He Lost Me to the Don of the North

Sienna's POV

It was my fifth engagement party, and my fiancé, Adrian, didn't show up. Again.

Guests from every family showed up, and one by one, they left again.

Adrian was the Don of the Severino family. We'd been engaged for three years.

His father, Vincent, New York's old Godfather, had arranged the match himself. Every family in the city knew I'd be the next Severino Donna.

My mom, Diane, didn't rush in with Adrian until the last guest was gone.

She grabbed my hand. "Sweetheart, your dad got jumped today. He's hurt. Adrian was at the clinic with him all day. He couldn't get away. Don't be mad at him, okay?"

That made five times. Every single time, it ended just like this, with nothing settled.

"What about last time?" I asked.

Mom hesitated. "Last time... the Ricci family called a sit-down at the last minute."

"No." I looked right at her. "Last time you said there was a problem with a shipment at the docks. The Ricci sit-down was the time before that."

She smoothed it over fast. "Then I got them mixed up. Sienna, don't make such a big deal out of something this small."

"You know better than anyone how good Adrian is to you. Keep this up and you're just going to push him away."

I didn't say anything. My eyes were on Adrian's wrist.

That rosary bracelet belonged to my half-sister, Marissa. She never took it off.

Adrian sighed like he was worn out. "Sienna, I told you, something really came up. If you still don't believe me, I'll just go tell my dad to call off the engagement."

"Don't bother," I said.

He looked relieved. He probably figured I'd cave like I had the last four times.

"I'll go see him myself," I said. "From now on, you go your way and I'll go mine. You and I are done."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Adrian frowned and stepped toward me. "My father set this up, and all Five Families are watching. You want to pull this now and make us look like a joke?"

"A joke?" I stared at the beads on his wrist. "All of New York has been laughing at me for ages."

Five engagement parties. Five rounds of invitations sent to every family. Five times the guests traded looks over an empty seat at the head table.

By the third one, the Ricci Don's wife felt free to tease me to my face, asking if the groom got held up again.

"To our faces, everyone calls it a great match the Commission made. Behind our backs, they say the Contis forced their daughter on you."

I looked at him. "Tell me, Adrian. Why does something come up every single time?"

"Sienna!" Mom yanked my arm. "Don't talk to Adrian like that."

She dropped her voice. "He told you something came up. What else do you want? You know how good he is to you. It's one party. Is it really worth all this?"

"Three years ago at Christmas, when you fell in the lake, who jumped in and pulled you out?"

"Last year at the Commission dinner, when you offended the Ricci Don, who stood up and took the blame for you? Did you just forget all that?"

I hadn't forgotten.

Three years ago, the lake was covered in thin ice. I stepped wrong and went through the ice, and he jumped in after me without even taking off his coat.

When he dragged me onto the bank, his lips were blue, but the first thing he did was grab someone's jacket and wrap me in it.

Last year at the dinner, I said one wrong thing, and the Ricci Don turned on me right there.

Adrian apologized for me in front of every family and gave up a piece of the docks. Six months of income, gone just like that.

That night I couldn't stop crying in the car. He just laughed and ruffled my hair. He said it was only one dock and he could afford it. What he couldn't stand was seeing me hurt.

Just one year later, that man was gone.

"I know he used to be good to me," I said. "But that was before. Now..."

"Enough." Adrian cut me off, clearly fed up.

"We're already engaged. What more do you want? So it doesn't count until we throw a party?"

"Fine. Tomorrow I'll have new invitations sent to every family and we'll do it again. Happy?"

He said it like it was nothing.

As if the five times I stood at the door greeting guests, the five times I smiled and told everyone he was on his way, had just been me throwing a tantrum.

"Can you just grow up?" he went on. "My father arranged this himself. Every Don in town knows you're mine. Is one party really that big a deal?"

I bit down on my tongue and forced the tears back.

The party never mattered. What mattered was that out of five parties, he hadn't shown up for a single one.

Mom nodded. "Sienna, the bottom line is you're being childish. Here's what's going to happen. You apologize to Adrian, we drop this, and the engagement stays on."

I looked up at her. My chest went so tight I could barely breathe.

"I have to apologize?" My voice came out raw.

"It's not all your fault..." Adrian started, then broke off.

Marissa's maid hurried in from the doorway, her face pale. "Mrs. Conti, Mr. Severino, Miss Marissa has a terrible headache. I'm scared to stay with her alone. Could you both come?"

Mom's face changed, and so did Adrian's.

"Did you call a doctor? How long has she been in pain?" Mom snatched up her purse. "I'll be right there."

"I'll drive you." Adrian was already pulling out his keys. "She's always been fragile. I'm worried about her."

"Take Sienna's car. It's parked closer."

"Then how am I supposed to get home?" I asked.

Mom whirled around. "Will you give it a rest? Your sister is in that much pain and you pick now to make trouble?"

"Get home however you want. Walk. Or don't come back at all!"

At the door, Adrian glanced back at me. "Wait here. I'll come back and get you later."

The door closed behind them. Standing alone in the empty ballroom, I couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

I knew he wasn't coming back.

I pulled off my engagement ring and dropped it in my purse. Then I pushed open the club doors and walked out into the freezing Long Island night.

Vincent's house was less than four miles away.

I walked for a long time in those shoes. By the time I reached his door, my heels were rubbed raw and bleeding, and every light on the street had gone dark.

He opened the door himself, in his robe. When he got a good look at me, his face hardened.

I stood in front of him and said, "Padrino, that marriage the Delacroix family wants? I'll do it. I'm ready to go north."