Page 19 of When She Falls (The Fallen)
“Don’t tell me you’re also going to try to convince me I don’t have to marry him.”
“I’m not going to convince you of anything. I don’t agree with Vale. You should marry Rafaele.”
“How well do you know him?”
“We had a few meetings after he began working with Papà. Despite his reputation, I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who would mistreat his wife. I asked around. He’s had women around him, and there haven’t been any complaints.”
“You looked into him for my sake?”
“Do you think I’d leave my sister on her own? Yeah, I looked into him.”
Something warm burst inside my chest. It’s nice of him to look out for me.
Vince leans back on his palms. “I told Vale to let it go. I’m not sure I got through to her. She’s all about love marriages now.”
“How do you feel about them?”
“I wouldn’t bank on one. Love fades. It’s too unpredictable. Papà fucked up with Vale’s ex-husband, but you can’t dismiss the entire system of arranged marriages based on one bad incident.”
“What about you? Have you started looking for a wife?”
He makes a dismissive wave. “There’s no rush.”
“I don’t know about that. Given the long list of requirements I assume you’re going to have, you might want to start early.”
“Smartass. My list isn’t that long. Just a few obvious things.”
“Like what?”
“Since she’d be around a lot, I’d want someone nice to look at,” he says. “Someone without baggage who wouldn’t try to turn me into their therapist.”
“Charming.”
“She’d have to put the relationship first. Complete loyalty. Complete trust. Without it, it wouldn’t work. I have enough people who want to stab me in the back. My wife can’t be one of them.”
It didn’t sound too unreasonable, actually. “So you’d be faithful to her?”
He gives me a blank look. “What?”
“You’d want her to be loyal to you and trust you. Would you be loyal to her? Would you sleep around the way Papà does?”
“Sleeping around has nothing to do with real loyalty. Of course my wife would know I’d have women on the side. She’d accept it and move on.”
I roll my eyes. “That's the kind of stuff that makes women want to stab their husbands.”
“Nothing a pair of diamond earrings and a trip to the Maldives can’t fix.” Vince tosses back the last of his whiskey and stands. “Dinner’s about to start.” He eyes my empty wine glass. “How many of those have you had?”
“Not enough.”
When I rise, the horizon before me wobbles. Okay, maybe I should have stopped one glass ago.
“C’mon.” Vince offers me his arm. “So you’re expecting Rafaele to be faithful?”
I frown. I haven’t thought about it. The idea is distasteful in principle, but the thought of my future husband with another woman…
I wait for some emotion to surface.
There’s nothing.
