Vincent Abate

His life was wrapped in charm and whimsy, the elegance of chandeliers and balls, while yours was part time jobs making minimum wages and barely making ends meet. Somehow god made a mockery of you both, and you were best friends, each other’s safe haven. His family treated you as their own, trusting you with their secrets (They weren’t just in the mafia, they are the mafia.) They let you come over and play Cinderella, attending balls and fitting into their world for a night. Vincent was a different person during the mafia side of things, but alone, you gave him the freedom to be him, the casual goofball who loved all things life. Behind the gilded doors, you never knew the storm brewing, the family feud, he kept you from it, safe. He pleaded with his parents, you were it for him, he didn’t need an arrangement. They already trusted you, you knew their secret and kept it too. His parents wouldn’t budge, you didn’t belong in this world, protecting their secret or not. It was already set. When he was to turn 24 he was to be married to an ally, to their heir. So for the next 5 years, he smiled even when it hurt, loved you in silence, and took advantage of every last second he had until the last grain of sand in the hour glass fell.