14. Victoria
14
VICTORIA
I can barely eat, but I force myself to choke down my pancakes anyway.
Liam decided to make himself useful, taking me off campus to a small diner that serves the best blueberry pancakes in the world. I don’t want to be anywhere near school or Dante right now. His sharp dismissal made me feel small and insignificant, made it obvious that I’m nothing close to the kind of woman he’d choose to be with.
I’m young, dumb , and apparently not up to par.
I keep telling myself it was an act, that it wouldn’t matter even if it wasn’t. I shouldn’t care whether my professor wants to flip up my skirt.
It kind of makes getting married to Liam seem more reasonable. At least I know he wants to fuck me.
“Is something wrong with your breakfast?” Liam chimes in from across the table, shoving another forkful of waffles in his mouth as he eyes my barely-touched plate.
He knows.
Liam isn’t a total dumbass. He is fully aware that I’d rather jump out of a plane without a parachute than marry him.
“I’m not hungry,” I reply, shoving the plate away. The sticky-sweet smell of the syrup is starting to make my stomach churn.
“It’s not gonna be that bad, Vee. Once we’re married?—”
“Why don’t you cut the bullshit, Liam, and tell me exactly why you want to marry me?” I hold his gaze with a scowl. This is his chance to man up and tell me why he didn’t warn me about this mob shit. “I know it’s not because you love me.”
“Babe, you know damn well I like you a lot ,” he sputters, an angry flush creeping above his collar.
I’m tired of his lies. Maybe he’ll change his tune with a butter knife sticking out of his hand…
My phone buzzes on the seat next to me and SAVIOR pops up on my screen.
Who the hell?
I swipe the screen to open the message and it becomes obvious who’s texting me.
SAVIOR: Don’t mention anything about what happened last night or what you know about the situation.
VICTORIA: Why keep it secret? So he can keep thinking I’m an idiot?
Like you do. I resist adding that last, pathetic thought.
SAVIOR: Liam will just do something drastic and you’ll have a ring on your finger before midnight.
VICTORIA: Well, you texted me just in time. I was about to rip him a new asshole.
“Who are you texting?” Liam’s tone is clipped and irritated. He can’t stand that I’m not giving him every bit of my attention.
“Ellie found a bridesmaid’s dress,” I reply, glancing up from my phone. “Is that okay with you?”
His face softens and he plasters on a too-wide smile, clearly faking. It’s a smile I’m far too used to seeing.
Was I always this blind?
I sift through memories of us together. Dinner dates, late-night drives off campus, him listening to me play and acting as if he cared how I sounded.
It was all a lie.
A con.
He’s put a target on my back, told dangerous men who I am, and now they are all desperate to get a hold of my money.
“Of course it is,” he conveys. “I’m not gonna get in the way of that.”
“Are you wearing white or black?” I ask as Dante’s next message comes in.
SAVIOR: I need your answer.
VICTORIA: I don’t feel safe with you. Or anyone named Moretti for that matter.
SAVIOR: Compare me to Liam again and I’ll make sure you regret it.
Damn.
I can sense the rage in his last message and it sends a shiver down my spine.
Maybe siding with him is my best bet. Maybe he’ll protect me from the goons threatening to kidnap and do God knows what else to me.
You know. You googled it.
I tortured myself last night by staying in the library, away from Ellie’s suspicious gaze, to read about the mobs in New York and Chicago. The bloody wars and convenient murders that they’ve left in their wake. Sex trafficking isn’t uncommon, kidnapping is definitely the norm, and I’m in so much shit there’s no way out of it without help.
“Black,” Liam replies, interrupting my spiraling thoughts, but it doesn’t matter. I hear his voice as he prattles on about his groomsmen choices, but I tune him out because none of it matters. I’m never going to be walking down an aisle while he stands at the end of it.
There’s something about Professor Moretti, even though he wants nothing to do with me in a romantic sense. He says he’s got my back. That he’s truly looking out for me.
And I really want to know why.
VICTORIA: Why should I trust you over your nephew?
SAVIOR: Do you want to live or die, Victoria?
VICTORIA: That’s a stupid question.
SAVIOR: So was yours. Do you see Liam fighting off that dude that got to you last night? If it were up to me, he wouldn’t be breathing.
