Desired by the Mafia Kings

A

pecial. Magical. You know? One of those nights where everything was in place, enough to feel perfect. I already imagined the champagne, the laughter

. I get Diane.

one?" Her voice is soft, but I feel every wor

st like she would everyone and everything else around her. Her hair is dark brown with a few remnants of grey that she's tried to hide with

've gone with lilies. But..." she

front of all our guests. And so I smile like a well-trained pageant queen and say: "I wa

m is simply beneath her. Diane's been in my life since I was sixteen, when my dad got remarried. Mom died only four years before tha

the rest of my mom's relatives chose not to associate with me after my dad got remarried

All this wealth and fortune, to which she, of course, blew in the sp

rk hard for what I have today. Of course... things

e six figures and made my life very comfortable. S

n hand, playing supportive... playing mother. But I know she can nev

handeliers above us as jazz floats through the speakers, and people are mingling like a scene from a wedding magazi

ut also on the more curvaceous side, having taken my workout and pilates classes a lot more seriously this year. My

watch as she struts over to me excitedly, her arms wide with a grin plastered on her red lips. She's wearing a red dress that

my arms and hugging her as soon as she reaches me. "Look at you. You loo

to orbit your glow." She says with excitement as she glances aroun

f the tray as he walks by and downs half of

always pretty bubbly, but I wonder what seems to have her spirits

s is your show babe." She smiles, but there's

t overwhelmed. Everyone is. And so I

books and nights getting blackout drunk to celebrate literally nothing. She's the one who told me to give Tyler a chance; said a guy like tha

ver her shoulder, checking her phone, tapping her fingers

ask, my expression slowly shi

of surreal, right?" She chuckles lightly, but I know Eliza

"Surreal's a go

r. Isn't the groom-to-be supposed to b

think he stepped ou

es glance over my shoulder, past me, a

le

to stop. Nothing else matters but him. He walks toward us, fresh drink in hand, smiling that smile that makes my stomach flutter even now. His suit fits him perfectly, made ju

es me, soon sliding an arm around my waist a

eeling butterflies in my s

hen asks, his tone thoughtf

him, feeling myself loose

and turns to Elizabeth.

t drop sharply. I turn to Elizabeth, and watch

k. "You're not so bad yourself,

It sounds like something layered, like she'

glass. "You two are the most

r too-bright smile, and unease i

een a secret. She was the one who convinced me t

reciation, a harmless one. Just

too long, laughing a little too hard

want to be that girl; jealous, insecure,

ight back," before slipping off again, mut

a little too long just before she turns to m

ead force another smile, glancing down at the flo

.

es, perfume, cologne and major anxiety, mostly from me. Simply be

tions or attending to last-minute details. But as minutes turned

r faces a blur. My mind races with possibilities, each more unsettling than the last. Is

ma of cigars and brandy. The library, usually a refuge, offers no solace tonight. As I approach the

llow the sound to a door slightly ajar, causing warm light to spill