I was sitting in my office, not able to concentrate on the paperwork sitting on the desk in front of me. My mind kept drifting, in three days I would be a married man. I was set to pick up Ezra Friday, and then go to the courthouse to elope, and then afterward, a small reception that only a small number of people had been invited too.

I figured she wouldn't want a huge wedding, after all we weren't in love, and she seemed pretty shy.

I decided that I would give her one later if that's what she wanted.

I rid my head of the stupid thoughts, when I heard a knock at my door. I yell out a 'come in' and Lucas Marchetti strides in.

"Well, well, fucking well." Lucas laughed,

plopping down on the couch in my office, "I've heard through the grapevine that my man, Vincent, is engaged? Wonder who started that rumor." He chuckled out, shaking his head.

There has been several rumors spread before that I'd been engaged, or secretly in love with a maid or some stupid shit like that. And in turn, Lucas had an obsession with taunting me with said rumors, but this time, they were true.

David Gallo must've told the rest of the families, fuckin' pig

And although I wanted too, there was no point to lie, "I am."

His face fell as he sprung up from the chair, "What? To who!?"

"Ezra Gallo."

"What!? Ezra Gallo? She's supposedly really hot, I was hoping to sneak a peak of her when we were visiting Alice!" A sly grin appeared on his face, "Wait a minute, you met her that night, didn't you, you sly dog?" He grinned, pointing at me.

I frowned, "Watch your mouth, you will not speak like that again."

Hearing him talk that way about Ezra made a surge of anger flare through me, accompanied by a sudden need to wrap my hands around his neck, but I held myself back.

He threw his hands up in a mock surrender, "When were you planning on telling your best friend?! Why didn't you tell me, I don't know, in the car ride home minutes after your proposal?! We were in the car for almost half an hour!"

"I was still processing."

"Why did you even do it? I thought you were just meeting as a formality?"

I sat there for a second, processing the question a hundred times over. There was no real explanation as to why I asked her, I just did without even thinking. I just knew I needed her to be my wife.

"You told me I needed a wife, so I picked a wife."

He gave me a smug smile, obviously seeing right through me, because no one has ever told me what to do, "Well? When's the wedding?"

"I decided we wouldn't have a wedding, just going to elope. We are having a small reception afterward that you and Donnie are invited to."

"Donnie's gonna flip, he'll think we were hiding this from him," he laughed and shook his head, "No wedding, just the courthouse?"

"It's a business transaction, not a real wedding, I don't think she'd even want anything like that."

"Wow man, I'd never thought I'd see the day!" He laughed, sliding his hand over his face. "You got a ring yet?"

"Yeah." I replied, opening a desk drawer and pulling out the small box that I had stared at for hours over the past few days instead of doing my actual work.

I went back and forth on what to get, not really knowing what she liked, so I stuck with simple, because I didn't foresee her liking flashy things. I picked a slender golden ring with a large oval diamond in the middle, with a matching band. In the same box, there was a larger, thicker gold ring that was mine.

It was a weird feeling in three days I'd put this ring on and never take it back off, and so would she. Divorce was not legal in the families, so this decision had to be final.

"Holy shit dude, you got yours too?!"

I nodded my head.

"Dude, Donnie's gonna be pissed."

"He'll get over it. Do you need anything else?"

"No man, I'm just happy for you. You deserve some happiness. I can't wait to meet the girl who has got you whipped."

I frowned at him, "Fuck off, I'm not whipped."

I heard him scoff and let out a laugh all the way down the hallway as he left.

When I first saw Vincent Bruno enter the small library in the east corner of my home, I wanted to fall off the cushion I was sitting on so the ground could swallow me whole.

I didn't get to look at him long, but I saw his tall stature and brooding face as he asked my father about me, which made my heart skip a beat.

But as expected, my father steered the conversation back to Alice. He'd been keen to get Alice with the Don for a while now, she was easy to manipulate, and he knew if he could get Alice in the door, he'd be able to weasel his way in too, kissing ass for a promotion every chance he got.

Because if Alice were to get married, it was his way in.

My father also knew just as well that I wouldn't be manipulated like that. So if he wanted his plan to go smoothly, he needed to keep Vincent away from me.

So when Vincent offered $300,000 to marry me, we both knew that he was one thing; fucked.

My father reluctantly said yes, but I knew that this wouldn't be the end of it. I knew that he'd still try and weasel Alice in there, but I didn't know exactly how, so I figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

But Alas, Alice had been heart broken when she found out the Don had no intention of marrying her, even more so when my father made me tell her he chose me instead, making me feel like utter shit in the process.

