He Traded My Pain for Another Woman’s Smile

On Christmas Eve, I rode five hours by train into Dario Moretti's territory, wanting to surprise the man my family had promised me to.

What I didn't expect was that the man who was supposed to be minding his crew's business had a house full of people, loud and warm with the kind of laughter that carries wine in it.

Through the clear glass of the front window, I saw him and an unfamiliar girl at the center of the room, everyone pressed in close around them.

The girl had been dealt some truth to tell. The others were egging her on, teasing until her face went red.

Dario Moretti stepped in front of her, offhand and easy, the way a man moves when he owns the room.

"Same rules as always. I'll trade something about Bianca Falcone. That work for you?"

My hand, already reaching for the door, froze in midair.

His light, careless voice drilled straight into my ears.

"A long, long time ago, someone laid hands on her."

...

A ringing filled my head.

But inside, the mood erupted all at once.

"Whoa, now that's a piece of gossip."

"Don't they say a girl who's been through something like that turns quiet, closed off? Bianca's always painted up, showing herself off. You'd never guess it."

Someone snickered, running his mouth on a guess.

"Maybe she was loose from the start. Didn't Dario say last time even her underthings are all lace?"

"If she were sweet as Vanessa here, a thing like that never would've touched her."

Vanessa. Vanessa Ricci.

I'd heard that name before.

She was Dario's personal courier.

Whenever Dario and I spoke, he'd let it slip without a second thought.

Out of trust, I never once questioned it.

Hearing all this, Vanessa spoke up, soft and delicate.

"Don't talk like that. Maybe Bianca just cares a little more about looking pretty, that's all."

She tilted her head and let the smile hold a fraction too long.

"Vanessa, you're too innocent. Not everyone's like you. Some women get up to all kinds of things behind closed doors."

"What do you say, Dario?"

Dario took a sip of his drink and said nothing to the contrary.

I stood there and let the filth wash over me like a tide coming in off the docks.

My hand on the suitcase handle wouldn't stop trembling.

Dario had brought me into this circle of his once, these men sworn close to him.

Back then they'd gathered around me the same way, calling me "your wife" this and "your wife" that to him, one after another, respect in every word.

Now they carried the worst kind of cruelty, slandering me, spinning whatever story pleased them.

"All right. That's enough."

I saw Dario frown, as if he couldn't quite stomach it.

Even with my heart breaking, I couldn't help the thin thread of hope that rose in me.

Hope that he'd stop them. That he'd tell them, righteously, firmly, that I wasn't that kind of woman.

But the next second, a bucket of cold water came down over my head.

"She's still my girl for now. If this talk gets out, how bad does that make me look? That's the end of it tonight."

So it wasn't a defense at all. He was only afraid of losing face in front of his own men.

"She's already like that, and you still mean to make her your wife?"

Vanessa leaned against Dario, tugging at his arm with a note of displeasure.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I won't be kept in the shadows like some mistress."

"If you don't give me an answer, we're through."

"How could I ever let that happen!"

Dario's panic was plain to see.

His fingers tightened without his meaning to, and the ring on his hand caught the light as he turned it.

He had never lost his composure like that for me.

"Something this dirty, why should I be the one who takes another man's leavings?"

"If my mother and father hadn't kept pressing me to look after her, honor the pact, I'd have called off the whole alliance ages ago."

As he spoke, a coldness and disgust settled over Dario's face without his noticing it.

I couldn't believe it. My hand dropped limply to my side.

So he found me this repulsive.

Then why hadn't he told me sooner?

All these years bound between our two houses, the gentleness and patience he'd shown me before, had all of it been a performance?

"After the holiday, I'll go home and lay it all out for them."

Dario turned and kissed Vanessa, his voice gone tender.

"By then, I'll bring you before my family myself."