Chapter 6
Alessandro
I was hoping to avoid Marco on my big day and focus all of my efforts on acting pleasant to Sofia—that will make kidnapping her easier during the reception.
But he has to talk to me now, when I was just about to get ready for the ceremony, so I’ll have to hurry afterwards and get dressed.
I suppose it doesn’t matter too much; all eyes will be on Sofia and I can simply throw on the suit jacket at the last minute for this sham of a wedding.
The door is open, so I step into his eccentric office.
While technically clean, it’s cluttered with random junk that makes my eye twitch—as if he raided the home of a ninety-year-old woman and threw all of her shit into his office.
Yes, woman and not man. There are weird sorts of dolls and trinkets that you wouldn’t associate with the boss of a crime family, but with Marco it strangely works.
His oddities make him more intimidating than less.
Sometimes I wonder if he does this to bait someone into making fun of him just so he can retaliate in the most brutal way possible.
I nod at Gio, who is seated across from him at his desk, and there’s a small black box in front of him.
“I don’t have much time. What is it?” I join them and take a seat.
Marco gestures towards Gio, who pushes the box towards me. I open it to see that it’s a basic black, smart watch.
“A watch? I already have one of these from when I was trying to get into cycling.”
“It’s for the reception,” Gio says. “Marco wanted you to have a short warning before everything goes down this afternoon, so somebody will call this thing and it’ll buzz. Then, when that happens, take the girl somewhere else in the castle so that she can’t get caught in the crossfire.”
“We need her as a hostage. If she dies, this will be pointless,” Marco adds.
“I thought the goal was to kill John and Max Calabrese?” I ask.
“And to keep her as a hostage so we can squeeze as much money from these people as possible in exchange for not harming her. Or at least… not harming her outwardly.” An evil grin spreads on his face, and I’m surprised with myself at how much I’m worried for her.
“Fine.” I put the watch on, even though I’m skeptical about all of this. I suppose it makes sense, but it’s such a simple device it makes me question whether or not this was well-thought-out. “But isn’t there a better way to do this?”
Gio shrugs, his dark eyes going wide as he looks back and forth between Marco and I. “I only heard about the plan this morning. This is what I could come up with.”
I don’t hide my glare from Marco, who’s seated at his desk. Why hadn’t he informed Gio of this sooner? He’s probably hoping that I die during the reception as well. I stand up, done with this conversation.
But Marco’s voice prevents me from leaving his office.
“It’s so simple, even you can handle it. I don’t see what you’re worried about,” Marco gets up from his desk, his eyes narrowing as he looks up at me. “However, I had a dream last night.”
He pauses as if he had told me something profound. Marco believes that he’s some type of sorcerer who can see into the future with his dreams. Must be a side-effect of his narcissism and psychopathy.
I sigh, playing along to hurry him up. “And what was that dream about?”
“That you fucked everything up and Vincenzo died.”
“Sounds like a delightful dream to me.”
“This is no joking matter!” he shrieks, pointing at me.
I force myself not to smile or laugh at him.
He used to be so intimidating, but now he’s nothing more than a frail old man.
I look down at him and notice how much shorter he is than I am; it’s like he shrunk overnight. He adds, “We all could die today.”
“Then why are we doing this?”
He shoves me against the wall. I let him, even though I could easily have gotten away.
He doesn’t answer my question, but I think I know the answer: hubris.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been whispers from our enemies, or even those that work under him, that he’s becoming soft in his old age.
And doing some asinine stunt like killing the leader of another crime family at the event that’s supposed to unite us, sends out a signal that he still ‘has it’. But if this goes horribly wrong…
He grins at me. “You’ve always been such a smart ass. After everything I’ve done for you. I should have left you as the skinny sewer rat you were when I tracked you down for Elena. I know that you would have ended up dead like your whore of a mother if I never took you in.”
That last statement makes my stomach turn. It’s the effective insult he always reaches for when he wants to get under my skin.
