Chapter 14
Fourteen
Ashton
Harper keeps our secret. She seems to avoid me for the next few weeks, and Nova and I are extra careful around the house to not seem overly affectionate.
We still watch television together in the living room, and our flirting is quite a bit tamer than it is in the bedroom when we’re together in the house.
We’ve been out on a handful of dates, but between practice and studying, we haven’t had too much free time. Not to mention, my weekends are booked at her parents’ house, which has seemed a bit more tense than usual.
Moreno has been glaring at me at every opportunity, and Dante seems displeased with something I’ve done recently. I’m not sure exactly what I’ve done to piss them both off.
I’ve been helping Luca at the shooting range, perfecting his skill and working on his aim, which has taken a lot longer than I first anticipated.
“Ashton, can I have a word with you?” Dante asks.
Luca glances peculiarly at his father but doesn’t interrupt or stop him.
“Of course, sir,” I say and follow Dante down the maze of hallways to his office. He’s asked me to keep tabs on Harper, make sure that she’s keeping the family’s secret.
“Come inside. Have a seat.” He gestures to the empty chair across from his desk.
I sit, unsure what I’m doing in here. “Is everything okay, sir?” I ask.
“Yes, and no,” Dante says. He closes the door, making sure it’s just the two of us, alone.
“Harper hasn’t told anyone about you, the family, or the business,” I say, making it clear that I’ve been doing my job as assigned.
It’s why I keep showing up for lunch with Harper and Kensley. It’s not because I like Kensley, although, for a beat, I thought she might have been catching feelings for me. But I’m pretty sure she’s been giving off friend vibes recently.
“Good. I knew you would ensure our secret would remain safe,” Dante says. “But that isn’t why I asked you into my office.”
I don’t have the faintest idea what might be troubling Dante if it’s not Harper. She seems to be the main cause of the Ricci family drama lately.
“Is it my father?” I ask. Dante and Aurelio talk somewhat regularly, I’ve been told.
Dante has been sharing stories of my involvement with the Ricci family business, keeping my father informed of my strengths and weaknesses, apparently.
I got an earful from my old man last week.
“This has nothing to do with Aurelio—your father,” Dante says. “It’s actually a much more sensitive subject.”
Dante comes to perch himself at the edge of the desk, sitting in front of me, staring down at me.
“What I’m going to tell you, Ashton, it requires absolute discretion.”
“Of course,” I say and straighten up. “You have my loyalty, sir.” While I will serve my father’s business after graduation, right now I’m training, and my allegiance is to Dante Ricci.
Had our fathers not been allies, this would be quite a precarious situation.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that, son,” he says. “Because I have a job for you. One that I’ve already spoken with your father about.”
“Oh? What kind of assignment?” I ask, leaning forward, excitement bubbling inside of me.
Will I get my first mission to help take down an enemy of Dante’s?
Is he going to want me to execute someone for him?
Perhaps he needs me to go undercover and spy on his enemy. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s asked me to keep tabs for him, but at least Harper was an easy assignment. Getting close to her hasn’t been too problematic.
“It involves something a little more personal, a little less dark,” Dante says. “And the pay—it will be an ongoing assignment and will include a hefty upfront payment along with a decent monthly stipend.”
It sounds a bit too good to be true, but I trust him.
“Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“I’m glad you said that, because I need you to marry Harper McKenna,” Dante says.
The air rushes out of my lungs, and I can’t breathe.
He wants me to marry Harper?
He can’t be serious, but the look on his face, he’s not smiling and certainly not joking. There’s no laughter bubbling out of him, no hint of humor.
And I’ve already agreed to it before even hearing his request.
I’ve never betrayed a don, but he can’t honestly believe that Harper will agree to the arrangement.
Harper and Luca have been hooking up.
There’s clearly a spark between them. There has been since the moment I saw the two of them together. They’re either red-hot or ice-cold, and right now, the steam seems to be turned up between those two.
It’s impossible not to hear them between the thin walls, especially when I’m in the living room on the sofa, watching a movie.
Luca will end me if I intervene in their relationship.
Of course, Dante killing me isn’t a much better solution.
My life still ends in death.
I’d rather go up against Luca than his father and the entire Ricci family.
“And if she says no?” I ask, my throat raw.
I don’t want to marry Harper.
Yes, I had feelings for her when we first met, but those desires fizzled out the moment I realized Luca really liked her.
And now there’s Nova, the one girl who steals my breath away with a single glance. The one girl who I want to get to know every inch of, day in and day out.
It’s hard enough keeping her a secret, but to even contemplate marrying Harper sets my nerves ablaze.
“Harper won’t say no, because you won’t let her. You’re smart, son, you’ll make sure she knows marrying you will be saving her life and her little boy’s.”
Working for the mafia is dangerous. I’ve never been blind to it, but knowing that I’m about to push an idea of a wedding onto a girl who isn’t interested in me, while having feelings for someone else, I’m physically sick.
Dante reaches for his knife on the desk, his fingers grazing the blade.
It’s a silent warning.
Obey or death.
He threatened Harper’s life once and Luca’s. It wouldn’t take much for him to order my death.
I’m nothing to him, just another soldier.
But what worries me most of all, he might even hurt Zeke.
“You don’t have an issue following an order, do you?” Dante asks.