Urgent Vows: An Age Gap Forced Marriage Mafia Romance (Syndicate Rules Book 1) by Lucy Monroe

Author:Lucy Monroe [Monroe, Lucy & Monroe, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lucy Monroe LLC
Published: 2023-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

CATALINA

I want to tell Severu what he can do with his permission to wear the dress I came home from the hospital in, but I manage to bite the words back. My mom used to say, "Pick your battles, Catalina."

I had a tendency to mouth off to my father because I resented the way he treated my beloved mother, and I ended up in trouble most days because of it. That trouble didn't lead to him striking me until after her death. The first time he smacked me because he was angry at Carlotta, I wondered how many punishments my mother took because of my sass.

Knowing she took any is one of the reasons I refused to become the cowed creature my father wanted me to be. If Mamma could take pain for the sake of my character, so could I.

Remembering Severu's plans for me to go shopping with his mother and sister later, I decide that is a battle I'm willing to fight. No matter how much I learned to enjoy both women's company during my sister's engagement, I hate shopping.

"I don't need to go shopping," I tell Severu. "I have clothes at home."

And I have my ballet flats by a designer that specializes in comfort. As well as a generic shoe insert I ordered online to help, at least a little bit, with the inch difference in the length of my legs.

"This is your home now."

So not the point. "My former home then."

"You don't need to go today. You still need to heal, but my mother wants to equip you with a wardrobe that suits your position as my wife. The sooner the better."

They'd already talked about it? When? We just got married yesterday.

While I was napping? No. He brought the shopping trip up this morning before pleasure left me exhausted. Did they talk during the reception? They must have. His mother thinks it's such a drastic need she brought it up during the reception.

The parallel I drew yesterday between mine and Severu's marriage and that of my parents comes back to haunt me. I guarantee that if he'd married Carlotta neither he nor Aria would believe today's shopping trip necessary. It doesn't make me feel any better to realize that my sister would not balk at going either.

He might physically desire me more than my sister, but that doesn't mean he sees me as a good candidate for don's wife. If he had, he wouldn't have announced his engagement to her.

I grimace when I have to slip my feet into the shoes I wore for the wedding. They are the only ones I have here, but I hate wearing heels. I wish I could go to lunch barefoot, but Zia Lora would be apoplectic if she knew I was even considering it. And I'm sure Severu's family would not be impressed if I showed up to the table with my bare toes peeking out from beneath my dress.

I really need my things.

~ ~ ~

Severu helps me

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