The Wrong Romano - A Forbidden Romance Between Bloodline

in

up st

lk. She didn't wait for a response. Didn't need one. I wasn't expected to speak-just stand there an

instinctively, eyes blank. Obedient. P

ing back to eye me like a sculp

ing. A token. A means to

ction. My father called it dinner. I called it a presentation-because that's what it was. I was being

t speak unless you're spoken to. Keep your hands still. Don't fidget

thing. Ju

dy frustrated. "Y

ather I scre

ped to mine.

t cry. I didn't beg them to stop when they told me I'd be marrying a

at choice

e me-soft champagne dress, hair pinned into something delicate and obedient, lips

open. Male voices. Boots o

ric pinched at my ribs. The silence felt heavier here-worse than the noise. My finger

a knock at

I called, assumin

id a voice, softer

ainst the hardwood. My cousin. My only cousin. She shut the do

ke she owned it. "And guess what? Giovanni Romano brou

re about his car. Or his wea

ilting her head

N

ai

lowering. "If you really don't

here i

passports. You can be Aisha from Morocco. I'll be your Frenc

r the first time all day

smirked. "We'll

I wasn't running. I never had the guts. Yasmin watched me

re than this,"

. Because I wa

ain-this time my father's voi

ed her eyes

the loose strand near my ear. Then I exhaled. Quiet

tures gleamed. The air smelled of cinnamon and money. My father stood

ostess in a mansion she'd sold her soul to enter. The Romano family was

enter of it

nni R

I woul

I bare

sn't sure I

d I felt every eye in the room shift wi

Just a flicker of approval, maybe

le. No

expec

s. My father placed a hand on the

mi

I wanted to. Because t

step away from th

toward me. No greeting. No welcome. Just a quiet nod, like I was a contract clause

throat. "Shall we mo

oft to be casual. To

't recognize, both older, both dressed like shadows with names that probably carried blood behind them. My parents followed. I traile

. Uncomfortable in my skin. Too aware of how the dress clung to me. How my h

Gold-rimmed plates I'd never seen before. Everything des

ed next to

his seat, his movements precise. Effortless

s eyes on me from across the table-waiting to see if I

ess, politics, legacy. I caught the occasional word: distribution, territory, all

st to sit there and smile like

fway through the first course. Hi

eter than I

. "I wasn't sure I w

Not an insult. Just...

d. "I'm

ll y

ant something. I didn't ask how old he was, but I knew he was past thirty. Maybe thirty-two. Th

in, this time letti

etty. That

wanted to ask. B

rware clinking, voices low and careful. No one asked me what I liked. What I wanted t

bloodline. My ability to produce heirs and behave

vanni quietly. Something in Italian. Fast. Sharp. G

ed at me onc

he la

in him. He just we

uched. I wasn't hungry. I was sick with

" Giovanni as

d up. "S

young. She said a woman who f

mile. "And do yo

icker in his eyes. "I believe a w

e it

made something in

-I did deserve more.

wasn't get

ing Giovan

r was my final

Answered when prompted. They discussed my wedding dress

served, I felt like a

w... it was onl