You Always Make Me Wait

The night before I was supposed to stand beside Lucius Corleone at the altar and become his wife, he sent me a message.

Sienna was pregnant. According to the family code, her child would be the first legitimate heir to the Corleone name.

So Lucius ordered me to leave Sicily for three years—and tell everyone I had broken our contract first.

For eight years, I had been his shadow.

I wiped away his blood, buried his crimes, protected his business, and waited for the day he would finally bring me into the light.

But now, he said Sienna belonged in the sunlight.

I stared at the message, my hands still burning from scrubbing away the evidence of his latest murder.

Then I typed back one word.

"Understood."

A second later, Sienna's official wedding announcement appeared on the Corleone family's private network.

Apparently, she couldn't even wait until morning to wear my ring.

There was no long caption, only one cold line: "For the future of the Corleone family."

In the comment section, Lucius's men were already flooding the post with likes. The same people who used to lower their eyes when I entered a room were now congratulating the Don for finally securing a proper family alliance. Not a single soul mentioned me.

As if the past eight years of blood and war had never happened. As if a woman named Rhea had never dragged him out of the filth and kept him alive.

Sitting in the room surrounded by chemical vials, I double-tapped the post with a blank stare.

My comment read: "Congratulations. May the Corleone family get exactly what it deserves."

In less than sixty seconds, my comment vanished. Lucius's encrypted call came through almost immediately, his voice heavy with the authority of a man used to being obeyed: "Rhea, what the hell are you playing at? Dropping a comment right now—are you trying to make the Council look more closely at you?"

I breathed in the humid air left by the summer storm, my voice entirely flat: "I'm not playing at anything, Lucius. I am simply fulfilling my final duty as your partner. I am congratulating you on finally finding someone clean enough to stand beside you."

Accustomed to my absolute submission, Lucius immediately assumed I was lashing out in jealousy: "Everyone knows tomorrow night was supposed to be our wedding. You popping up now is just a petty move to make everyone think Sienna is a homewrecker breaking the rules, isn't it?"

His breathing turned sharp and ragged. "Go apologize to Sienna! Your little comment upset her so badly that she won't stop having abdominal cramps!"

Through the receiver, a woman's fragile sobbing bled into the line: "Lucius, don't blame Rhea... It's my fault. I shouldn't have gotten pregnant at a time like this. I'll get rid of the baby right now. Even if I can never be a mother again, I won't let the family's honor suffer..."

Lucius's voice softened instantly, with a tenderness he