VICTORIA: And why should I believe a violin professor can deliver on that kind of promise?
SAVIOR: I can’t answer that in a text message, princess.
Because he’s done it before. Goosebumps prickle my arms. Has he murdered someone? Who? When?
SAVIOR: Meet me in the women’s bathroom.
My head shoots up, startling Liam mid-sentence as I scan the diner.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asks. “I thought you said you wanted to go to Paris.”
“I do,” I quickly answer, having no clue what the hell he’s even talking about or why he brought it up. Lowering my phone, I start to slide out of the booth. “Ellie found the most beautiful wedding gown and she has to show me right now.”
“What?” His brows clash together. “We’re eating.”
“I’m just going to the restroom really quick so you can’t hear.” Liam’s arm shoots out to stop me, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back to his side.
“You’re really going through with this?” He eyes me suspiciously, which is fair since just minutes ago I questioned his reasons.
Now I’m excited about wedding gowns.
Even Liam knows I’m not making sense.
“Do I have a choice, Liam? I can either work to accept it or bitch at you while I shove pancakes in my face. Which one do you prefer?”
He gives me an exasperated look. “You think marrying me will be that bad?”
When you’re lying to me and you’ve been a massive dick? Yeah.
“You’re taking me to Paris for our honeymoon?”
“Yes,” he drawls, allowing the pad of his thumb to brush along my skin. Absolute disgust runs through my veins, but I fight to keep a curious expression on my face and hide my revulsion. “Wouldn’t you like that?”
“You know I would.”
Liam taps at his lips with his free hand. “Then give me a kiss and show me you’re actually gonna marry me, because I’m still not buying it.”
“Kissing you won’t prove that I plan to show up at the altar.”
“It will to me.”
He’s so full of shit, it’s pathetic.
Liam must think I’m stupid. That I’m going to forgive and forget this little mishap and fall into some fairytale land where he’s going to provide while I live happily ever after.
Then you better make a decision, Vee.
Before my hesitation becomes too obvious, I lean over, quickly clasping my lips around his bottom lip before Liam can slide his disgusting tongue in my mouth. I take his lip between my teeth, pinching him in what I hope he thinks is a teasing way.
“You’re a bitch, Victoria Waldorf.” Despite the words, Liam doesn’t sound turned off at all by my display. His pupils are wide and he quickly licks across his swollen lip.
I bat my eyelashes at him. That bite is all he’s going to get from me. “It’s what you get for a shitty proposal, Liam.”
“You want a better one?”
Hell no.
I smile and saunter away toward the ladies’ room on the other side of the diner.
The moment I slip inside, a thick arm catches the door, stopping me before I can close and latch it.
“Nice performance, Victoria,” Professor Moretti says. His dark eyes flash in anger. “For a moment there, I almost thought you made the wrong choice.”
“I still haven’t chosen, Professor?—”
“ Don’t ,” he clips out through clenched teeth. A muscle in his jaw jumps. “If we’re doing this, it’s Dante. The only time you call me ‘Professor’ is in the classroom or in front of other students. I’m not going to have my wife call me?—”
“I’m not your wife,” I snarl back. “What did you need that was so important that you had to stalk me?—”
“Your answer,” he cuts in, invading more of my space. “Our time is running out. I have to meet with Angelo if I’m going to buy us some more of it.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“That’s my problem.”
Irritation races through my veins as I place a palm on his solid chest and shove him out of my personal space. “This works both ways. Your vague answers don’t sit well with me. It’s like talking to Liam.”
“What did I tell you about comparing me to that little prick?” he growls. “That’s your last warning, Victoria.”
Warmth spreads through my body at his declaration. I refuse to examine whether it’s fear, shame, or lust. Instead, I channel whatever…feeling…this is into annoyance.
“Then act better,” I counter. “Liam thinks I’m a stupid socialite with only half a brain in my head and that I’ll never figure this out. And you’re keeping me in the dark while expecting me to take a leap of faith. I told you not to underestimate me.”
Dante’s nostrils flare and his jaw ticks once before he leans over and hovers inches above my face. “This isn’t some one-act performance that’s going to make all our problems go away, princess. It’s going to take a lot of deception and lies to get us out of this mess.”
“Lying to who?”
