Wrong Bride

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

MELINDA RUSSO

I trembled in fear as I watched the black sedans pull up in the driveway one by one. As each car stopped, a dangerous looking man in an expensive suit stepped out. I could recognize each face from the rumours behind it, each dangerous man a part of Kieran Vescari’s inner circle. The man that my sister should have married today.

Should have.

The last car stopped and a valet opened the doors. Kieran Vescari in all his majesty stepped out, every line of his body projecting the lethal calm that made him the most feared man in the city.

The door behind me whipped open, and my father’s frightened steps pounded within. I pressed my face away from the glass windows and turned to face him. From here I could see the hysteria in his eyes as he flicked his eyes from me to the discarded wedding gown that was rumpled on Belinda’s bed. He marched further into the room, darting his gaze to and fro. I stood rooted to the spot, shaking. From the wooden floors, I could hear Kieran downstairs asking for his bride, his voice like a boom of thunder.

“Where is she?” his voice whipped across to me, making me flinch. His face turned pale when he saw my expression. I could see the sweat break out on his forehead. “Melinda, where is your sister?”

I shook my head, words failing my trembling lips. I heard my mom’s light-hearted steps coming towards the room. Her face fell when she entered. Her mouth hung open as she surveyed the chaos that was my sister’s room. Belinda’s clothes were scattered on the floor. Her makeup which was usually kept in his place, seemed abandoned on her table. My mom walked further into the room. She shook Belinda’s discarded wedding dress like my sister would appear in it.

She flicked her gaze back to my father. “Can somebody explain to me what is going on!”

I took an unsteady step forward, and produced a white paper that was crumpled in my fists. My mother snapped it out of my hands and flicked it open. Her face turned ashen as her eyes quickly skittered across the paper.

I can’t do it. She had written. I won’t be caged by that monster. Find another way to pay your debts.

My mother’s eyes flicked up to me in disbelief. “She has gone, mama.” The words itched my throat. My father snatched the paper from her hands, reading the words within.

“You knew.” She fumed, she pointed accusing fingers at me. “You knew and you let her get away. No, you helped her run away.”

“I did not.” My voice cracked, failing me. “I just came in and saw everywhere as it is now.”

The sound of shredded paper ripped across the room, father was tearing the piece of paper and he stomped it angrily beneath his boots. Guilia, our housekeeper rushed into the room, her face morphing into terror as she saw the scene. “Si Padrone,” she whispered to father. “Don Vescari is asking what is taking his bride so long.”

“Tell him that we are presenting her to look the possible best for the Capo dei capi.” She patted her away. Capo dei capi was the name we referred for Vescari, meaning boss of all bosses. Guilia nodded and scurried out of the room. As soon as she left, mother banged the door close. “What do we do?” she asked, her terrified eyes searching out daddy’s face. Father was unexpectedly calm but I saw the pure terror beneath his blue eyes.

When he did not reply, mother let out a strangled sob as she grasped the rosary beads around her neck. “He’ll kill us all. Dear God, he’ll kill us all.”

I didn’t know the weight of the debts that my family owed Mafia Lord Kieran but I knew it had to be serious if they were offering my sister up for payment. Father’s face twisted with rage and I instinctively took a step back. It was in moods like this that he usually threw something at me or my sister.

“The Vescari family does not forgive.” He said, his voice hollow. “And neither does Kieran Vescari. This marriage was supposed to seal our alliance, clear us of all the debts to his empire. Without it…”

He didn’t have to finish. I have heard the rumors. I have heard of how Kieran mercilessly crushed his enemies underneath his feet, giving them torturous deaths that led no trace to him.

And I have heard that we owed him more than our worth in money. My father’s gambling debts and failed business ventures had put us under the thumb of the most powerful man in the city.

And now, Belinda had sentenced us all to death.

My mother went up to him, and held his hands. This was the most frightened I have seen my parents in all their lives. “What do we do?” her voice was a low cry.

Father’s eyes darted from the once beautiful wedding gown now soiled by creases…then, slowly to me. The look of realization in his eyes made me sink back into the wall.

No. no…

“No.” The word escaped my lips before I could stop it. “Papa, no.”

“Yes.” His eyes lit up like a strange cat as he stepped towards me. “Yes. Yes.”

“You are the same height.” My mom chimed behind him, her voice laced with desperation. “The same build. And with the veil, in the dress, you can easily pass for Belinda.”

Papa grabbed my shoulders and I tried to shake him off. I backed towards the window, my hands against the glass but he wouldn’t budge. Finally he peeled me off the window, and pushed me towards my mother. “I’m not Belinda.” I protested as she grabbed me. “I can’t…and I won’t!”

I had no idea my mother was this strong. “You will. Because if you don’t, we are dead by sunset. You, me, your dad.” Steady hands held me in place as she slipped me into the wedding gown. My heart hammered in my ribs. This was so wrong, everything about this was so wrong.

And Belinda…I didn’t know if I should be angry at her or not, but even I knew that if I was her, I’d rather run and face an uncertain life than to be a bought bride of Kieran Vescari.

“But papa, what happens later? If he finds out the truth?”

His color ran off his face again. “By then you will be married to him, and you will be protected by the marriage contract. He won’t harm you. He won’t go back on his laws.”

We both knew that it was a lie. Don Vescari was above any legal jurisdiction. The laws bent to him and not the other way round.

Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the version of myself I didn’t recognize. This version was stunning. This version had her hair packed in an elaborate style and pinned beneath a shiny tiara. She had green eyes, her original brown eyes colored by contacts. She looked like Belinda, but she did not feel like Belinda; confident, brave, beautiful.

I felt like an imposter.

I turned towards my mother. “I need to know thing about her. Personal things that he might ask about.”

My only luck was that Kieran had only seen Belinda once, briefly, during the engagement night.

I listened attentively as she recited Belinda’s preferences from food down to her clothing choices. As I listened it amazed me that we have lived together for the past twenty-three years but there was so much that I didn’t know about my sister.

I trooped down the stairs on shaky legs. I have never stared at the Capo dei capi up close. My heart hammered in both anticipation and fear.

When we reached the floor where he was supposed to be waiting, he wasn’t there. Neither were any of his associates.

I looked at my parents in confusion. Had he called it of?

Praise bratva.

“We suggested that he wait at the altar for you,” Guilia stepped in. “He agreed. He said that he liked the suspense.”

I didn’t even hear the sound of the cars driving off the driveway.

“Better,” mother sounded pleased. “At least, he does not get to see you without the veil.”

They led me towards the door. Before I could slip out, I turned to look at Guilia. Her eyes mirrored my dread.

If Kieran found out I was a fraud, he would kill me and ship my dead body back to my parents.