Chapter 30 #2
When he looks up at me, there’s something in his eyes that I’ve only seen small glimpses of up to now.
They’re full and warm and disarming. My jaw unlatches, letting my hand fall to the counter.
Noticing the deep teeth marks he stands and lifts my arm, littering it with kisses and stroking his fingers along my sizzling skin.
When he reaches my shoulder he bends and smothers my mouth with his, taking my breath for his own. I taste myself on his tongue.
When he finally releases me, I realize he’s brought me back to the floor, pulled my thong back into place and smoothed down my dress.
“You should go downstairs,” he whispers. “They’re expecting you.”
My lids lift to his and I drown in the deep gray pools. “Come with me?”
His gaze flickers over my face and he nods once. “Where shall I say I found you if they ask?”
“In my dark room.”
He nods again and presses his ear to the door. Then, looking over his shoulder with a finger resting against his lips, he turns the handle and opens it. After peering up and down the landing, he looks back and jerks his head. I follow him out, my heart beating like a bass drum.
His fingers curl around mine as we walk down the stairs. I love snatching these small, illicit moments with him. At the bottom, I squeeze lightly, then let go to walk ahead of him to the living room.
“Hey, you were loo—”
I pull up short when I see a whole bunch of people in the living room. Apparently, waiting for me.
Papa has his back to the doorway, speaking in hushed tones with Cristiano, but turns around when he hears my voice. Antonia and Allegra are standing side by side by the fireplace, looking… nervous. Benito and Augie are also in the room, sitting on two of the armchairs.
A blush swells up my throat and into my cheeks as if what I’ve just been doing in the bathroom is written all over my face.
Nicolò’s presence warms my back. “What are you doing here?”
Cristiano’s expression is grave. “We want to speak with Bambalina.”
A chill percolates across my shoulders and down my spine. What do they want with me? The only thing I can think is… my sisters.
The words rush out of my mouth. “Trilby, Tess, Sera… are they okay?”
“They’re fine,” Cristiano replies, pushing his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
He looks smart and well-put-together, as always.
Benito leans forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his knees.
He glances over at Cristiano which makes my blood curdle.
Something’s wrong, I can feel it prickling the atmosphere.
There’s a sorrowful taste in the air, like we’re at a funeral. But besides my sisters, all my loved ones are in this room. No one’s died.
“What is it?” I ask quietly. “What do you need to speak to me about?”
My beloved papa steps forward with a deadly serious expression on his face and my heart jumps into my throat.
Nicolò moves closer to me. He can sense something too.
“Papa,” I demand, my gaze narrowing on my father. “Tell me.”
Papa walks slowly toward me and I feel Nicolò’s chest inflate at my back.
When Papa takes hold of my hands, I suck in a shocked breath. He’s shaking. I look back at him, wide-eyed and frightened.
“What is it Papa?” I whisper.
He shakes his head and swallows. He seems to be trying to find the words, the courage, I don’t know. My eyes search his face for a response, but he just looks anguished. My insides have turned to liquid. Something is very, very wrong.
Then Allegra releases a sob. “Will someone just tell her. Please.”
In the corner of my eye, Antonia curls an arm around my aunt but Papa’s mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water.
Cristiano’s voice sails over my father’s head. “You are to marry Alessio Bellucci.”
It’s funny how in moments of extreme shock, it’s not the injustice that grabs you, or the hurt, or the magnitude of what you’re about to lose, it’s the details, the logistics that pose the questions, the little things that don’t really matter.
I tilt my head. “Who’s he?”
Thankfully, Cristiano sticks to the facts. “He’s the don of New Jersey.”
I nod, processing the information. “And why do I have to marry him?”
“We need an alliance.”
“For what?”
Cristiano takes a controlled breath, seemingly considering his audience, but to his credit he thinks better of keeping the details locked away.
“We’ve come under attack from the Russians,” he says, plainly.
“They’ve taken thirty men and eighteen businesses.
We’re six million down, and there’s no sign of them stopping. We’ve exhausted all other options.”
“No, we haven’t,” Nicolò bites out from behind me.
Cristiano darts a glare to his cousin. Actually, it’s more than a glare; it’s a warning.
His focus returns to me. “Your marriage to Alessio will join our two families and Alessio will deploy his men to help us fight in New York.”
“Why Lina?” I can almost feel the steam rising off Nicolò as he grinds out the question through gritted teeth. I want to turn around and reassure him it’s all going to be okay, but I don’t want to give us away.
There has to be some mistake. I can’t marry yet—I’ve just turned eighteen. What don in his right mind is going to want a teenage virgin who hasn’t even finished school?
“She’s the only eligible woman in the family who is unmarried, of course,” Cristiano replies.
“Tess isn’t married,” Nicolò spits.
Benito stands and takes a step forward.
