Chapter Three

Sienna's POV

I froze. My ears were ringing, and it took me a while to find my voice.

"...What did you say?"

Adrian looked away and swallowed.

"Three months ago. In the family's private chapel, with a few of my capos there. I haven't told my dad yet."

"Three months ago..." I did the math, and my voice tightened. "That was our last engagement party."

"Yeah." He finally looked at me. "I didn't skip it because of the docks. That day, I was marrying Marissa."

"And your dad didn't get hurt yesterday. Marissa said she couldn't bear to see me standing next to you, so I didn't go."

Without thinking, I looked at my mom.

She wouldn't meet my eyes. She took a step to the side and put herself in front of Marissa.

"You knew." My voice came out so quiet it barely sounded like mine. "Mom, you knew this whole time."

She looked down and started smoothing the wrinkles in Marissa's skirt. She didn't say a word.

Marissa was the one who teared up. She clutched Mom's sleeve.

"Don't blame Mom. I'm the one who begged her."

"I'm the illegitimate one. Without this marriage, none of the families would ever take me seriously. Mom just felt bad for me... You've always had everything. I only wanted one thing."

"I've always had everything?" I was so angry I laughed. "She's spent twenty-some years looking out for you, every single day. When has she thought about me even once..."

A second slap hit the other side of my face.

This time it was my mom.

"Sienna." She said my name coldly, like a warning. Say one more word and see what happens.

Both of my cheeks were burning. I clenched my jaw and lifted my chin. I wasn't going to cry in front of them.

Adrian stepped forward, his voice softer now.

"Sienna, I know this isn't fair to you. But think about it. What does Marissa have besides me?"

"You're different. You're the Contis' real daughter. Even without this marriage, you'd have guys lined up from here to Brooklyn wanting to marry you."

"So you picked my engagement party to go marry her?"

"I wasn't going to keep it from you forever." He frowned. "But with your temper, if you'd found out ahead of time, you would've blown up and every family would've heard about it. Marissa couldn't handle a scene like that, so I had to..."

"So you had to treat me like an idiot."

He didn't argue. After a while, he said, "Sienna, you have to try to understand where I'm coming from."

Within three days, word had spread through every family.

People said the legitimate Conti daughter was petty. That she couldn't stand to see her half-sister happy. That she'd thrown a fit at home, crying and screaming, and even hit someone.

At the coffee shop I always went to, the barista couldn't look me in the eye when she handed me my change.

At Sunday Mass, a few of the Dons' wives sat behind me whispering. The moment I turned around, they went quiet.

I didn't have to guess who'd started it.

Adrian knew that once word of the wedding got out, everyone would say Marissa stole her sister's fiancé. So he got ahead of it and threw me under the bus.

But two years ago, when the son of another family laughed at me at a party and called me a spoiled princess, Adrian made him apologize to me right there, in front of everyone.

Back then, he couldn't stand to hear anyone say one bad word about me.

On the third night, Adrian came to my house. He stood in my bedroom doorway, looking guilty for once.

"I know you've heard what people are saying."

"Marissa's already in a tough spot. If people start saying she stole her sister's man too, what family is ever going to respect her?"

"So I get to be the bad guy?"

He didn't deny it. He just said, "I'm all she's got."

My stomach turned.

He came in and sat down across from me like we were about to talk business.

"I've thought it through. Marissa becomes the Severino Donna, and you move into the estate and stay with me."

"I can't make it official. But to me, you two are the same. Cars, a house, jewelry. You won't go without anything."

I stared at him. "You want me to be your mistress?"

"Don't make it sound so ugly." He frowned. "Marissa takes things hard. She couldn't handle something like that."

"I'm a Conti, and you want me to be your dirty little secret?"

"This is the best arrangement I could come up with." He said it like it was perfectly reasonable. "She's not well. She can't handle the family books or running the estate. All of that would be yours..."

"Adrian," I cut him off.

"You make me sick."