Chapter 18
Chapter Nineteen
Alessio
“Ineed some time away from here,” Rosalie tells us as we all stand in the boardroom of my family’s estate.
“I think that’s a good idea while you’re still healing,” Soren agrees. Carmine is nowhere to be found, which would normally be alarming, but with Eivor out of the picture, I’m not nearly as concerned as I would be otherwise.
Rosalie shakes her head. “It’s not because I’m healing,” she admits.
“It’s because I need to get the hell out of here.
I need to live my own life. Eivor’s death has made me realize just how little I’ve been living for myself.
I’m done with taking orders from anyone, and I know if I stay here, I’ll have to take orders from you, and frankly, brother, that just isn’t going to fly. ”
Soren chuckles softly but his brow furrows. “If that’s what you need, I won’t try to stop you, Rose.”
I look to her and see the envelop of papers she’s holding. She steps over to me and I turn to look at her more directly.
“You know, I will miss you,” I say quietly.
She rolls her eyes. “You’ll forget all about me once you’re alone with Damian again,” she teases me.
I can’t say that she’s wrong.
She hands me the envelope and then walks over to Soren to hug him. I open the file folder and pull the papers out partially.
Annulment papers.
I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. The process of getting our marriage effectively canceled will be much easier since we didn’t consummate it, and it’s only been a little over a week.
Not nearly as complicated as a divorce, which would require splitting our assets. Something that I know neither of us are interested in. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible, so I pull the papers out completely and Damian hands me a pen before I can even look around to ask for one.
I lean down and sign the papers one by one. There are only a few, but I read them carefully just to be safe. I wouldn’t put it past Rosalie to pull a fast one on me, but after everything I do trust her more than I expected myself to.
After I sign the papers, I put them back in the orange envelope and hand them to Rosalie as she wraps up her goodbye with Soren.
“Thank you,” she says, and I nod.
With that, Rosalie leaves the room, and I wonder if I’ll ever see her again. I suppose I could always go visit her if I really wanted to, but it seems she’s interested in starting a new life without us. I’ll respect that.
I know that she’ll never be able to escape this life, not fully, and I’m sure she knows that too, but her self-exile is as close to it as she can get.
As I glance over at Damian, I wonder about choosing the same for myself. I highly doubt Carmine would accept it as easily as Soren accepted Rosalie’s leave of absence, but…maybe I could leave. If I really wanted to.
Damian and I, both of us. We could go anywhere we wanted and live any life we wanted. We’d always remember the things we’ve went through and done, but it would be a new life. New experiences. Less harsh hopefully.
I look at my brothers. Tiberi, Tommaso, Cassian…
and I realize that no, I can’t go anywhere.
At least not long term. I’m needed here.
More than I even want to be. I need to stay to protect them.
To be our voice with politians and ensure our social reach is as wide as possible.
No one else here is as good at talking someone down from ending it all as I am.
“I have to stay here,” I say quietly, looking at Damian again.
He nods slowly. “I know.” His brow knits slightly. “I wouldn’t ask you to leave.”
My fingers brush against the backs of his as our hands hang down between us. “Would it be selfish of me to ask you to stay?”
He turns to face me. “It’s funny that you think I haven’t already decided to stay,” he replies.
My face and neck flush with heat and I tangle my fingers with his. “Changing your entire career for a man. How traditional of you,” I tease him softly.
“It won’t be too big of a change,” he objects. “I’ll go from working for anyone who will hire me to working for this family.”
I nod. “Carmine will like that. He’s always on the lookout for new muscle,” I tell him. “A hired gun or a bodyguard, you’ll fit right in.”
“As long as I’m beside you, I don’t care what I have to do,” Damian says. His eyes darken and he squeezes my hand.
I hear Tommaso snicker, and I shoot a sharp glance in his direction.
“He’s just jealous,” Tiberi insists. “Tommy doesn’t have a romantic bone in his entire body.”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe mind your own business,” I mumble.
“How can we when you’re mushing it up right in front of us?” Tommy asks, waving a hand.
“Enough, Carmine is back,” Soren tells us with a frustrated tone.
I look toward the door to the boardroom and see as Carmine steps in with none other than Edwardo Tulo.
The entire room is suddenly on edge. As though the air is made of daggers.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Tommaso asks.
