My heart had moved on from one unattainable man to the next.
Valentina's
first marriage was a sham. At eighteen, she married Antonio even knowing that
he was gay, hoping that he would eventually learn to love her back. But it was
futile. Her marriage was used to hide her husband's sexuality.
After his
death, she marries Dante, the future head of the Chicago familia. The secrets
that she intends to keep are threatened to be unveiled but she is also
determined to finally have a true marriage.
But with
Dante's indifference with her, Valentina's not so sure if her wishes would come
true.
I didn't
really get my hopes up when I found out who the couple was in this book. Yeah,
I'm more excited with Gia and Matteo's story. I've said that a lot of times
already. That said, I really don't know what to feel about this book.
As usual,
Cora Reilly's writing got me really attached with her character. I sympathized
with Valentina throughout the story.
See Bound by Duty (Born in Blood Mafia #2) by Cora Reilly in:
“At one point, I thought I could never love someone as I loved Antonio, no matter how unrequited that love was. And today I’m condemning him to his death for another man who will never love me back.”
Up until the end, I didn't feel that Dante loved Valentina even if she thought he did.
Would he ever love me? Would I ever find in this marriage what I so desperately wanted?
Or if he did (since we don't know what was in his mind) it wasn’t as much as he did with his first wife. It was like Valentina's only the second best, like he didn't have a choice at all but to care for her.
For the first time, I’d know he loved me while he’d make love to me, even if he’d never said the words aloud.
Which was realistic in its own way. Dante clearly loved his first wife and even in her death, nobody could replace her. Not even Valentina. What they (Dante and his first wife) had was not something irreplaceable.
I still think that Valentina deserved something more. After the shit she went through, she deserved somebody who would adore her like Luca did with Aria.
“Make love to me. Just today. I know you don’t love me. Pretend, just for tonight. Hold me in your arms for once.”
Perhaps Dante might improve through time, after all, love is not instant. I hope we could have a glimpse of what ran in his mind.
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