Ciro’s Promise: A Bad Boy Mob Romance (Santora Mafia) (The Outlaw’s Oath Collection Book 1)

by Nicole Fox

  Chapter Eleven

  Sophia

  I was sweating a lot more than I should have been, considering the church was air conditioned. But the figure before me in the mirror, of a terrified bride on her wedding day, didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t remember if I had been so nervous when I had married Joe. I should have been, but I was probably too young and dumb to realize it.

  “You look gorgeous, dear,” Carlita said as she twisted a ringlet of my hair back into place. “It’s a lovely gown and it graces your figure nicely.”

  I ran my hands down the cream lace. She wasn’t wrong. If it had been any other circumstance, I would have been happy to see how it hugged my curves. “Thank you. I’m just so nervous.”

  She took me by the arms and turned me around so that I was facing her instead of my reflection. “I know. I understand. Can I give you a little bit of advice?”

  I frowned down at my bare feet; the delicate sandals I had picked out would go on last. “Yes, please. I’m sure you know more about these things than I do. I didn’t plan on becoming a mobster’s wife.”

  Her smile was warm and friendly. “None of us do, dear. Even when we know who and what we’re marrying, that doesn’t mean it was ever in the plans. But we can’t always help who we marry. It might be that we fall in love unexpectedly, or that we find ourselves in strange circumstances. Just be patient. Don’t expect too much from Ciro at first. He’s being forced into this just as much as you are. He has his own life and lifestyle that he’s used to living. It’s not just going to go away all at once.”

  “I don’t expect him not be a part of the family business anymore,” I reassured her. “It’s not what I want, but I know that isn’t going to change.”

  She shook her head, looking at me sadly. “I don’t mean just that. I mean the hours he keeps, the people he hangs out with, and—possibly—even other women.”

  My heart imploded. I hadn’t even thought about that. It made sense that Ciro was interested in other women. After all, I was just some random girl at a party before I’d had his child. But I hadn’t thought about it. “Oh.”

  “Don’t be disheartened. Just keep your chin up and know that everything will be okay.”

  I was willing to set that part of it aside to worry about later. “I just wish there was a different way to do this. We live in modern times. Lots of people live under the same roof without being married. Or I could skip town and go live somewhere else, like I had originally planned. But I feel so trapped. If I leave, I’m putting my son in danger. I can’t do that.” Even though Carlita was Ciro’s mother, I felt as though I could confide in her. She had been nothing but kind to me since I’d shown up at her son’s house. It didn’t hurt that she was the only woman around on a regular basis.

  Carlita nodded. “As mothers, everything we do revolves around our children. It’s rough, but Christopher will thank you for it someday.”

  “I hope you’re right. I’m just not sure if I’m doing the right thing.” I could hear the small crowd assembling in the sanctuary, a dull roar punctuated by peals of laughter or the deep rumble of a man talking nearby. I was going to be in front of that crowd soon enough. Nobody was holding a gun to my head to make me say my vows, but they might as well have been.

  “You’re making the best decision for your son, and nobody could expect anything else of you. Here.” She retrieved a large, black, velvet box from a dressing table. “I want you to wear my pearls. I wore them on my wedding day. I was just as nervous as you are right now, but the way they felt around my neck made me feel proud and beautiful.” She draped the string of delicate, white rounds on my neck and handed me the matching earrings. “It’s almost time.”

  Before I knew it, I was at the beginning of the church aisle. It had been decorated beautifully with large clusters of pastel flowers and white ribbons. An arch decorated to match stood at the altar, with Ciro just in front of it. I saw hesitation and possibly even fear in his eyes. We had barely spoken since our little encounter in the pool house. I was marrying someone who resented me.

  Tonio Santora stepped up to take my arm. He was a huge man, as tall as Ciro, but twice as wide. There was nobody else to give me away, and I obediently marched alongside him to the music. His grip wasn’t tight, but I knew he would never let go of me if I tried to turn and run for it.

  Christopher was waiting for me near the altar as well, standing just behind Ciro. His tux was a miniature of the groom’s, with a little flower tucked in his pocket, and he beamed up at me. “You look beautiful, Mommy.” A twitter of laughter writhed through the audience and died down again.

  “Thank you, sweetie.”

  I didn’t bother looking at Ciro as the preacher recited all the appropriate words. I managed to mumble my vows when he cued me and heard the faint rumble of Ciro’s voice as he did the same. It would have been nice to marry for love this time aorund—to find someone who actually wanted to be with me. But I was just a burden. A weight to be carried by someone stronger.

  “You may kiss the bride.”

  Applause erupted as Ciro grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to him. He planted his lips against mine, hot and determined. Stunned, I didn’t even kiss him back. We escaped down the aisle, hand-in-hand if not heart-in-heart.

