Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

“If I didn’t know of the circumstances of your wife’s death, I wouldn’t have
broached the subject today. It’s disrespectful.” Luca only knew what I’d told
him.
Father shook his head. “We can’t wait the expected year. My grandchildren
need a mother.”
“What is it you have to discuss?” I asked Luca, tired of my father and him
knowing what was going on and leaving me in the dark.
“My uncle Felix has a daughter who isn’t promised. She could become your
wife. A union between Philadelphia and Baltimore would solidify your power,
Cassio,” Luca said.
Felix Rizzo ruled as Underboss over Baltimore. He’d gained the position by
marrying one of Luca’s aunts—not because he was good at the job—but he was
a tolerable man. I didn’t remember his daughter.
“Why isn’t she married yet?” As the daughter of a high-ranking Made Man,
she would have been promised to someone in the Famiglia for years… unless
something was wrong with her.
Luca and Father exchanged a look which raised my alarms. “She was
promised to the son of a Captain, but he got killed during a Bratva attack last
year.”
Quickly recognizing my troubled expression, Father added, “She didn’t
know him. She only met him once when she was twelve.”
There was more.
“You could marry her in early November. That way the wedding wouldn’t be
too close to Gaia’s funeral.”
“Why November?”
“That’s when she turns eighteen,” Luca said.
I stared at him and my father. Had they lost their minds? “The girl is almost
fourteen years younger than me!”
“Given your circumstances, she’s the best option, Cassio,” Father said
imploringly. “All the other available daughters of high-ranking Made Men are
even younger, and I doubt you’d be willing to marry a widow, given your past
experiences.”
My expression became hard. “Today isn’t the right time to discuss this.”
Luca inclined his head. “Don’t wait too long. Felix wants to find a match for
Giulia as quickly as possible.”
I gave a terse nod then returned inside. Mother was trying to calm Simona
who’d started crying, and Mia was on her way out of the living room with
Daniele in mid-tantrum. I needed a wife. However, today I didn’t have the
mental capability to make that kind of decision.