The Mafia's Good Girl
The Mafia’s Good Girl – Chapter 86

~ Violet ~

“Damon, I have to talk to you!”

Violet raced down the stairs in her beautiful lily-white silk dress. The rehearsal dinner was starting and guests were filling up the estate. Damon was already dressed in his dark three-piece suit. He looked mighty handsome, as always, and he was walking down the steps, greeting the incoming guests.

Wait, who are all these people?

“Wow, you look amazing,” Damon gaped as he turned around and watched her glide down the stairs. He put a hand to his chest for added dramatic effect.

“Thank you, but listen, I need to ask you something—“

“Sure, but hold that thought for one second,” Damon cut her off and pulled her hand, guiding her to the man and woman who were standing at the bottom of the staircase. “Violet, I’d like you to meet the Duke and Duchess of Kent,”

Say what now?

“Oh, please, call me Edward,” the man laughed and gestured for the beautiful woman next to him. “This is my wife, Francesca,”

“It’s very nice to meet you, and congratulations to you both,” Francesca smiled at Violet and Damon.

“Thank you,” Damon smiled politely back.

Violet tried her best to smile too, but she was fully shocked. Her brain was still reeling from the conversation she heard earlier, the whole ‘godfather’ thing. She thought she could ask him about it before the dinner starts, but something unexpected was happening to the rehearsal dinner. The event didn’t look like anything Violet had planned.

For starters, there were so many guests arriving while Violet had only anticipated twenty to thirty people max. And the people who were coming were people she had never seen before. They were all beautiful, rich, and powerful-looking people. People that made her stomach feel queasy with just one look.

“Oh, and this is Prince Salman from Saudi Arabia,” Damon said as he pulled Violet in another direction. Standing before them was a man in Arabic clothing, followed by an entourage of about ten bodyguards.

“Holy cow,” Violet muttered. She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but she was too flabbergasted. She had read about Prince Salman in newspapers and magazines. He was the richest and most powerful man in the Middle East.

What’s a guy like him doing in our rehearsal dinner?

“Pleased to meet you both,” Prince Salman extended his hand out and Damon shook his hand. “Congratulations again, Damon,”

“Thank you,” he replied.

Violet was watching the two men converse and it seemed like they knew each other well. After a few minutes, Damon excused the two of them and he guided her away from the prince and his entourage.

“Phew, the man can talk,” he chuckled under his breath.

“Damon, who are all these people?” Violet hissed. The front door was open wide and about fifty guys in black suits entered the foyer.

“They?” Damon asked. “Oh, they’re just… some of the biggest families from Belgium, Mexico, France, Japan—“

“What?” Violet gaped, cutting him off. “Why are all these people at our rehearsal dinner? This is supposed to be a small and intimate event. Both of us don’t have families, I thought it was just gonna be us two with Talia, Adrian, and—”

“I know, I know,” Damon cut her off this time, calming her down. “There’s just a small change of plans,”

“Small?” she rolled her eyes at him.

“Well, not exactly small,” he laughed. “But don’t worry about it, everything’s under control. We’ve got the space, we’ve got enough food to feed an army, we’re good,”

Violet looked around and saw plenty of waiters, champagnes, and food was being served. The garden was decorated in fairy lights, roses, and candles and there were enough tables to fit the entire city in there.

How did this happen?

“Were you planning this behind my back?” she asked him.

“Busted,” Damon laughed playfully, but she wasn’t amused. “Hey, you were overwhelmed with the wedding preparations already, I don’t wanna add any more stress on your plate,”

“But—“

“Damon!” A loud yell was heard from the other side of the room. Violet whipped her head and saw a man with blonde hair and a scar on the side of his eye waving his hand at Damon.

“Alexander!” Damon greeted him back. He then whispered into Violet’s ear as he guided her towards him. “He’s an old friend of mine, leader of the biggest family in Greece,”

“Congratulations you motherfúcker, you did it!” Alexander threw his arms out and pulled Damon into a hug.

“Thanks, man,”

More people began to gather around Violet and Damon as the guests were excited to greet and congratulate the happy couple. Violet was feeling overwhelmed at all these faces staring right at her. She looked up at Damon for help, but he was too busy carrying conversations with other people.

“Violet!” A loud yell was heard and Violet was suddenly pulled away from the crowd of people.

Talia and Celina were the ones who pulled her away. They brought her far enough until there were no people around. Then Talia, with a very convicting look on her face, told her, “You need to settle something for us,”

“What?” Violet asked in confusion.

“So, I know Talia’s the maid of honor, but I was wondering if I can do a speech too?” Celina said with a pleading look on her face. “I promise it’ll be super short and not embarrassing at all—“

“No, tell her no!” Talia cut her off. “We don’t have the time. We can’t have this event running past midnight. We have a wedding to do tomorrow!”

“It’ll only be five minutes top!” Celina argued. “Please?”

“Say no!” Talia snapped.

“Say yes!” Celina snapped back.

“Guys, stop it!” Violet barked an order over the two of them. “Just do whatever you want. I don’t care,”

“Huh?” Talia and Celina were taken aback. All this bickering was adding to her stress, and she was stressed enough already.

Violet sighed and looked around the room, in the direction where Damon once stood. She couldn’t replace him there now. He must be roaming around somewhere amidst this sea of people.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go replace my fiancé,”

Leaving Talia and Celina confused and shocked, Violet stomped her feet back to the crowd of people. Making her way through, she forced out polite smiles whenever they greeted her. She only wanted to replace Damon and pull him away somewhere quiet where they could talk, but she couldn’t even replace him now.

