “You do look beautiful. So sad I won’t be there.”

“I don’t want either of you in the firing line if anything happens.”

“I know.” She closes the distance between us, bringing her hands to my shoulders. “I just wish I was there, you know. I always figured I’d be your maid of honor.”

I squeeze her hand. “Not this time.”

She breezes toward the door. “I’ll text you when we get to the clubhouse, and let’s hope I don’t kill any of these boys in leather.”

The door closes just as I yell out, “Be nice!” We all know that she won’t.

Gathering up the rest of my things, I roll the garter up my thigh, and check myself one last time in the mirror.