@vnf1lxtly9: “Watching her dance isn't how I want to spend an evening.” The table went quiet. Viola, my half-sister, could usually count on Lorenzo to defend her. She'd been engaged to his younger brother while having an affair with him. When she canceled that wedding, our families married us off instead. I'd become her replacement without becoming the woman he wanted. Now his father, Dario Conti, was asking about my work as though she had nothing to do with it. “It takes strength to build a career like yours,” he told me. I looked down at my plate. I wasn't used to hearing that at a family dinner. Lorenzo brought up Viola again. His father refused to praise her just to keep him happy. The argument ended with my husband walking out of the dining room. I started to rise. Dario asked me to stay and apologized for his son. Then I told him about the honeymoon. The villa built for Viola. Her arrival during our trip. How different it had been from the happy story his son had told him. He listened without making excuses for either of them. He was forty-five, divorced, and the head of the family. I should have been worrying about what he thought of our marriage. Instead, I was hoping he'd remember Paris. A week later, I searched the audience during my show. No sign of him. I went backstage and told myself it was better this way. There were enough complications in my life. My assistant came over. “Dario Conti is here.” I stopped moving. “Front row. Do you want me to ask him to leave?” “No.” The answer came much too quickly. #Cycleai #BookTok #MafiaRomance #ArrangedMarriage #ForbiddenRomance Cliffhanger

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Friday 18 September 2026 14:09:50 GMT