Page 1 of Maddest Temptation

PROLOGUE

Iburied my husband on a Friday, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining, its warmth wrapping around me like a second skin. It was a perfect day.

Paolo was finally gone.

I watched the crowd around me, those who had come to the cemetery to pay their respects for my late husband. Three of his mistresses were present, all of them shedding crocodile tears. They wouldn’t miss him; they would only miss what he had provided for them. The money, the gifts, and the status.

I looked away.

I wouldn’t spare Paolo a single tear, he didn’t deserve them. My husband–late husband–wasn’t worthy of my sorrow. Once, I had tried loving him, I had been young and naive, desperate for his attention. Our marriage had been arranged when I was fifteen and he, forty-five. I was nineteen when I married him.

Paolo had wanted a young, trophy wife by his side, a new toy he could play with and put aside when he grew tired. I learned pretty quickly to hate him, as well as the abuse, the bruises, the humiliation and worst of all, his refusal to give me what I wanted most, a family.

He took away the one thing I wanted, the one thing I had dreamed of since I was a child. I always wanted to be a mother, but he stole my dream and broke it into a million different pieces.

Now he was dead.

Pure autumn air filled my lungs, and I sighed with relief, something I hadn’t done so in four years. No more pain, no more fear, no more Paolo. For one year I could be free.

I had a year before my father decided to marry me off again–as it was custom in the Outfit all widows had a year of mourning. Knowing Donato Manci, my father was going to marry me off as soon as he could.

A widow, especially a childless one, was a pariah in our midst. Which was ironic given that our husbands were all Made Men. Mafiosi. Mobsters who put their lives on the line every day.

I looked at Marie, then at Antoine, her brother, my best friends. They had remained with me through thick and thin. “We should go.”I said.

“You don’t want to stay until they lower him?” Marie asked.

I shook my head. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. “Let’s go eat something, I’m famished.”

“What about the wake?” She insisted.

I shrugged. “I don’t really care.”

“Great, because I know just a place we could go.” Antoine wrapped his arm around mine and led me away, I followed him without glancing back.

Once we reached the cozy restaurant I sat and ordered a vodka tonic. Marie eyed me with concern. “Frankie,” she warned me when I gulped it down like water.

“I’m fine.” I said, then called the waitress so I could order another drink.

That drink vanished in seconds, too. When I was about to order a third, Antoine stopped me. “I’m fine.” I snapped.

“Francesca,” Antoine placed a hand over mine on the table.

I took a deep, annoyed sigh. “I really am fine, Paolo is gone, he can’t hurt me anymore. I am finally free.” Until your mourning period is over, I reminded myself but quickly pushed that away. “Can we talk about something else?”

The siblings didn’t look like they believed me, but they thankfully accepted my suggestion. “Is everything set for our move?”

“You know you guys don’t have to uproot everything and move with me, right?”

“We know.” Antoine smiled and looked at his sister. “We want to, Indianapolis has grown boring, and without you here we have no reason to stay,” he added, causing my heart to beat painfully against my chest.

Of course, they had, it’s where Marie and Antoine had lived since, they moved from France ten years ago. It was their home, and they were only moving so they could be with me. “Don’t make me ruin my makeup.” I dabbed my napkin under my eyes.

Antoine laughed and shoved me playfully. “I just don’t understand why you don’t want to move in with us.”

I sighed deeply. This again? “You know why.”

“Because you want your freedom,” Marie stated provokingly.