Chapter Four
Lorenzo
I watched the various emotions slide across her face – anger, shock, then fear.
Bianca was my one weakness, and she didn’t even know it.
Her father had no idea he had handed me his daughter on a silver platter.
Romeo mentioned a marriage in name only between her and me, followed by a possible divorce or annulment once she was safe.
Unbeknownst to him, those options would not be on the table after we’d exchanged our vows.
“No.” Bianca said hoarsely, “He will kill him for this.”
“You will marry in secret as a backup plan,” Romeo informed her. “The man he’s arranged for you is part of a major criminal organization that makes our family look like petty crooks.”
“What if he tries to hurt Lorenzo or promises Giana or Nicoletta in my place?” Her concerns were valid, and Romeo and I had expressed them ourselves when we’d discussed how best to protect Bianca.
“That’s why we keep it quiet as long as possible,” he answered. “There are a few things I have to wrap up before I can take over, Bea. If I tried now, I couldn’t guarantee the loyalty of some of his men.”
“Gino,” she said quietly. “Don’t trust him.” The look in her eyes and the way she wrapped her arms around herself tighter had rage simmering in my veins.
“How do you know we can’t trust Gino, Bianca?” I asked her, keeping my voice as calm as I could manage.
“He’s Dad’s right-hand. Birds of a feather....” She let the old adage trail off, but I got the feeling she was hiding something.
“We don’t, Bianca,” I assured her, even though I wanted to demand answers. “He’s an expendable pawn and is one of the pieces that have to be moved, carefully.”
“What if we just lie and say we’re married?”
I was already shaking my head, yet I allowed Romeo to respond since he would be the next head of the family.
While she was mine to take care of and protect, I couldn’t do shit until she carried my last name.
It was infuriating to have to take a backseat, despite the fact that I’d been doing it for years.
When Mossimo started guarding her, I’d seen the interest in his eyes when he stared at her.
I wanted to cut them out and remove him from her detail, but it wasn’t my call as I was neither the boss nor the underboss.
I also wasn’t her husband. So, I did the next best thing.
I threatened to put a bullet in his brain if he so much as flirted with her.
He wasn’t to say her first name or deepen their interactions beyond being acquaintances.
She was only to be Miss Morelli to him, a message he received loud and clear, as I’ve never heard him use anything else.
When I opened the door to see her standing there, scared and shaking, his hand hovering over the small of her back, I wanted to chop his hand off for daring to touch what was mine.
Nobody knew the depth of my obsession with my best friend’s sister, not even Costa.
He knew I wanted her, of course, just not that I’d been obsessed with her since the day I moved into their house after my father’s death.
I cared for Giana and Nicoletta, but my main concern was Bianca. She was always doing something to inadvertently piss her dad off, either that or he had it out for her more than the others. All she had to do was breathe the wrong way, and he’d get upset and be ready to punish her.
“That won’t work, Bea,” Romeo spoke up. “It has to be official to buy us time if he tries to push the wedding up. I’m going to do what I can to get him to wait longer, but in case I can’t, we’ll need all the help we can get. If you have to go through divorce proceedings, that could take a while.”
“Or he could kill Lorenzo,” she pointed out with worry lacing her voice. “A widow can be married much faster. I won’t put him or anyone else in danger like that.”
“I’d put a bullet through Dad’s head myself if he tried to go after Lorenzo,” Romeo promised her.
Bianca stiffly rose to her feet and started pacing the floor in front of us. “I won’t agree to this, Romeo. You need to have my consent, and I do not give it. I won’t put other people in his path.”
Romeo was about to speak, until I raised a finger to silence him. His sister was confident her brother loved her enough not to force her. I was not that merciful. “Bianca, you’re going to marry me. That’s not up for debate.”
“You can’t make me.” I smiled at her attempt to stop this, and my reaction had her taking a step back.
“But I can. You see, I told Mossimo if he ever touched you, I’d kill him. If my memory serves me correctly, and it does, his hand was on your back earlier.”
“You were the one who threatened him.” While shocked, her voice was more statement than question.
“Yes. He knew the risk, yet he put a hand on you. Now, I can let it go if you agree to marry me, or I deal with him. You decide. Whose life are you willing to put on the line? Mine, which may not be in danger, or Mossimo’s, whose life already is?”
I watched as she swallowed, then shook her head as if in denial that I would do what I said.
It was only a half lie. Would I kill someone for touching her?