Alice and I never had a good relationship, but we tried to get along and face our common enemy: our father. He was a miserable, greedy man, one who I hated with every ounce of my being.

Although he was better to Alice than he was to me, but he still treated us both like trash. We both cooked and cleaned for him, acting as his assistant every time he needed us. It was going to be weird to have to adapt to such a life change, my dad had sat me down and demanded that I knew what would happen. I would say an I do at the alter, pleasure him however he wanted on our wedding night, or really whenever he wanted in general. I would bear his children, I would make him happy.

Although I knew I would follow through, the whole week all I heard was different versions of, "Alice could make him happier" which I knew was probably true.

Alice had been brought with the intention of marrying someone like the Don, she was everything a Donna should be, outgoing and friendly, while I was just shy. I had always been an introvert, even as a child which resulted in me having no have friends, so I sought solace in books.

But Alice was not set to marry the Don, I was, and I needed to get a grip and come to terms with my impending elopement. I knew we weren't going to have an actual ceremony, which was perfectly fine with me.

So Instead of the traditional long white gown, I picked out a simple white dress, that had long sleeves and ended around mid thigh. Alice picked out a pair of lingerie for me to wear under it, giving me brutal honesty of what I was to expect on my wedding night.

And true to his word, Vincent picked me up and we went into the courthouse, neither of us speaking a word to the other. Time flew after both of us said an "I do."

We didn't exchange vows, but Vincent did pick out a very beautiful ring. The oval diamond contrasted with the gold ring, and was very beautiful, and large enough to look classy, but not so much that it overtook my hand. He had a matching gold band on his left hand that was a little thicker, which resulted in butterflies in my stomach.

I knew he'd wear a ring, but the fact that they were matching was very cute.

Neither of us said much of anything as we were seated next to each other at a small reception in a quaint room that Vincent must've gotten for the night. A few random people stopped by to congratulate us, which had me mumbling out a few thank you's as Vincent ignored pretty much everyone.

The weirdest part was, Vincent held onto my hand the whole night. His giant hand practically swallowed mind, as he switched from rubbing his thumb over the back to fiddling with my ring, spinning it around my finger.

A ring that will be on my hand for the rest of my life

We both left after about an hour, and pulled into a gated driveway that had a little office with a couple men sitting down inside, watching what looked like cameras of the grounds. A couple more security guards were standing outside the gate, walking with around with large guns. Vincent pulled up to the gate and it opened immediately, "You can go anywhere on the grounds, but are not allowed outside the fence. I have security walking around 24/7, but they do not enter the house."

I couldn't help my curiosity, "Are there cameras?"

"The security only has access to cameras outside, only a select few have access to the ones inside, but they don't get used often. There are none in the bedrooms or bathrooms, but they are everywhere else. Safety precautions."

I nodded my head as he opened the driver side door and I opened mine. We both stepped out of the car, and he grabbed my bag from the backseat.

I looked over my shoulder, and there stood a house, more like a mansion, that was enormous, made almost entirely of brick that had several steps leading to a large set of double doors.

Vincent walked around the car to me, and held out his hand in a silent question. I reached mine out too, because I figured he wanted to hold it again, but he picked me up bridal style, making me gasp in the process as he carried me through the threshold of the house and into the entry way.

Vincent put me down and I followed him into the foyer, that had ceilings at least 50 feet high. From my stance I could see a double staircase, both leading up to what I assumed were bedrooms. Straight ahead was a large kitchen, and to the left a wide living room, leading into another room that I couldn't see. The right had a long hallway, which Vince had told me that his study was located in, but instructed that I didn't need to go in there.

Vincent spoke first, "Go upstairs into our bedroom, last door on the right, I'll be up in a few minutes."

I didn't let out a verbal response, just gave him a nod of my head to indicate that I had heard him.

I made my way up the stairs following his directions, entering a room at the end of a very giant hallway that encased several doors.

How many rooms are in this freaking place?

I shook my head as I walked into the massive room, and was surprised to see it lacked any personal items. There was no pictures, no decorations, nothing that looked used, even the bed looked undisturbed. Everything was meticulously placed and in order, seemingly untouched.

Does he even live here?

I decided to look around, and found that there was a substantial walk in closet, half was cleared out for what I assumed to be my clothes. I moved to the en-suite bathroom, which consisted of a double sink and immense walk-in shower.

I decided that now would be better than never, and took off my dress. I folded it neatly and placed it on the counter top as I looked in the mirror as tears leaked from my eyes, before making my way back to the room.

God I hope this goes quick