Page 89 of When She Falls (The Fallen)
Turns out, I just helped Papà oust Vince. There’s not a chance in hell our family would accept Rafaele as their don if we weren’t getting married.
I should tell Papà that I won’t do it. That I won’t marry Rafaele for his benefit.
I’m not a little girl anymore. I don’t care about disappointing him.
But what difference would that make? Papà will find a way to force me into the marriage anyway. He’s been using carrots up to now. If I resist, he’ll use a stick. He’ll make my life hell. He’ll drag me down the aisle himself if he has to. I know how he is.
I need to talk to Vince. Maybe we can come up with a plan together. He must be just as furious about this as I am. Until then, I need to keep my cool. There isn’t anything I can do. Not when there are so many unknowns and consequences I can’t predict.
A cord of despair wraps around my throat and squeezes.
My hands shake for the rest of dinner. I don’t touch my food. I don’t lift my eyes from the table.
It ends rather quickly. Maybe Rafaele and Nero take pity on us. I don’t say goodbye to them as we file out of the dining room. Cleo must have chugged an entire bottle of wine when she went to the bathroom because she’s barely on her feet.
I deposit her into the back seat, and she passes out on my shoulder, leaving me to spiral on my own the entire drive home. Papà turns up the music. No one speaks.
As soon as I get to my bedroom, I call Vince. There’s no answer.
I send a text.
Call me back. This is urgent.
He must be asleep. It’s the middle of the night in Europe.
It feels like there’s an atomic bomb inside my chest that’s about to burst. I’m tempted to start breaking things. The walls close in on me, and my heart races. I can’t stay in here. I need to get some air. I pick up my phone and send a text to Ras.
You up?
Yeah, what’s up?
Can you drive me somewhere right now?
Three dots flash at the bottom of the screen. I bite down on my lip.
Please say yes.
All right.
CHAPTER19
GEMMA
I changeout of my dinner outfit into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and creep downstairs to meet Ras by the side door.
He’s already there. For a second, I don’t recognize him. I’ve never seen him this dressed down. He’s wearing a black zip-up hoodie and joggers, and the loose fit of the clothes make him look even bigger than he does in a suit.
It’s been days since we were last alone. My stomach does an inexplicable flip when his gaze lands on me.
I brush past him and put in the code to turn off the alarm.
“What is it, Gemma?”
“Shh. Let’s talk outside.”
We slip through the door and go around the house.
The light in my parents’ bedroom is off, but I wince when the car makes a single beep as Ras unlocks it. If Papà sees us right now, we’ll be screwed.
