Chapter 7 #2
“The four of us have always been a team. We didn’t lie to you about any of that.
The story we told you about foster care and being adopted is true, but we left out the most important detail—I was pregnant.
We had all but given up hope, because nobody wants to adopt a pregnant teenager, and the boys weren’t going to leave me alone, but then Mario came along.
He wasn’t upset about the pregnancy. In fact, he was excited.
He was also thrilled that I wouldn’t be separated from the boys.
He decided to adopt all four of us. In the beginning, he was kind and caring and showered us with gifts.
We were so dazzled, we didn’t see the poison in his eyes.
“He made us feel wanted and needed for the first time ever. I was four months pregnant when we went to live with him, and he got me excellent pre-natal care and the best doctors. At the same time, he made sure the boys got all the right training. We knew he was a mafia man, he never hid that, but he told us he couldn’t have children, and he wanted someone to carry on his legacy, so he trained the boys.
They were happy to give him everything he asked for because we were being looked after.
” Her voice cracks at the end, and she takes a deep breath.
“It isn’t like we hadn’t seen the evil side of the world with our parents.
This was just an extension of that, and we were living the good life,” Tristan adds, wringing his hands in his lap.
Xavier reaches over and tugs his hands apart, cupping them in his.
Colton gets up to comfort Vienna, but she holds her hands up.
“I’ll fall apart if you give me any comfort right now.
Let me get this out please.” I can see him pleading with his eyes, but she shakes her head firmly.
“Once I had Addison, everything changed. He was pissed off that she was a girl, and when we left the hospital, things started to get tense. I was breastfeeding her, but he had already hired a nanny for her, even though I insisted I didn’t want one.
He informed me that I would be going back to school because he didn’t want stupid heirs, and he had a job for me.
My compliance hinged on Addison’s well-being and me getting to see her.
I repeated my junior year at a private school in Suncity, but then we were told we had to transfer to the same school you went to in Banebridge for our senior year.
Our instructions were to get close to you.
He didn’t share any other details, just that’s what we had to do. ”
“We were told the same thing. Somehow, Mario managed to arrange for us to share a dorm with Gio at Suncity U, and we were instructed to get close to him,” Xavier says gruffly.
“But then that thing with Stacey happened, and you dropped out, and Gio pulled out of college. Mario was fucking livid. I’m surprised he didn’t kill Stacey, but she managed to talk him down.
That’s when he took Addison away from us.
He said if we didn’t do everything he told us to, she would pay.
He knew you two would eventually resurface, and by the time you did, he would be ready for you. ”
“So he told you to seduce me and then what?”
“It was always his intention for you to marry me and get rid of Stefano, Carla, Mickey, and Gio, but Gio getting Casey pregnant was kind of like winning the jackpot. She was never involved in any of his schemes. He became her guardian when her parents were killed in a car accident, and he liked to keep her protected. The only soft spot in his heart was for Casey,” Xavier explains.
“But he kept Carla and Dad alive,” I point out.
“He knew he was going to need something to ensure your submission. By then, your reputation proceeded you.” Tristan chuckles darkly.
“And so you see we didn’t have any choice.
If we want to keep our daughter safe, then we have to do as he says.
We have all paid with pain, I can assure you, and so has she,” Vienna says bitterly.
“We haven’t seen her in months. I don’t know how she is.
He keeps us hanging by promising us if we succeed, we can have access to her again.
I’m hoping now that you are married, I will be allowed to see her again. ”
“You need to be seen as compliant, Tori. He won’t hesitate to hurt your father if you don’t, and I will be the one forced to hurt him,” Tristan says, his tone pleading.
I throw my hands up in the air. “What else do you want me to do? How can I prove to him that I am complying? Nothing I say will get him to trust me. I’ve already married Xavier, and I sent out the email this evening announcing the new hierarchy.
I’ve fucking given everything.” I’m pissed beyond belief, and not necessarily at these four, but at the whole fucking situation. How did it come to this?
“If he can see that you are trying in your marriage, he might soften a little,” Colton suggests quietly.
“And how am I to prove that?” I ask, and there’s a loaded silence.
“If he thinks you are trying to give him what he wants, then he will back off a little,” Xavier says vaguely, and I rack my brain to figure out what they are suggesting, but I’m coming up blank.
“But I have. I’ve done everything he’s asked,” I say bitterly.
Xavier huffs. “He wants to see us having sex, Tori, so he knows we are working to provide him a legitimate heir to the Russo-Maricuso empire,” he states bluntly.
My jaw drops open, and I’m kind of stunned speechless. There is so much to unpack there, but mostly, eww. What a fucking perv.
“That’s all kinds of wrong,” I point out, and none of them deny it.
“Come on, Tori,” Tristan growls. “It isn’t like it would be hard work. Xavier really knows how to give pleasure. You could enjoy it while keeping Mario distracted.”
“And what about you?” I snap. “How do you feel about this?” I hold up my hand, pointing to the ring on my finger. “Surely you’re pissed that I’m now sleeping next to the man you love.”
Tristan chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “You heard Mario, he doesn’t care which one of us knocks you up as long as one of us does.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I retort and stand up, pacing back and forth in agitation.
The emotions running through my soul are messy and confusing.
On one hand, I want to stay angry at them, but all of that is melting away in light of this new knowledge.
On the other hand, I’m kind of thrilled to be married to Xavier, and what the fuck is up with that?
“What? What do you want to know, Tori? Am I pissed off that the man I love is now married to someone else? Or how about the fact that I’m being forced to marry someone I loathe?
Or I don’t know, what about the fact that the woman I was falling for—hell, we were all falling for, now despises us?
” He stands up and stops in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and making me look at him.
His face is filled with a whirlwind of emotions—guilt, anger, pain, and weariness.
“Which one would you like the answer to?”
Before I can respond, Xavier gets up, moves over to Tristan, and wraps his arms around him, pulling him away from me and holding him tightly, murmuring words of comfort.
Tristan shudders and sags against him, and I know I’m not the only one this is taking a toll on.
I feel another rush of sympathy. Mario is playing a dangerous game, and we are all caught in the crossfire.
More of my anger drifts away like dust on the wind.
“I think you answered all of that and more.” I sigh, looking down at my arms which are wrapped around my body like I’m trying to hold my emotions inside.
There’s an awkward pause as I try to process everything I just learned and examine my feelings about putting on a show for Mario.
A little over two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to jump any of their bones.
I was definitely in lust with them, but despite my ingrained distrust, I was starting to feel like they were an essential part of me.
That was spectacularly blown out of the water, but in light of everything I just learned, can I return to those feelings or are they irreversibly broken?
Can I see myself having sex with Xavier to keep the peace?
A throb deep inside my core betrays me at the thought. Ugh, I’m a chaotic mess.