Great. This is just great.

This was not how Violet imagined tonight to be like. All she wanted was a simple dinner with their closest friends. But now, she was surrounded by a hundred strangers and not even Damon was around.

Where is he?!

Violet scanned all the corners of the room, but there was no sign of Damon anywhere. She then walked towards the garden where people were filling up the tables. The bridge and groom’s table was specially prepared in the middle of the garden, but Damon wasn’t there either.

Standing alone in the middle of the garden, Violet’s heart was sinking to her stomach. She had a bad feeling that she couldn’t shake off. She scanned the area again, looking past the group of musicians, past the waiters carrying glasses of champagne, and past the group of men in sharp black suits, but Damon was nowhere to be found.

Violet wandered aimlessly through the large garden. She checked the church and even Adrian’s cottage, but there was no one there. Finally, she looked up to see the second floor window of the estate, and she noticed that the lights in Damon’s study were on.

I wonder…

Violet took quick steps, walking towards the estate. But before she could get too far, a pair of hands appeared from the shadows and pulled her roughly to the side.

“Vi!” a familiar voice said.

Violet was about to scream, but then she turned around and saw Dylan. He was the one who pulled her away. Her eyes jolted open as she studied him. He was wearing a uniform like the waiters’ were wearing.

“Dylan?!” she gaped. “How did you—“

“Hey, listen, I don’t have much time. I need to tell you something,” he cut her off quickly. His breath was ragged like he had been running to get here.

“You came to my rehearsal dinner?” Violet said in disbelief. She was actually very happy to see him there. “But why are you wearing this?“

“I’m not here to stay,” he told her. “And I don’t think your fiancé will let me either,”

“Dyl—“

“I just came by to tell you one thing, so please, listen to me,” he cut her off again. His voice was serious and his eyes were dark. Violet swallowed and listened hard. “A week ago, when I came to see Damon at his club, I overheard he was talking on the phone with Hugo. They’re planning something. Something big. Something that involves eliminating all of the biggest families in the world, and he’s using the wedding as a ruse to get them all together,”

“What?” Violet gasped.

“Yeah, there’s gonna be a bloodbath happening tomorrow. This wedding is a complete sham!” Dylan spat in disdain. “I tried to reach you, Vi, but his men had been following me everywhere. Finally, I ditched them. Mom and I are staying at a hotel and we’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning,”

“What?!” she screeched again. She was hearing all these words but her brain couldn’t comprehend them.

Dylan then pulled out a white envelope from his pocket and shoved it into Violet’s hand.

“Here, I got you a ticket too. The plane leaves at sunrise,” he said. “Come with us, Vi. Leave this shithole hell behind and we’ll start anew,”

Violet stared at the plane ticket in her hand. It had her name on it. The destination was Austin, Texas.

Letting out a sigh, Dylan then said, “Mom’s also been asking for you. She really misses you,”

Violet’s eyes jerked up at the mention of her mother. She stared at Dylan in confusion, but his eyes remained serious.

“Dylan, stop,” she pleaded. “I… I don’t understand…”

“You can’t trust him, Vi! Everything’s he’s told you is a lie. He’s only using you and this wedding for his business!” Dylan was angry and he could burst at any moment, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Look, I know you’re a big girl and you can handle yourself. I can’t drag you out of here against your will. But I just think you deserve to know the truth and I hope you’ll make the right choice,”

Violet fell silent as she let Dylan’s words sunk in. Her hands were trembling and tears were pooling in her eyes.

“There. I’ve told you everything. Now it’s up to you,” he said after a beat of silence. Then he looked around the area and noticed someone coming towards them. “I have to go now,” he said quickly.

“Dylan, wait—“ Violet reached for her brother, stopping his tracks.

Dylan paused for a moment. Then his hand reached into his other pocket and he pulled out a small metallic gun.

“I hope you don’t have to use this. But just in case s**t hits the fan, you need to protect yourself because these people sure as hell won’t,” Dylan said as he shoved the gun to Violet’s hand.

“Dylan, where did you even get—“

“Hey, who’s there?” Elena’s voice was heard, calling out after them. Violet whipped her head to see the head maid walking towards them, followed by Liam.

“Goodbye Vi, I hope I’ll see you,” Dylan whispered into her ear and gave her a quick k**s on the cheek. “I love you,”

“Dylan—!”

Dylan didn’t wait for another second. He quickly ran and jumped behind the bushes, scrambling to climb his way out of the gates.

“Miss Violet?” Elena approached seconds after Dylan left. She had a flashlight with her, and the lights were focused on Violet’s face. “What are you doing here? People are looking everywhere for you,”

“Oh, I was just… getting some air,” she replied nervously.

Violet then realized the gun that was in her hand. Elena and Liam didn’t see it, so she quickly shoved it into her purse, along with the plane ticket.

“They’re about to start the toast. You don’t wanna miss the speech, right?” Elena asked.

“O—of course not,” she stammered. Her hands were clutching her purse tightly.

“Well, come on,” Elena stretched out her hand and Violet reluctantly took it.

Elena and Liam walked her back into the estate where the jazz music was playing and the champagne glasses were clinking. People everywhere were laughing and dancing and having a good time, but Violet couldn’t even muster up a smile. She kept glancing down to her purse and she swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the world resting in her little hands.