Rosetti Family New York (Dark Mafia Romance Box Sets #1)

Chapter 1

Eleanor

In a house as large as this, whispers are louder than words. They slip under doors, slip through walls, slip through me and Juliet as we listen in the dark hallway.

My father’s voice is cold and controlled, as always. The second voice I don’t recognize. It’s slower and sharper. The words are too mumbled to catch. But I know who it belongs to: Domenico Rosetti.

Juliet clutches my hand as I hold my breath.

A terrible curiosity keeps us frozen to the spot.

Even in the dim light, I can see the strain on my sister’s face.

I pull her closer, tucking us into the shadows.

My gold ring presses into my palm, and I twist it with my thumb.

If we’re caught, our father won’t forgive us.

Richard Price doesn’t believe in forgiveness.

He believes in power, in control, in breaking anything that gets in his way.

He doesn't recognize love, only alliances.

“It sounds serious,” Juliet whispers.

“It always is with him.” My voice is as soft as hers. We can’t let him catch us listening in.

We stay like that for long minutes. The chill of the marble floor seeps into my bones. The high ceiling and empty corridors swallow their voices, making them impossible to hear.

“I think it’s safe to get a little closer,” I say.

Juliet hesitates. “Do you really want to?”

I don’t want to, but I have to. I nod, pulling her to her feet. “If we don’t know what he’s planning, how can we stop it?”

We move toward the crack of light spilling from under his study door. We’ve been shut out of his world since we were old enough to want to be in it. It’s how he operates. Ruthless efficiency. A daughter’s love doesn’t stand a chance. We huddle closer, as near as I dare, and listen.

“Rosetti is dangerous,” Juliet murmurs.

She’s right, but father is worse. At least the Rosettis are open about what they are.

Father’s words rise above the others, hard and smooth and perfect. “—no finer distribution network in the city.”

I can picture the scene perfectly in my mind: Father behind the desk, elegant and poised, wearing the expensive suits and jewelry that speak to the wealth he is obsessed with, his face impassive.

The other voice, Rosetti’s, is careful and low. “No finer diamonds.”

Rosettis and diamonds. I’m sure I’ve misheard. I glance at Juliet, who’s as bewildered as I am. Maybe the gem business has taken a turn I didn’t see coming. My breath hitches.

Father doesn’t pause long enough to breathe. “We’ll provide your family access to product beyond what you’d be able to procure. Unique pieces. You won’t be disappointed.”

The conversation chills me, but not as much as the man meeting with father. Domenico Rosetti, the heir to New York’s most notorious crime family. If he’s here, it’s bad for everyone involved.

Father has never cared who he hurts to get what he wants. Juliet trembles beside me, and I squeeze her hand. She’s soft, too soft for a world like this. I’ve tried to shield her, but with a man like Richard Price for a father, shielding doesn’t get you very far.

“What are you thinking?” Domenico asks.

It’s a loaded question, but Father loads it even more. “I’m thinking that the surest way to merge two families is through marriage.”

My body goes stiff, frozen as I listen to the indecent offer hanging in the air.

Juliet’s sharp inhale cuts through the quiet.

She pulls me away from the door, her eyes wide with fear.

She looks like she might bolt. I hold fast. Every inch of her is tense and ready to run.

She doesn’t have to say it. Rosetti is dangerous.

Marriage to the family would be a disaster.

Father and I could have been a powerful team.

I've trained my whole life to run a gem business, but he treats me just like every other woman, imperfect and easily discarded. Anger rises in my chest, hot and sharp, but if we’re going to get out of this unscathed, I need to know the details.

How, when, where? Most importantly, who?

I turn back to the door, straining to catch every word.

Domenico’s voice is calm, almost amused. “You think one of my brothers would want to marry into the Price family?”

Juliet’s breath comes in quick bursts. My father laughs, low and too easy. “You want into the gem business. We want better distribution. Think of this as a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Arrangement. A marriage is nothing more than a business deal to him. Just another exchange of power. Another profit to be made. Domenico isn’t nearly as shocked as I am. “Salvatore won’t agree unless there’s something in it for us.”

“There is.” I can almost hear father smile. “One of my daughters.”

Bile rises in my throat. The hand holding mine has gone limp.

“That’s a large commitment.” Domenico’s words are clipped. He’s not offended, just careful. “Which daughter?”

Juliet stiffens beside me. My heart is in my throat as I try to come up with a gesture to comfort her. This is my job, to shield Juliet from the worst of it. This is my role in this family, the only one I’ve ever been any good at. But I pull a blank.

