she is La Cosa Nostra, she belongs to me, she is the Queen.

“Good, welcome to the family. I am Isabella Conti-Ricci, this is my daughter, Sofia Conti, the man that left is my brother’s son, Luca Ricci, and this is my son, your husband to be, Salvatore Conti. I will leave now, and in thirty minutes, I will introduce you to everyone as Salvatore’s fiancée. Get familiar with your husband, you get married in a week.” She nods and walks out, with Sofia behind her and Florence exhales, her hands on her stomach, as she tries to calm her breathing.

It takes a second, and when she is fine, she looks ahead and see Salvatore standing by the window, smoking – this is her new reality.

“W – what about my sister?” She asks and he looks at her with his dark green eyes and she tries not to tremble.

“Luca left to get her, she will be fine, and they should be on their way back now. What else do you need to know?” He puts out his cigarettes and walks to her, with his hands in his pocket and she tenses, taking a step back, an uncertain step back, her leg shakes and she start to fall, but he holds her steady, wrapping his hand around her waist and she looks at him through parted lips.

His hand is firmly around his waist and hers is on his chest, she can see him clearly, there is a tattoo peeking out through his shirt, he has another tattoo below his ear, in a straight line. He smells like money, pure and undiluted generational wealth.

“How old are you?” He whispers and she exhales, stepping backwards, but he holds her steady, he holds her to him, and she looks back at his eyes.

“Twenty-seven. How old are you?” She answers and he smirks, letting her go.

“Thirty-two. Come on, time to announce you to the whole of the world.” He nods, and extends his hand, she gingerly place hers on his, ignoring the shudder down her spine. Introducing her to the whole world is introducing her to a world of crime, she wonders if she is walking into a fire.

Salvatore holds Florence steady as they walk out, into the hall, he leads her to the middle and everyone falls silent at his sight, he is their Boss after all.

“I am getting married in a week, to Florence. Invitations will be sent to you. You will pay her the same respect you pay me; she is family now, she is La Cosa Nostra, she belongs to me, she is the Queen, anyone who crosses the line drawn will lose their head. Party on.”

__

After the dreadful party, where everyone looked at her all through, probably wondering how she got him. She is led into a big and expensive car, Salvatore helps her in, then he gets in, and the car drives away, she feels like a prisoner. They have a motorcade, and now, she is being driven to the place she has to call ‘home’. How quickly one’s life can change.

“You just announced me to a crowd that probably wants to kill you and take your position.” She whispers and Sal looks up from his phone, to look at her. He places his phone in his pocket and he speaks.

“You will be protected, and no one will touch you, because you won’t matter. The only way a threat can be after your life is if I fall in love with you, and the possibilities of that are next to none. You can only be threatened if you are a weakness to me, and you won’t be, because you are ornamental, decorative, performative. That’s all, nothing else and nothing more.”

Each word is a dagger to Florence’s heart, but she hides it well.

“You are the only son, and the Don of the most powerful mafia in the world. I am to be your wife, and I’m supposed to be just ornamental. That’s fine, easier for me, but what about heirs?” She phrases her words carefully and he looks at her in shock.

“Heirs are important, of course. I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to. We will live together like every married couple, we will share a bed, but I won’t sleep with you, I won’t touch you.” He states and she nods, saying nothing for the rest of the ride.

__

The car pulls into an estate and Florence watches in awe. When the car stops, they open the door for her, and Salvatore help her down, she stares at the mansion, it is grandiose, a palatial resident with opulent interiors. It is simple resplendent. She glances around and she sees armed men and women all around and a group of women, dressed the same. The door opens and Florence gasps when she sees Zara. She tries to walk forward, so she can run to her sister, but Salvatore holds her, and she look at him.

He smiles at the blazing fire in her eyes, and whispers “You are practically their Queen, now, act like a Queen.”

She tries not to shiver from the feel of him. She nods, and he takes her hand, they walk across, everyone bow their head a little. Flo exhales when they step inside away from prying eyes. Zara runs to her and Flo hugs her little sister.

“Are you hurt, my love?” She says and Zara shakes her head.

“No, I’m fine. He – Luca came and helped me, he kinda, like, killed a lot of them, it was nasty. He told me you got help. Thank you, Florence, they didn’t see the blonde woman though.” Zara rambles and Florence nods, kissing her forehead.

“It’s fine, everything will be okay, I promise you.” She smiles and Salvatore watches their interaction, the little sister looks at him, confused.

“Where are we, though and who are they? This place is fire.” Zara asks and Flo bites her lips.

“Uhm – this is Salvatore Conti, he is my fiancé, and we are getting married in a week.” She announces and Zara gasps.

“No way.”