Chapter 25

Valentina This day begins full. Graziela and I are on our way to a tea hosted by my future mother-in-law, where we are expected to socialize and display all the sweetness of the future wife of the next Capo. I notice that my companion is comfortable with it, but I, honestly, am in a panic. It’s one thing to be a perfect pretender outside the mafia, but here, facing everything and everyone, I feel a constant challenge that, if I lose, I die. Simple as that. My stepmother and I have been growing closer, as I make a point of offering some comfort. She always seems so frightened, afraid of her own shadow. I need to project confidence, since, in reality, I can’t do anything. I could kill my father, but that would mean Paolo taking over his business, Graziela being handed over to some other