You Wanted an Ornament, You Got a Mafia Queen Chapter 07

You Wanted an Ornament, You Got a Mafia Queen Chapter 07

He smiled. Warm and unhurried.

“You haven’t changed at all. Always thinking about everyone else first.”

That made me a little embarrassed.

When I was little and Mom would take me to visit family, Adrian was my best friend there. Then his family moved to Toronto when he went away for college.

We’d lost ten years. What we knew of each other still lived somewhere in our teenage years.

Jumping into something wasn’t fair to either of us.

“Sorry. I don’t really know how to say this in a way that comes out right.”

He nodded, easy and clear.

“Don’t apologize. I get it. No pressure. We’re business partners. We’re old friends. We take it slow. Elysia, I’ve always had time for you.”

That night, sitting at the kitchen table eating Mom’s cooking, I thought: this is what happiness actually is.

“Elysia, you and Adrian, how’s it going?”

I was already halfway through my second helping and barely looked up.

“Good. He’s patient about explaining everything. You don’t need to worry about the project.”

Mom made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh.

“I’m not asking about the project.”

I looked up at her then.

“Do you know why he went abroad back then?”

“Didn’t his dad’s company want to expand over there?”

Her expression went somewhere distant.

“That’s part of it. But Adrian found out about your engagement to the Santoro family. He was heartbroken. He wanted to put an ocean between himself and all of it. His parents were so worried

they picked up and moved with him.”

She sighed again.

“That boy is genuinely good. He’s known about you and that Santoro boy all this time, and he never once tried to get in the middle of it. He’d find out how you were doing through your aunt, through

He never wanted you to feel any pressure.”
I put down my fork.

That was a lot to hold at once.

Adrian. This whole time?

My eyes had always been on Marco. I’d never thought to look anywhere else.

Mom kept going:

“When he heard you’d broken the engagement, Elysia, he was so happy he didn’t know what to do with himself. He told us not to tell you. Said it wasn’t the right time, that you needed space. This kid’s had more sense at twenty-something than most people ever do.”

So that’s how it was.

The next morning when we saw each other at the office, I felt strange. Off-balance in a way I couldn’t quite shake.

That’s when Grandfather Giovanni called.

“Sweetheart, that boy’s on his way to Toronto to find you. Don’t let him rope you into anything. Tell him to turn around and come home.”

I wasn’t surprised.

“Understood, Grandpa. You focus on resting. I’ll come visit soon.”

He said “good” three times in a row before hanging up.

That evening, Adrian and I walked out of the office building together.

“Dinner at home with your mom, or do you want to go somewhere?”

I looked up. The sky was full of color.

“That waterfront French place. I don’t want to waste a sunset like this.”

“Done.”

We’d barely made it to the parking garage when a figure stepped out right in front of us.

I stumbled back.

“Careful-”

Adrian grabbed my arm and caught my waist at the same time.

“Get your hands off her!”

I looked up and focused.

Marco. Jaw set, eyes dark, storming toward us.

He shoved Adrian back with one hand.

“What is wrong with you?” I snapped.

“You’re yelling at me? You’re defending him?”

He looked stunned. Like I’d hit him.

“You paraded your assistant all over the city. I’m standing up for my friend. What’s the problem?”

Something flashed in Marco’s eyes.

“I fired her. Everything she posted, that was her doing, not mine. Nothing happened between us. Vegas was-”

“Stop.” I cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it. Marco, we’re done. The engagement is over. Don’t come here and make this harder.”

He didn’t back down.

“No. You’ve got the wrong idea about me. You stopped trusting me, and I never betrayed you. I need to say this to your face. Elysia, I don’t accept this.”

Adrian stood to the side. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t speaking. Just watching Marco with steady, quiet eyes.

“You say you never betrayed me. Think about what that actually means. Whether or not anything

happened with her doesn’t matter. You gave her the opening. You let her believe it was possible. Cr, let’s be honest, you could’ve made it happen anytime you wanted. Marco. Isn’t that exactly the lesson you were trying to teach me?”