“Juliet and Eleanor, they are beautiful girls, as you can see,” father says, with a dead little laugh. “And intelligent. Well-trained. Either one would be an asset to your family.” His voice is so calm, so devoid of warmth, that it chills my bones. “You can choose whichever you like.”

Like we’re nothing more than his diamonds, to be cut and polished and traded away. My grip tightens on Juliet's wrist, and for a moment I can't breathe. I should be used to this by now. To him, we’ve always been assets, never family. It shouldn’t hurt, but it does.

There’s a long silence before Domenico speaks again, his words as calculated as my father’s. His is the kind of voice that might command a room without effort. “I’ll talk to my brothers.”

“We’ll make the arrangements,” father says. “No need to involve either of the girls just yet.”

I dig my fingers into Juliet’s knee, feeling the thin fabric of her pants under my nails. No need to involve us just yet. How simple it all sounds. How easy.

The Rosetti man pauses, and I can hear his breath, deliberate and serious. He must be standing near the door, ready to leave, and we're still crouching outside like kids playing hide and seek. “I’ll send word within the week.”

I can almost hear father nod. I can almost see the smile on his thin lips. The image of them fills my brain: two men in expensive suits, the Price fortune and the Rossetti muscle deciding our fate without so much as a blink.

“Good,” my father says. “I’ll expect to hear from you soon.”

Juliet’s hand is limp in mine. “He’s selling us to them,” she whispers, horrified.

I tug her to her feet and put my fingers to my lips to quieten her. We need to get safely away from here before we dissect what just happened.

“He’s trying.” I tug her up from the floor and far along the corridor and around a corner, away from the door, out of father’s reach. “He won’t succeed.”

“He’s already succeeded. Eleanor, he’s going to marry one of us off to a Rosetti.”

The floorboards creak as I take Juliet’s hand and drag her down the hall and into my bedroom, my blood running hot.

She’s so fragile, I think she might shatter if I squeeze too tightly.

Her body moves like it’s mechanical, and as soon as I shut the door behind us, she slumps against the wall and presses her face into her hands.

I turn the lock. “He’s not.” My words are brisk, and I know she hates when I speak to her like this, like I am a general and she is a solider.

But if I don’t keep a grip on my emotions, I’ll dissolve too.

“We’ll figure something out. We’ll think of a way.

” I know how father operates. I know how to outmaneuver him.

But even as I say it, my chest tightens with fear.

Juliet pulls her hand from mine. “Eleanor, I don’t want to marry into that family. I don’t want to—”

“You won’t.” I grip her shoulders, stare into her eyes until I’m sure she believes me. “He’ll have to go through me first.”

“What are we going to do?” Her voice is small.

“We run.” The words come out fiercer than I mean them to, but I feel like a ghost, thin and see-through. “We leave. We don’t look back.”

Her face is pale, the blood drained from it. “Eleanor,” she says, her voice cracking. “We can’t run. Where would we go? How would we—we have no money, and father would find us.”

I cross to her and run my hand over her head like I did when she was a child. I open my mouth to disagree, but she's right. We can't run. Even if we get away from him, which we haven't managed in years of trying, he'll send the Rosettis after us.

I sink onto the bed, next to where she sits on the floor, my arms wrapped around my knees. I have to come up with a plan. A good plan. Juliet is counting on me.

She's next to me before I even realize she has moved, her arms around my waist. She holds me like I am the delicate one, like I am the one who needs it. Her breath is warm against my shoulder. “Eleanor, I believe in you. I always believe in you.”

The words are a salve on my breaking heart. I don’t know how I will keep us safe. But I know that if it comes down to me or Juliet, I’ll be the one to go. I’ll be the one he trades. I'll make sure of it.

I touch the ring on my finger, twisting it slowly. It’s the one piece I have left of my mother, the one treasure that father hasn't snatched away. Her thin gold band. I’ve worn it since she died, a reminder of the unconditional love I once had.

“I'll convince him I’m the one he should sell,” I say. “Not you.”

Juliet lets out a choked, desperate laugh. “That’s not a solution.”

“It’s the only one we have. I can handle the Rosettis. You can’t.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.” She trembles, more fragile than she’s ever looked, and I know what I have to do. “I’ll find a way out of it, but you have to let me protect you.”

She bites her lip, still uncertain. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

I tuck her close, my heart thudding in my chest. A house as large as this, and nowhere to hide. But hiding won’t save us. If I wait, we lose. If I act, there’s a chance. And I won’t let them decide for me.