chapter 15

Angelo Walking into the cathedral, I head down the aisle, barely taking notice of the empty pews. Father Parisi comes out of the confession booth, and the instant his eyes land on me, he hurries toward me. “Mr. Rizzo. This is unexpected.” I’m not a man of religion, and the walls of this building rarely see me, so I can understand why he’s surprised that I’m here. Wanting to get out of the cathedral as quickly as possible, I mutter, “Where can we talk in private?” “Are you here for confession?” I let out a chuckle, and shaking my head, I say, “I’m comfortable with the idea of going to hell.” Big Ricky stifles his laughter behind me with a fake cough. Father Parisi looks visibly disappointed with my comment. He gestures toward a door. “We can talk in my office.”I follow the holy man to the back of the cathedral and into his office. It’s so fucking stuffy in here it makes my skin itch. Glancing at Big Ricky, I order, “Wait outside.” “Yes, boss.”I shut the door before turning my attention to the priest. There’s a cautious look on Father Parisi’s face as he asks, “If it’s not for salvation, why are you here?” Cutting to the chase, I say, “I’m getting married and need you to perform the ceremony.” Surprise flutters over the old man’s face. “Oh.” He blinks at me before letting out a sigh of relief. “That’s such good news. When will the wedding be held?” He probably thought I wanted to use the Parish for illegal reasons.“Tomorrow night.”The quicker I get this over with, the sooner I can give all my attention to my business again.His eyebrows lift. “That’s earlier than I expected. Will it be held here at the cathedral?”I shake my head. “The ceremony will take place at my estate. I expect you to be there at seven p.m.”He moves closer to his table as he asks, “Who’s the bride?” “Vittoria Romano.”The priest's eyes fly to my face, and the blood drains from his complexion. “Tori hasn’t said anything to me about marrying you.”Taking a step closer, I tilt my head. My tone is low, carrying the promise of death, as I say, “That’s because she doesn’t know, and it will stay that way until we’re both saying our vows in front of you.”A pleading expression tightens his features. “Mr. Rizzo, I can’t perform a forced marriage between you and Tori.” My patience starts slipping, and I clench my jaw as my eyes sharpen on him. “You will do as I say, or a new priest will sit in this office.” I take another threatening step closer to him. “And you will not tell anyone of this until Vittoria is married to me.”“She’s a good girl,” he pleads. “Don’t do this to her.”Done with this conversation, I mutter, “Seven p.m. sharp tomorrow night. Don’t make me add killing a priest to my list of sins.” Wanting to get through to the man so he’ll keep his mouth shut, I close the distance between us and stare him down with all the brutality I’m capable of. “I’ll drain you of every drop of blood in your body before nailing you to a fucking cross for your entire Parish to see.” The old man swallows hard on his fear while his body shakes, his head bobbing frantically up and down. Done with the meeting, I stalk to the door, and pulling it open, I leave the stunned priest in his office and walk out of the cathedral. I want to get this wedding over and done with so my life can return to normal. God help whoever gets in the way of me putting my ring on Vittoria’s finger.