They spent most of the day in town, and Louis was not shy to flash his credit card either and he went out of his way to spoil her. Although she felt somewhat guilty, she simply convinced herself to enjoy it while it lasts. One more week and she will be back at the grind stone and this entire period of her life would be over.

“We’re just in time for dinner,” he said as they entered the house.

The rich aroma of sautéing onions, butter and roast beef filled the air and her stomach rumbled loud enough for her to hear it.

“Well my stomach has spoken, I’m starving,” she giggled and led the way to the dinner table, but her appetite soon faded when she detected the somber mood that hung heavily in the air. She glanced at her father, then at Stefano, but neither of the two said a word. When Louis entered, he also suddenly became withdrawn and quiet. Maybe she was just imagining things she thought and sat down when Louis pulled her chair out for her.

Stefano mumbled something in Italian under his breath, which she couldn’t quite hear, but whatever it was, it clearly annoyed Louis. Did his father not approve of the fact that he spent so much time with her, she wondered briefly. But as the whispers became more urgent the mood catapulted into a driven force of negativity.

“I did not raise a coward for a son,” Stefano piped up loudly.

“I told you I will get it done,” Louis responded, and shoved his plate away from him.

She looked towards her father where he sat with a serious expression that troubled his face and she could stand it no longer.

“Excuse me, but what’s going on?”

“We will talk after dinner,” Louis said in an icy tone.

“No! We will talk now. This cannot wait any longer,” his father demanded.

What on earth was going on here? Just a few minutes ago, this place was buzzing with excitement, now it felt like the grim reaper was about to collect his souls.

“Now is not the time,” Louis said through gritted teeth as he stood up and glared at his father.

“No other time is better.”

“Enough!” It was her father who spoke aloud finally.

“Belinda, you will marry Louis in a week’s time,” her father ordered.

She looked from one to the other, trying to determine if she heard correctly.

“Excuse me?” she asked in a shrill voice, “did I hear you correctly?”

“You heard me, in a week you will marry Louis,” her father said flatly.

She could not believe her ears, her own father literally just ordered her to marry Louis. This cannot be happening, she thought as she desperately grasped for a response in the recesses of her mind.

“Papa, I don’t even know him, how can you expect me to do such a thing?” she said in disbelief, but this time Stefano stood up.

“This is not a request, your parents promised you to my son when you were just a bambino, and the time has come for them to be true to their word,” he said flatly.

“What?!” both Belinda and Louis exclaimed at the same time.

She glared at her father and then at Stefano. How could her father have made such a promise on her behalf? And as the initial shock subsided, anger and rage replaced that empty space in her soul.

“You cannot make me marry a man I hardly know! What about love and commitment where does that fit into the picture…” she started but just then Louis placed his hand over hers.

She whipped her head around and glared at him, “And you! You knew all about this arrangement, didn’t you?” she retorted and laughed incredulously, “this was all just a game to you wasn’t it?”

“Belinda…” Louis said, but she wouldn’t let him talk.

“All this time, charming me, kissing me, taking me out shopping, it was all a ploy for you to get me to marry you, wasn’t it?”

Tears were pooling in her eyes, but they were not because of sadness, they were filled with bitterness and anger.

“That’s enough,” Stefano roared as he shoved his chair back across the floor, “You will marry my son and that is final.”

She glared at Stefano with utter hatred, wishing she could scratch his eyes out, but then she caught a glance of her father’s worried gaze. Louis had also stood up and was trying to drag her away from the dinner table, but she would have none of it and she tugged her arm free.

“You’re acting like a bunch of hooligans, my god, this is not the mafia, what is wrong with all of you?” she cried out, but the silence she was greeted with was so deafening you could hear a pin drop. She looked at her father, then at Stefano and lastly, at Louis. All three with their eyes cast down liked accused criminals. And then it hit her. Impossible, she thought, they can’t possibly be a part of the mafia.

“Oh god papa, tell me it isn’t true?” she pleaded as the room started to spin. “Please papa, don’t make me do this,” she begged and before she could utter another word, the room went completely black.

Louis caught Belinda just as she toppled over and without as much as a glance at the two older men he carried her upstairs to her room. This was a bad idea from the start and right now he hated himself. He gently laid her down on her bed and instructed one of the servants to keep an eye on her and then headed back downstairs.

“Cosa stavi pensando!” he ground out as he confronted his father, “I told you I would handle this, I do not see the point of rushing such a decision.”

“The girl will be fine once she comes to terms with everything,” his father said callously.

“Why the sudden rush?” he demanded looking from his father to Gino.

“It is the only way we can strengthen our ties in the United States. With our families united, we’ll be the most prominent and the most influential family, a true force to be reckoned with,” his father stated.

“At the cost of your daughter’s happiness?” he bit out turning his attention to Gino.

“We have all had to sacrifice one thing or the other Louis; it’s a small price to pay.”

Unbelievable! He couldn’t comprehend how her father was capable of betraying his own daughter like that.

He looked at them for a moment then straightened up.

“From now on, you will both stay out of our affairs. To claim her hand in marriage would need a miracle, and I hope for your sakes that God will be kind enough to soften her heart, so I hope you visit confession before Sunday mass.”

Furious with his father, Gino and himself, he stormed out. He needed to figure out how he was going to fix this.