“She’s engaged to be.” There’s a streak of impatience in Cristiano’s voice, like he’s annoyed to be having this conversation with Nicolò.
“I don’t believe this.” Nicolò’s voice shakes as he tries to keep his temper under control. I turn around, hoping I can convince him to stay calm, but when I see the look on his face, I can’t speak. Those ashen gray irises are aimed at Benito like lethal weapons. “You knew, didn’t you?”
Benito stares back at Nicolò. “Knew what?”
“Nice work, Benny, taking her off the market. Convenient.”
“What are you talking about?”
Nicolò moves away from me and shakes off the hand I try to hold him back with. My heart is banging and I’m terrified of what he’s going to do. “You knew what Cristiano was thinking, and that’s why you proposed to Contessa.”
Benito’s frown deepens. “What?”
“You knew we’d have to offer up the next most eligible single woman in the family, and you knew that would have been Tess, so you proposed. You fucking proposed!”
I jump at the aggression in his voice and I suddenly fear for Benito.
Benito remains still but I can tell he is absolutely livid beneath the surface. I silently plead with Nicolò to stop. It’s already questionable why he’s so angry.
“I didn’t know about any of this when I proposed,” he says, levelly. “And what does that matter anyway? Tess and I are in love. Bambi…” Benito shoots me a half-sympathetic look, “is not even involved with anyone.”
My breath sticks in my throat. I’ve seen Nicolò angry once and that was at the vines growing up around Mama’s rose bush. This though… This is so much worse.
“What does it matter?” he growls in a low, barbaric timbre.
Benito throws his arms out to the side with a nonchalance that might actually get him killed.
In a blaze of fury, Nicolò flies across the room and knocks Benito to the floor with one punch.
I gasp in disbelief while Papa turns and pushes me out of the way, covering my body with his.
And it’s good he does because when I turn back around, arms and fists are flying.
Allegra and Antonia scatter. Augie gets to his feet.
Cristiano’s raised hand tells him not to interfere.
“Nicolò!” I shout above the din, not caring if anyone sees through my secret. I can’t watch him do this, not to his friend, not to Benito. And not because of me.
A coffee table flips over. A glass vase crashes to the floor. Allegra appears at my side and wraps her arms tight around me. She tries to move me out of the room but I’m steadfast. I can’t leave him.
Nicolò and Benito are perfect matches for each other in height and weight. They could fight to the death.
“Stop them,” I plead.
Cristiano pulls out a gun and fires a bullet through the window. Antonia screams, only just managing to dodge the shattering glass.
Benito twists around and Nicolò gets one final blistering jab into his jaw before Augie pulls him off. They’re both panting and growling at each other like wild beasts.
“What the fuck was that?” Benito yells.
Nicolò scrubs a hand down his face, then he twists around to Cristiano. There’s a desperate, feral look in his eyes. “Give him Manhattan.”
“What?” Cristiano replies, disbelievingly.
“Give Alessio Manhattan,” Nicolò grits out. “That’s what he really wants. Give it to him.”
“I can’t,” Cristiano says, dipping his chin. “We agreed. My father worked too damn hard for this city. We’re not just going to give it away. And you were never on board with us giving him Manhattan in the first place. What’s changed?”
“What’s changed?” Nicolò’s tone climbs in pitch. I’ve never heard him sound so unhinged. “That was before you promised him a fucking human.”
Cristiano inhales through flared nostrils and flicks a glance in my direction. “All respect to Bambi, she’s one person. Manhattan is one and a half million.”
Nicolò staggers backward, his head shaking. “You can’t,” he says a desperate voice. “You can’t give her to Alessio. She’s too young. She hasn’t finished school. She’s never left home. She’s a virgin.”
My shocked gasp silences the room.
Cristiano’s gaze sobers. “I get that you’re her stepbrother, Nicolò. But your duty to protect her ends now. She’s no longer our responsibility.”
I don’t know what to be more devastated by—the fact I’m being talked about like I’m not even in the room, or the fact I’m already being thought of as someone else’s responsibility. I glance at Papa who still hasn’t said a word. When I take in his face it becomes perfectly clear, he doesn’t have to.
I may not have had as much time with our mother as my sisters did, so I may not have known her to the same degree, but I’ve had a lot more time than they have with Papa.
For years he’s been my best friend, my confidante, my hero, my protector.
Antonia has captured his heart, but I know him better than anyone.
This, here, is my strength. I can’t protest, I can’t throw punches and I can’t confess my secret, but I can see into the soul of my father. And right now, he’s running on empty. He’s got nothing. If anyone is going to break my heart today, it’s him.
Seeing Papa like this—unable to speak, unable to console me or even look at me—tells me everything I need to know. It’s bad. Things in the family have reached breaking point.
For years I’ve wondered what my role in this family would be.
And now, I know.