The Don Chose Her, I Chose Left Chapter 01
I’d wrapped up an eight-year romance with young Don Julian Russo of the Russo Family, and my wedding day was finally right around the corner.
But on the eve of the ceremony, Signora Russo, the matriarch of the Russo Family, turned up with a strange woman in tow.
“This is Bianca Marino, Julian’s first love. She just got back from overseas.”
She spoke flat and unyielding.
“Per old Russo Family custom, a man has to spend one entire night with the woman who first taught him how to love before tying the knot.”
“They call it the farewell vigil, a way to give thanks for her selfless devotion all those years ago.”
The whole notion struck me as utterly absurd.
This wedding wasn’t only the union between Julian Russo and me.
Two years prior, Julian’s father had stepped back from running operations, leaving him as the young Don heading the entire Russo Family.
It was also a crucial alliance wedding binding the Bellandi Family and the Russo Family together.
Every capo, consigliere and elder from both clans was scheduled to show up for the big day.
Yet his own mother had marched right up to me the night before our wedding, demanding I let him spend the night with his former lover.
Julian wore a dead-serious expression when he addressed me next.
“Elena, this is our family’s long-standing tradition.”
“If you truly love me, you’ll respect the Russo Family’s heritage.”
“Besides, Bianca’s the one who shaped me from a naive teen into a real man by teaching me to love.”
“She gave everything without asking for anything in return.”
“I owe her this proper thank-you night.”
Everyone around me pressured me to be the bigger person.
Signora Russo squeezed Bianca’s hand tightly, her face lined with obvious pity for the younger woman.
“Bianca’s struggled all alone abroad for years.”
“She only came home hoping for a respectful final goodbye.”
“You’re meant to be Julian’s wife, the future Donna of the Russo Family. Can’t you find it in you to be generous?”
Julian’s inner circle all chimed in one after another.
“Don’t be petty, Miss Bellandi.”
“The young Don’s choosing to marry you after all, what’ve you got to fear?”
“A single night with an old flame before marriage doesn’t mean he loves you any less.”
“These rules have stood in the Russo Family for generations. You can’t start your new life with us acting unreasonable.”
I fixed my gaze straight on Julian.
Eight years together.
Three lost pregnancies.
One surgery waiver I’d signed with my own hand.
And all I got in return was a demand to stay understanding and forgiving.
I dropped my gaze and nodded faintly.
“Fine.”
“I’ll accept it.”
Our wedding rolled around exactly as planned the following morning.
When Julian stumbled into the bridal suite surrounded by his groomsmen on our wedding night, a gorgeous unfamiliar man was already laid out across our crimson wedding bed.
While the entire room froze in raging shock, I curled my arm securely around the man beside me without a flicker of panic.
“I forgot to mention something earlier.”
“The Bellandi Family’s got an ancient custom of our own.”
“On your wedding night, the bride gets to honor her former lover right in front of her groom.”
“After all, that ex gave selflessly without reward, turning a young girl into a grown woman.”
“It’s only right I give him his proper thanks.”
I’d barely agreed to abide by the Russos’ weird tradition when Julian abandoned me on the spot and dragged Bianca off with him.
Two hours later, I tracked them down inside a private bar owned by the Russo Family.
It was an underground exclusive lounge operated under their clan’s name.
Two suited bodyguards stood posted by the front entrance, and inside the private lounge booth sat Julian’s closest guys plus sons from multiple young capos’ households.
Loud bass music blared through the room amid raucous laughter.
“The Don’s a total genius!”
“He pulled off the perfect scheme to hook up with his first love right before his wedding thanks to this so-called tradition.”
“Tonight’s farewell vigil’s gonna be the best night of his life, no cap!”
All chatter cut dead the second I pushed open the booth door.
Julian pulled away from Bianca’s embrace, his tone sharp with irritation.
“What’re you doing here?”
“We agreed you wouldn’t come interrupt us tonight.”
I kept my voice calm and level.
“Can’t I drop by to watch your little gratitude ceremony with your ex?”
One of his guys hurried to smooth over the tense atmosphere.
“Lots of Sicilian mafia households follow these old customs, Miss Bellandi, no need to get worked up.”
“It’s nothing more than late-night heartfelt conversations between two old flames.”
“Seriously, the Don’s heart belongs only to you.”
“Once this night wraps up, he’s yours completely.”
I gave a slow, placid nod.
“I said it already, I understand completely.”
Relief washed over every face in the booth.
“No wonder the Don picked you over his old flame, you’re incredibly reasonable.”
Spurred on by my seemingly unbothered demeanor, another of his guys tossed out a reckless suggestion.
“Since it’s the Don’s last night of freedom pre-marriage, why don’t we step the fun up a notch?”
Julian took a slow sip of liquor and tilted his chin up.
“Whatever you guys decide.”
“Let’s do the wine tongue pass game!”
“I haven’t watched you and Bianca play this since eight years back!”
Julian curled a smug smirk around his lips.
In the next instant, he wrapped an arm around Bianca’s waist and passed red wine straight from his mouth into hers.
The scene in front of me was shameless to witness.
I cut their messy moment short with a single line.
“Julian, our wedding kicks off sharp at noon tomorrow.”
“Don’t make all the family elders and capos wait around for your tardiness.”
I turned and walked out immediately after speaking.
His guys’ teasing voices drifted out behind me.
“Miss Bellandi’s insanely chill, watching her fiancé make out with his first love without throwing a fit.”
“He’s lucky as hell landing a woman this patient.”
“Sure is.” Julian’s careless drawl carried clearly through the doorway.
“Elena’s been with me all these years.”
“She even signed her own tubal ligation paperwork for my sake.”
“A tiny thing like this won’t ever push her to leave.”
My feet locked in place right outside the door.
The deepest wounds of my past had just become cheap banter for him and his inner circle.
Three unborn children lost across eight years of dating Julian.
We were still in college. I got pregnant, then aborted after he lied the timing was wrong.
I lost our second baby after slipping on wet pavement rushing to deliver critical case files for his newly-launched grey-market operations. The two-month-old fetus didn’t survive the fall.
The third loss hit two years prior, an ectopic pregnancy that left me hemorrhaging badly and forced doctors to remove one of my fallopian tubes entirely.
My physician warned any subsequent unexpected pregnancy would put my very life at fatal risk.
Julian had cried in my hospital bed, vowing to protect me from ever enduring another painful miscarriage again.
Against every friend’s urgent advice, I’d voluntarily put my signature on the sterilization consent form to avoid another dangerous unintended pregnancy.
That very choice had convinced Julian I was trapped with him permanently, no escape possible.
A dull throbbing pain spread through my chest thinking about those three babies that never got to take their first breath.
Truth was, I was never stuck with him by necessity.