  # # #

  It was getting late, but the evening could not have dragged on long enough for me. I knew what was coming at the end of it. There would be no honeymoon—not while we had to worry about Joe—but I was sure Ciro would still demand that we consummate our marriage. The fact that we’d slept together twice already did nothing to reassure me. That had been before everything else had happened. Instead, I would rather let old ladies I didn’t know hug me and tell me how beautiful I looked, or tell Christopher that he needed to eat some more vegetables to balance out all the cake he’d eaten. I twisted the diamond ring on my finger nervously. It was gorgeous, but it meant nothing—nothing except that I belonged to someone now.

  “You know, you could at least pretend you want to be here,” Ciro whispered in my ear. He sat next to me at the head table, tall, straight, and handsome. He had done a much better job than I had of playing the part.

  “I’m sorry if I don’t enjoy being forced to marry someone,” I snapped. “I’m doing my best.”

  “It’s going to have to be a lot better than that.” He turned to yet another well-wisher who came by the table, a smile on his face. When the man was gone, Ciro turned back to me. “Don’t think I’m any happier about this than you are.”

  “That doesn’t help me, now does it?” I felt like crying all over again, and I was sick of crying.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the bride and groom to have their first dance as man and wife.” The DJ’s announcement made the rest of the guests clear the dance floor.

  My vision narrowed to that open circle of linoleum. I hadn’t even thought about this part. It was the last thing on my mind, considering the vows I had to take and the wedding night yet to come. But this was where we would show our love for each other to the entire gathering. Ciro rose, taking my hand, and I let him lead me out onto the floor. Some random love song began blaring; there hadn’t been time to make many decisions for the reception.

  “Smile,” Ciro commanded quietly through pearly-white teeth. “They want to see that we’re having fun.”

  I forced a grin that felt like it came from a scary clown movie. “Why?” I whispered back. “Don’t they all know this wasn’t our idea, anyway?” The wedding had been announced and put together so quickly that there was no way anyone expected true romance.

  “Most of them don’t know any different. In this line of work—I mean, when you’re in the mafia—you can’t always do things on a traditional schedule.” I was sure he emphasized the word just to irritate me. “Besides, my father won’t be pleased if he thinks we’re miserable.”

  “He’s the one who set the whole thing up,” I hissed. “He knows we’re not in love.”

  “Bu
t he still expects us to act as though we are. If I were you, I wouldn’t piss him off. There are dozens of men in this room, all carrying weapons and all ready to take a bullet for you should the need arise. You should be more grateful.” His eyebrows furrowed slightly, a contradiction to his grimace.

  In some sense, he was right. But it was hard to be grateful. It was only by being imprisoned that I was being kept safe. I could only hope it was worth it. “Whatever.”

  Ciro pulled me closer, bringing me against his chest so that his mouth was right at my ear. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  Before I could respond, a commotion erupted at the door to the reception hall. A man stumbled in, his chest and stomach covered in blood. Men swooped in to gather around him as he slumped to the floor.

  Ciro let go of me and was across the room in an instant, the tails of his tuxedo jacket flying out behind him. He scooped up the bloody man in his arms.

  I followed, unsure of what else to do here without Ciro by my side. As much as I hated him at the moment, he was my anchor amongst this crowd of strangers. I stopped about ten feet away, not wanting to get too close to the fray. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Carlita taking Christopher by the hand and leading him out of the room. I had yet another reason to be grateful toward her, even if I wasn’t toward Ciro.

  “Frankie!” Ciro cried. “What happened?”

  With a jolt, I realized who the injured man was. Ciro had told me about his best friend. I had wondered why he hadn’t been at the wedding, but clearly he’d had business elsewhere. He was shorter and thinner than Ciro, his black hair in short spikes.

  “He saw me coming,” Frankie moaned. “I thought I had him, Ciro. I really did. Vincenzo’s men were with him, though. I think they must have been tailing me, because they warned him before I could get to him.”

  Tonio pushed his way through the crowd, knocking aside several of the other capos. “What’s this? Who were you after? I don’t remember issuing any contracts!”

  Ciro suddenly looked tired. He rubbed his free hand over his face and looked up at his father. “I issued the contract.”

  “What?” Big T’s face went purple. “What made you think you had the authority to do that? And now you’ve gone and killed one of our best men—one who was your best friend to boot!”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Ciro argued. “This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. This isn’t how any of this was supposed to happen.” He swept his hand around the room, encompassing the wedding and everything else. “You refused to help me, and I had to do what was right.”

  Tonio closed his eyes, and his chins wobbled as he shook his head. “Don’t tell me this is what I think it is. Don’t tell me you put a hit out on that sleazebag cop and risked all of us for your own personal vendetta.”

  My eyes widened with horror. They couldn’t be talking about …

  “Yes.” Ciro’s eyes met mine. “I put a hit out on Joe Pitera.”

  The tableau in front of me froze in time: Ciro with one arm around his dying best friend and his face turned pleadingly toward me. Tonio with his fists in the air, his mouth open and roaring with rage as spittle flew from his teeth. The numerous other mobsters gathered around the three of them, their reactions a mix of surprise, anger, and awe. I stepped forward, suddenly no longer afraid of everyone here.

