Substitute Groom For The Mafia Boss

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Chapter 2

Liam’s POV

It would be rude to interrupt two people who were making out, so I thought about coming back another time.

I had taken two steps away from the door, but then I stopped in my tracks and looked back at it.

No, this seemed wrong on so many levels.

There was no way that whoever was in there was the man Miranda was marrying tomorrow. I was sure of it because I knew my family too well.

I walked back to the door and gave it three solid knocks. I then listened closely, but all I heard was harsh whisperings and shuffling of clothes.

The door soon opened, and I came face to face with a man I didn’t recognize. He was quite good-looking in his dark suit, with his mustache and blue eyes. He was sweating a lot, and I looked past him to see my sister inside, straining her neck to see who was at the door.

I stepped out of the way, and the man hurried out, practically running off.

“Pull up your zipper!” I called after him, and he hastened his steps, doing as I’d told him.

“Liam?” Miranda’s voice called, and when I turned to her, she broke into a smile and ran to give me a hug.

“Oof, you smell like sex,” I pretended to choke as she put her arms around my neck.

Miranda playfully slapped me at the back of my head before breaking the hug. “It’s so good to see you. I wasn’t expecting you,” she said in one breath.

“Well, how would you?” I asked, feigning annoyance. “We literally spoke last night and every day of the past month, yet you mentioned nothing about getting married.”

She sighed, walking over to her bed, and I noticed how her face fell.

I followed her and sat on the bed too, trying to hold her gaze even though she was avoiding mine. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry I didn’t extend an invitation to you,” she said, still looking down. “It’s just that this… this marriage was decided a long time ago, and I have no say in it.”

A long time? How come I didn’t know about it?

“You don’t want to get married?” I asked softly, and Miranda looked up, her blue eyes meeting mine.

“Of course I want to,” she said with a smile that appeared almost forced. “He may be the ruler of New York underworld, but I’m sure he has a soft side to him.”

She spoke like she was trying to convince herself about that, and watching her made my heart ache.

“And who is this man?” I inquired, and Miranda’s face paled when she said his name.

“Donatello Moranno.”

I knew that name. And a chill ran down my spine when I remembered all the dark things I’d heard about him. From what I’d heard over the years, calling a man like Donatello the devil was being nice.

“But why?” My voice came out in a whisper.

“Papa thinks it’s what’s best…” Her voice broke.

“You cannot marry a man like that,” I interrupted her.

“I want to, Liam,” Miranda smiled, taking my hand in hers.

Even though we were identical twins, I sometimes saw our mother in Miranda. She was only older than me by about seven minutes, but she often acted like it was seven years.

“If you really wanted to marry this Moranno guy, who was that?” I pointed towards the door, as if the guy from earlier was still standing there.

“Don’t judge me,” Miranda rolled her eyes.

“I’m not,” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “But when did you become so fearless? Pa would kill you if he found out.”

“And who would he marry off to Donatello tomorrow?” she asked with a smirk, and we just laughed over it.

“It’s good to see you again, Miranda,” I said, and she just smiled.

“Have you seen Pa?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I answered, looking out the window and noting that it was already getting dark. “I should go look for him,” I added, standing up.

“Yeah, yeah,” my sister waved me off dismissively. “You should find him in his secret room, planning or committing a crime.”

We laughed over that too, and I excused myself, going in search of my father.

My sister and I shared a disdain for our family business, and when we made it obvious when we were younger, our mother would just warn us not to say it in front of our father.

“Just be grateful that you’re not a bum in the streets,” she would say.

Well, we were. But being raised in a mafia family came with responsibilities one could not run away from. Like me, for example, I was expected to take over the family business someday.

And as for my sister, I always knew that she would be married off like this. I just didn’t think that my father would be cruel enough to give her hand to someone like Don Moranno.

“Liam?” I heard Pa’s voice call behind me as I was about to enter his “office.”

I halted and drew a deep breath before turning to face him. I was not sure if I felt anything from just looking at him, but I noticed that Pa LaRosa had aged a lot these last five years.

“Well, well, well,” he muttered, walking towards me with his luxury Montblanc cane, which he used to support himself.

The story was that he sustained a gunshot wound in his hipbone years ago, and that had affected him ever since.

“Hello, Pa,” I greeted, and one side of his lips lifted up in a smirk.

“Welcome back, son,” he said, giving me a punch on the shoulder as he walked past me into his office. “I have things to deal with. We’ll talk later.”

I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding when I heard the door shut behind me. “That went well,” I muttered to myself, feeling all my anxiety disappear.

I decided to return to Miranda’s room to give her an update, but when I walked in, I found my sister lying unconscious on the floor.

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