My shoulders tighten and I turn so that my back is facing Damian and I’m the least vulnerable to attack. “What’s going on, Carmine?”
“Everyone settle down,” Carmine insists. “I’ve brought Edwardo here to talk. He’s not here to start anything.”
“How do we know that? He hired someone to shoot at Rosalie and Alessio!” Cassian reminds us.
“I’m well aware of that,” Carmine replies. “I wouldn’t have brought him here if it wasn’t to address that. Trust me, we’ve had a long…long conversation. He knows if he tries anything here, my gun will be meeting the back of his skull.”
I eye Edwardo suspiciously. The middle-aged man looks both incredibly bored to be here and on edge.
“I promise it was all just a misunderstanding,” Edwardo tells us as he puts his hand up.
“Hiring a gun and having them target our rehearsal dinner was a misunderstanding?” I ask. “How exactly is that?”
Edwardo chuckles and put his hands on his sides for a moment. I can feel the nerves in the room. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.
“Well, of course we only wanted to stop the wedding between the two of you,” he explains. “The Fiorellis and Dresvannis coming together would be an absolute disaster for so many of us, you see. Especially with Eivor in charge of things.”
I cross my arms as I listen to the man. I don’t feel comfortable with him here, and I can tell none of my brothers feel any differently. Tommy actually has his gun in his hand. Not directed at Edwardo, but in preparation for it.
“I wrongly assumed that no amount of talking could convince you to halt the wedding,” Edwardo says, waving a hand. “So, I opted for threatening Eivor Fiorelli’s livelihood. It was never about hurting you and your family, dear Dresvanni’s, I assure you.”
“How do you explain the fact that you’ve been watching us for months then?” Tommaso asks. “That you’ve been spying on us. Is that just a misunderstanding too?”
Edwardo clears his throat and glances toward Carmine for a second. “I admit we’ve been keeping an eye on you. You’re one of the most powerful families in the area. I would be stupid not to keep an eye on your comings and goings,” he says. “But…now that Eivor Fiorelli is dead, things can change.”
“How so?” Tiberi asks. “You will discontinue watching us and threatening our livelihood?”
“That I will,” Edwardo agrees. “Now that your families are connected without the threat of Eivor taking control of the reins, my family is happy to form a truce with you.”
“A truce…” Carmine mumbles. “This truce would need to be decided upon with the recent decision of the Fiorellis included.”
“What decision?” Damian asks before I can.
Soren steps up closer to the table. “I’ve decided to combine my family with the Dresvannis, completely handing over leadership to Carmine.
The Fiorelli estate and all it’s staff, guards, family members, and belongings, will belong to the Dresvannis.
There will be no separation between us. It will be as though we are one. ”
“I see, well… This is very good news,” Edwardo says with a smile on his face. “It seems I have nothing to worry about at all. Though, you will be nearly doubling your standing, it would be foolish of me to back out now, wouldn’t it?”
I take a breath. “Are we sure about this?” I ask. “How do we know we can trust him?”
“I’m with Alessio. After everything the Tulos have done, how do we know we can trust that they won’t just fire against our back?” Tommaso asks.
Carmine waves a hand. “I’ve already discussed this with him, and I’ve already made my decision. Edwardo has information we need, and having the Tulo family on our side will be far more beneficial to us than remaining in such a tense state.”
“I do apologize for the trouble I caused,” Edwardo says. His words mean nothing to me. I know he’s simply preserving his own ass and that he’ll likely turn against us if given a chance by a larger power in the future.
Not to mention, he’s not exactly in the position to turn down a truce with his. He’d be dead in a second if he threatened anyone in this room.
“What information?” Tommy asks, not at all concerned with the man’s apologies either.
“There’s someone else you need to be worried about,” Edwardo tells us. “While I’m willing to come to a truce with you, the Bianchis aren’t.”
“The Bianchis?” I ask.
“The shooter wasn’t one of my men. I might have hired them both, but he was one of the Bianchi family.
They were more interested in stirring up trouble than they were protecting their own nose,” he explains.
“I thought working with them would give me the upper hand, but…of course I was wrong and I have no interest in going against you now.” He chuckles weakly.
“What do they want from us?” Tiberi inquires.
“They want to overthrow you, just like Eivor did. But they’re not willing to make a deal,” Edwardo says. “They’ve been watching you far closer than my family has.”