Chapter 2
Chapter Two
SOPHIA CASSONE
M y older sister turns slightly on a pair of gorgeous heels so she can admire the swath of white lace flowing onto the floor in the full-length mirror. My heart swells seeing her so pretty and so happy. “Very soon you are going to be the most gorgeous bride anyone has ever seen. I wish Mamma could see you today. She would be so very proud.”
Anna runs a hand down her belly. “If only Papa feels the same when he finds out his oldest daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. His culture, he will be devastated.”
I put a finger to my lips. “If you are pregnant. You’re not sure, besides, no one but you can tell. No one will be the wiser.”
Anna smiles, her eyes shining with hope.
I hug her to me without crushing her beautiful gown. “Stop worrying. Now, repeat after me. I am marrying the man I love; we are going to be happy together, and we may be bringing new life into the world. You should be the happiest woman in the world right now.”
Anna laughs and stems the flow of tears with a gentle finger placed right below her perfectly made up smoky dark eyes. She draws in a breath. “I’ll feel a whole lot better once the wedding is over, the families are merged, and Papa can stop worrying and let Barcelo and his family take over. Papa is getting too old to worry about legacies. He deserves some peace at his age.”
Now is not the time to hash out our differences about arranged marriages and our father making deals with the lives of those in the family to ensure future gains of territories. She knows exactly how I feel about that. I gesture to her trailing train. “Hurry and put that tiny-waisted dress away before you get it dirty, or outgrow it before my very eyes,” I tease.
Anna’s eyes widen. “Go,” she orders, “so I can put it away before Barcelo gets here, and can you please wear something other than those jeans? I swear there are more holes than material to hold them together.”
I laugh, closing the bedroom door behind me, making my way down the hall to my own room thinking about the complexities of life as daughters of a notorious crime lord. Especially one with no sons, and how arranged marriages many times become the solution, the way out for so many things. It is the culture I was born into and one my ancestors would not want me to deny, but still.
I brush out my long dark hair in the mirror, pushing wispy layers away from my face before dotting my lips with a red tinted stain. Sorry Anna, this is as dressed up as I'm getting for dinner. I do slip my bare feet into a pair of Italian leather flats since her fiancé is invited, but only for her because aside from Anna, I couldn’t care less what people think.
My brow furrows at the sound of loud voices coming from downstairs. Surely the lieutenants are not going at it again. So much tension around here now that everyone knows the Cassone family and the Gallini family will be uniting.
Why the capos and others in our employ act like it’s a huge surprise is beyond me. It happens all the time in families like ours. Why can’t they let my father enjoy his decision to hand off the reins with the wedding of my older sister?
I race down the stairs expecting to see the men we employ arguing amongst themselves only to stop dead in my tracks halfway.
A tall, dark-haired man in a black suit turns dark eyes on me as he hears me on the steps. Massimo Roselli…
The intensity of his stare rakes over my body, sending a shiver of instant self-preserving fear snaking along my spine. Anyone connected knows what the oldest son of one of the most notorious crime families in Jersey looks like. At least they should. If you see him coming, you should run the other way.
Yet I can’t stop staring, as though frozen in time on the steps leading into the great room of our home. Finally, I find my voice. “Why are you here?”
He smirks. “Sophia Cassone, you’re even lovelier than your pictures.”
I ignore his obvious attempt to avoid my question. “Leave our home. You’re not welcome here.”
My father’s eyes widen. “Sophia!”
The bastard smirks. “Where is Anna?”
My chest tightens with apprehension at the mention of my sister, my maybe pregnant sister. I swallow through the lump developing in the back of my throat, impending fear making it difficult to even whisper. “Why?”
His eyebrow turns upward. “Because I plan to take her with me today, at least until your father’s debt is paid.”
My blood runs hot, the outrage mixing with fear. “We have no debt to you.” I turn to my father, imploring him to make this go away. “Tell him Papa. Tell him it’s not true.”
My father simply shakes his head, as though he has no words or at least doesn’t plan to tell me today. He may look resigned in the face of no choice, but I know my father. He’ll no doubt have the capos and soldiers hunting this bastard down the minute he leaves.
I glower at the Roselli devil who invades our home, even while my body trembles with the fear of it all. “Anna’s not going anywhere with the likes of you.”
The dark-haired bastard doesn’t seem fazed at all. His pitch-dark eyes graze over my body, sinfully slow. “If you don’t watch that tone, your father will lose two daughters today. Call your sister downstairs. We do our homework. I know she’s here.”
All I have to do is stall, stall until Barcelo gets here. Knowing he is due to arrive any minute makes me brave. Anna’s fiancé won’t let Massimo take her. No matter the bloody fight that will ensue. “My sister isn’t here. You missed her and were clearly wrongly informed. You should hire better help.”
Massimo stalks toward me, the gun tucked into his waistband visible just beneath his suit jacket. Three of our soldiers burst through the doors with guns raised, yelling for him to freeze, yet Massimo doesn’t seem worried at all. My father shakes his head, a warning from behind Massimo, a clear message not to antagonize the beast as he closes the distance between us with two long steps.
My heart beats with unprecedented fear. Something is dreadfully wrong if we have the upper hand and my father chooses not to react.
The fresh scent of the devil’s soap reaches my nostrils as he leans in close, sending a shiver down my spine as the warmth of his breath caresses my ear. “Do not make this harder than it has to be, Sophia.”
He takes my hand from the banister, prying it loose. His touch sends electric sparks through my skin, a warning, this man is as dangerous as they come. Smooth and polished on the outside and lethal as a snake on the inside.
All the more reason to keep him from taking Anna. If I tell him she’s pregnant, or even that she may be, he’ll probably think she’s worth even more to hold over my father’s head. No, now her secret can’t come to light. Not until whatever this debt we owe is paid. No matter the cost.
His hand settles on my lower back, guiding me down the stairs while sending a chill slinking down my spine. He doesn’t loosen his grip on my other hand until we reach my father across the marble floor. “Your daughter, Cassone. Call Anna to me, I grow weary of the delay.”
The head of the Cassone crime family, my biggest hero, my papa, feared by many himself, seems to age twenty years right before my very eyes. He’s going to do it. Something has happened that I don’t understand. Papa can’t kill the Roselli son. He has to hand Anna over. It’s how he was raised, a code of ethics. It’s what is owed, no matter that I don’t understand it or forbid it to occur.
All daughters of powerful men of the underground know this day could come. I will not succumb to tears or embarrass my family. Instead I will protect my sister and unborn niece or nephew. “My sister is sick. If a debt must be paid, I will pay it for my family. Take me instead.”
The dark-eyed devil’s eyes narrow as he undresses me with his eyes. My traitorous body ignites with desire mixed with fear of the unknown, but fear for my sister wins. “Please?” I mouth silently. Take me.
His eyes never leave mine. “Say goodbye to your father, Sophia. You’re coming with me.”