“Everyone.”
It’s hard to hold his heated gaze and I feel my resolve slowly slipping. “Tell me how you’re going to buy more time and I’ll answer one of your questions.”
“It’s more of a task that I need you to do,” he tells me. “But I still need an answer to my initial question.”
I understand that he doesn’t trust me and I don’t trust him, but someone has to make the first concession or we’re never going to get this resolved. “You go first.”
“I made an arrangement with Angelo to take a position within the Lombardi organization and buy off some of the debt.”
“Wait.” I stare at him, trying to understand exactly what he’s saying. “You said he ran a mob.”
“He does.”
“You’re going to work for the mob ?”
“One or two jobs, but?—”
“Are you absolutely insane right now? In what world would that be safe?”
“Safe isn’t a luxury we have, princess. This is the Italian mob, sweetheart. Angelo Lombardi isn’t some asshole who’s made a bar bet on the side and wants his twenty bucks back.”
“And then what?”
“Depends on your answer. I can’t have any slip-ups.”
“If you think I’m going to marry you without knowing your plan, you might as well leave right now.”
His lips lift in an arrogant smirk, “I’m sorry, princess. Did you want a proposal?”
I open my mouth to tell him no, but he lowers his head and all the words dissipate into thin air. “Or do you need to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into? Make sure it’s up to your standards even though it’s a marriage of survival and nothing more.”
“You’re definitely not a salesman, are you?”
“Hell no. But I’m good at getting what I want.”
Dante is my professor. A famous violinist towering above me and making insane plans.
And I’m putty in his hands right now.
“Give me something,” I whisper almost breathlessly. “You said you wouldn’t leave me behind, but seducing me isn’t going to change my mind.”
“If you say yes, I can make you a promise. When this is all done, I’ll give you up. You’ll be free to do whatever you want to. I just have to know if I’m protecting you or not.”
It’s him or Liam.
There are no other choices. Liam is a boy who’s lied to me about the mob and hasn’t made any effort to keep me safe, but Dante has.
He didn’t need to. He could’ve kept his secrets and moved forward with whatever plan he has to get out of this mess, but he’s decided to take me on.
With your money.
“If I say yes, you don’t get access to the money.” I force steel in my voice and stand tall. “You won’t sign any paperwork to get access to the trust.”
“I don’t need it. I just need you as my wife.”
Under other circumstances, those words would carry a different weight. As much as I would love to live in a world where I could believe he truly wants me, I know that’s not reality.
“Then, yes. I’ll marry you.”
Dante’s lifts my chin with his finger and I think he’s going to kiss me. But, instead, he talks.
“I need you to have a sit down with your parents today and find out how your trust is distributed and how it’s going to work when it’s released.”
“Like whether they’re going to drop it in a bank account and who’s names will be on it?”
“Yes. Knowing if there’s a name already listed is vital.”
“My mother’s not big on giving up information,” I admit. “And she might get suspicious if I ask too many questions, but I’ll do my best.”
“Then I’ll buy us whatever time I can get from Lombardi. I just need you to find out about the trust. I’m not looking for my name to be linked to it. But I’m going to have to tell Angelo something.”
“Okay.” I nod. “I can put you on speakerphone when I talk to my parents so you can hear the whole conversation. You just have to mute yourself.”
“Have your phone on vibrate in case I need to text you to ask a question. Can you do that for me?”
With how close he is to me right now, the man might be able to convince me to do anything.
“Yeah,” I finally reply with a small exhale. “I can do it.”
“Good girl.” He kisses my forehead and my skin burns from his touch as he backs away and I realize I don’t want him to give me space just yet.
“That’s it?” I ask. “You just want me to marry you and find out about the trust?”
“For now,” he confirms. “Keep playing pretend with Liam until we’ve made it official.”
“We’re playing a dangerous game here. I don’t trust my mother.”
“But you know her best. So, feel her out, and we’ll get what we can. I’m going to tell Angelo that you’ve agreed to marry me and warn him about keeping his goons away from you.”
“Why would your help be something he needs?”
Dante shakes his head dismissively. “Maybe it’s my handsome face and the fact that I can make a woman agree to marry me without even kissing her.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I might be—actually, I am. But I’m the asshole that’s going to free you.”