  “Why?” I whispered. “Why would you do that?”

  Ciro looked so sad and so innocent. He was a man of confidence—even arrogance at times—and I had never seen him look so regretful. “I did what I had to do to protect you and Christopher.” He ignored the shouting that was still raining down on him from his father. “It …it was all planned out. It was supposed to be successful.”

  “But it wasn’t, was it?” Tonio blustered. “This is exactly why I have strict rules. I’ve been running this family for decades, and we’ve never had a problem. But you march in here thinking you know more than I do, and we’ve got a man down who never should have been. You’re a fool, Ciro! An absolute fool!”

  Ciro turned away from him and pressed a hand to Frankie’s stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. “We’re going to get you taken care of, Frankie. You’re going to be fine. You have to be.”

  Frankie laid his hands over Ciro’s and gave him a weak smile. “Even if I’m not, it was worth it. I would do anything to help you live your life. You’ve always helped me with mine.” Now Frankie smiled up at me, and I wanted to run away.

  A cool hand closed on my wrist. I turned to find Carlita, her face serious. “Come with me, dear. Let the men take care of their business.”

  “But …” I gestured helplessly toward Frankie and Ciro, feeling as though there was something I should be able to do. I had caused all of it after all.

  But Carlita shook her head firmly. “This isn’t our place. I have Christopher in the other room. Let’s get you out of these clothes and back to the house.”

  Numbly, I followed her. In silence, I took off the pearl necklace and earrings and handed them back to her. I flicked off the delicate sandals and flung them back in their box. It wasn’t until I stepped out of the dress that I realized the skirt of it had been flecked with blood.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ciro

  “Mr. Santoro?” The nurse poked her head into the waiting room, her eyes landing on me immediately. “You can come on back.”

  I followed on her heels through long, pale hallways that smelled of medicine and heavy-duty cleaners. It was enough to make me feel dizzy, but I knew I had to forge on. Hospital staff buzzed all around us, hustling to help their patients, but there was only one patient that I cared about. Swallowing the bile that had been continuously rising in my throat since Frankie had shown up at the reception, I wondered what would happen to us when my father dismantled our crime syndicate for good. As it was, we had connections at the hospital. We were guaranteed good medical care, and nobody ever notified the police like they should have for gunshot and knife wounds. I supposed Tonio would have to purchase insurance for his employees once he went legit. The thought might have made me laugh if my circumstances were different.

  The nurse paused just outside a door and turned to me, her face somber. “He’s resting, and we have him stabilized, but things are still very uncertain. There’s a lot of internal bleeding. He’ll be going in for emergency surgery just as soon as we have an operating room clear, so you won’t be able to visit long.” She opened the door and waved me in.

  “Thank you.” I stepped into the room, feeling the weight of the door as it closed behind me. Frankie lay on the bed, his skin just as pale as the sheets underneath him. He had never been a big man, but he looked even thinner than I expected. Someone had cleaned up all the blood, but I knew that didn’t mean he was all right. His dark eyes swam through the air until they finally landed on me, as though he had heard me come in but couldn’t quite find the source of the noise. Numerous wires and tubes snaked from underneath the covers and latched onto various monitors that beeped softly to themselves.

  “Hey, Frankie,” I said softly as I approached the bed. “Looks like they’re getting you all taken care of.”

  The corner of his mouth ticked up a little, a minute smile. “There’s only so much they can do, Ciro. I’m dying.” His lips were dry and cracked around the corners, his eyes crusty and tired.

  “Don’t get dramatic on me.” I wanted to joke around with him like old times, but we both knew his situation was too dire. “You’ll be fine. You have to be.”

  His breath was ragged as he summoned the strength to speak again. “There’s something you need to know.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk right now.” I rested my hand on the back of his, the one bit of free space on his skin that wasn’t taken up with needles or wires or tape to hold it all on. “You need your rest.”

  Frankie’s head shook ever so slightly to negate my admonitions. “This is important. Listen, 'cause it hurts to get it all out. I went to kill Joe, li
ke we talked about. The son of a bitch deserved it, and I had everything all planned out. I was going to take care of it, and you and Sophia wouldn’t have had to worry anymore. But …” his voice drifted out and he cringed in pain before continuing. “But he wasn’t alone. There were men with him.”

  “Who?” I pressed. He had mentioned something about Vincenzo back at the reception hall, but I didn’t know if that was true or not. Frankie had already lost a lot of blood by the time he got back to me, and there was no telling how much he remembered or what might have been a delusion. Pain twisted through my gut once again at the idea that all of this had been my fault. “You tell me who was with him, and I will swear my vengeance upon them.”

  He pursed his lips, arguing with me again even without words. “They were Vincenzo’s men. They knew I was coming, and they were waiting for me.”