Marco chuckles, letting me go.
I twist the watch around my wrist, knowing that if I said anything to defend myself that it would only escalate the situation, and I simply want to get the fuck out of here. “I should get ready.”
“Go.” He smirks. “And remember your place or I’ll chop off your tongue.”
Oh, the number of times he’s threatened that.
I say goodbye to Gio, then leave Marco’s wing and head to mine, making a plan in my head for how I’m going to lead my men.
They will not be on the front lines in this bullshit.
No. I’ve cultivated too much loyalty for any of them to die for the sake of Marco’s self-esteem.
And honestly? This plan failing in some capacity is in my best interest since that would make Marco look weak and foolish.
I’m so lost in my head that I almost don’t notice Sofia in her wedding dress, walking in the same direction I’m heading. If she’s attempting to get to the courtyard for the ceremony, she’s going the wrong way.
“Are you lost?” I ask when I match her pace and walk beside her.
Her eyes go wide and then quickly narrow when she sees that it’s me. Her beautiful curls are tied back intricately. Her eyes are made up dramatically to make her brown eyes pop even more. Her lips, painted red.
“What are you doing? It’s bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding.”
“Are you the superstitious type?” Part of me is upset that I’m seeing her made up in this way in this narrow, dimly lit hallway rather than the beautiful courtyard.
I nearly stop myself in my tracks at that thought. Why do I fucking care?
“I’m not superstitious; I was hoping to get a few minutes of freedom from you before it’s official.”
“Right.” I laugh. “Then why are you heading towards my living quarters?”
She stops and bites the inside of her cheek, then looks up at me with a determined expression.
“So, maybe I am lost. Hmm. I think I’ll ask you for directions since you’re incapable of being helpful.
You’ll send me the wrong way in this maze of a castle, and I’ll be late to the ceremony.
Maybe they’ll call the whole thing off.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
The bluntness of her response gets to me even though it logically shouldn’t. I don’t want this either.
“Does that actually offend you?” she asks, failing to conceal a smug expression.
“No.” I roll my eyes. “I dread the thought of having to share my life with you.”
“How romantic.”
My watch buzzes on my wrist, and I can feel adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream.
Why is it going off?
I grab her arm instinctively, and she jolts under my touch.
But when I look down at it, I see that the damn thing is giving me a stress reminder. My heart rate must be skyrocketing around Sofia, and so it’s telling me to take calming breaths. I’ll need to get that turned off before the ceremony because my heart rate is going to be high the entire time.
When I finally notice how pale Sofia is, I let go of her. She’s frightened of me suddenly. One moment she didn’t hesitate to speak her mind, and now she looks as if I’m going to kill her.
I open my mouth to say something, but words escape me. Does she suspect that something is going to happen at the reception?
I lift her chin so her eyes meet mine, and that fear is simply not going away.
Part of me hates it.
I want her fire back.
“You’re afraid of me.”
She swallows and then jerks from my grip. “No, I’m not.”
That almost makes me smile. “Sorry for grabbing you, I thought you were stumbling and didn’t want you to fall down and ruin that pretty dress before the ceremony.”
She narrows her eyes at me, studying me. It’s obvious that I’m lying, but I’m curious whether she’ll call me out on that or not. “I really should go. My family will start worrying about me soon.”
Right. I had a lovely phone call with her father, where I was told exactly how he’d kill me if I harmed his daughter.
The last thing I need is to set him off today.
Because once we make it through Marco’s plan, he’ll be scrambling so much with his new role and losing his son and father that he won’t be organized enough to fight back. At least, that’s the hope.
I point behind me. “The courtyard is that way. Once you reach a fork in the hallway, take a right, and after that, you should hear the crowd to guide you.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a look that I can’t read before hurrying off.
Then I glance at this damn watch and realize that if I don’t rush and get ready, I’m going to be late for my own wedding.