Without hesitation. All these years, the only thing that stopped me from killing Luca Morelli was his children.
Massimo had no such protection from me. I may not kill him for touching her back, like that, but I would fuck him up for disobeying my warning.
“You can’t do that,” Bianca rasped out. “He didn’t do anything.”
“I saw his hand on you. Although I’m willing to overlook it if you agree to be my wife until this is all over and you are safe.” She bit her lip, and I wanted to pull it from between her teeth, but I resisted.
“Fine, but there are rules,” she conceded.
I stood up and crossed my arms across my chest in a relaxed, bored stance even though I was anything but bored.
“Name your terms.” I kept my face neutral as if she had a choice in what was about to happen.
We were about to be connected for the rest of our lives.
Once I had her, there was no way in hell I’d ever let her go.
“We get a divorce as soon as we’re in the clear.”
“Already the plan.” I shrugged, falsely agreeing with her.
“No sex and minimal kissing.”
“Figured that as well.” By the time I was done with her, she’d be begging for my cock and mouth.
“We have to keep it hidden as long as possible to keep us safe from my father and Antonio Arias.”
“Of course. We will marry the day after next in Atlantic City.”
She cocked her head and gave a small pout. “That’s Valentine’s Day.”
“And?”
“From now on, I’ll see Valentine’s Day as the day I was forced to marry you to protect myself from my father.”
I smirked, the irony not lost on me, but it was seriously just another day. “It gives us a chance to apply for the license and get things in place for the ceremony. You will also need an excuse to not go home for a bit.”
“It’s not like I have a lot of places to disappear to.
Outside of dance, I don’t have a social life.
” As far as I knew, she didn’t have anyone aside from her siblings.
I looked at Romeo because we would need a way to sell this.
Not just her disappearance, but also me going with her without raising any red flags.
“We could say you’re going to an audition in Jersey,” Romeo volunteered. “You’ll stay the night, so Lorenzo is going as your guard.”
“We’d have no reason to remain in Jersey,” I pointed out. “I’d just bring her home afterward. Plus, your dad won’t let her audition since she’s supposed to be getting married. That story would fall apart.”
“Fuck.” Romeo started pacing. “You girls never got to have much of a social life, and it’s biting us in the ass right now.”
Bianca moved to stand in her brother’s path and laid a hand on his chest. “That’s partly my fault, Romeo. I could have tried harder to make friends, but I was afraid because of the life we lead. I didn’t want anyone else getting caught up in this world.”
“Bea,” he whispered and pulled her into an embrace, making me jealous that he could comfort her and receive comfort back. “It didn’t have to touch them.”
“You couldn’t guarantee that, and besides, I couldn’t be certain they were genuine about wanting to be friends or simply trying to get access to you. I don’t know if you know this, but girls can be vicious.”
Romeo laughed and released her.
“Is anyone in your dance class getting married?” I asked, trying to shift my mind off my jealousy.
“A few of the girls are in long-term relationships. I think one even got engaged recently. Why?”
“You’re going to a three-day bachelorette party in Atlantic City, and I’ll watch over you.”
“A bachelorette party on Valentine’s Day weekend?” Bianca scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Nobody plans that during a holiday meant for couples.”
“What if it’s a his and hers party? I have heard of couples doing that, which leads up to the wedding on Valentine’s Day. That would make it believable and get us out of town for a few days with time to get hitched and theoretically consummate the marriage.”
Bianca swallowed hard at the word consummate, and I almost grinned.
She wanted this to stay in name only, but I had every intention of changing her mind.
Three days away from her father, and my position in the family was the perfect opportunity.
I just had to make sure she went along with the plan.
She was right, though. She could be made to marry again if I were dead, and we were taking a risk that Luca valued me enough not to have me murdered.
I hold no emotional worth for the man as he doesn’t possess a sentimental bone in his body. He was a monster with his kids when they were younger, so there was no telling what his reaction would be when he found out the daughter he was selling to the cartel was already married.
“She’s correct about one thing, Rome,” I said, looking from Bianca to Romeo, who was pacing back and forth. “He could easily attempt to use Giana or Nicoletta. I think it’s time, my friend.”
It was something Romeo and I had talked about many times: me killing his father, or him doing the deed himself. This deception could backfire on all of us, and we might have to take that route.
Romeo sighed, “I know, but he still has a lot of loyal men who would not stand by and let me take over. Gino isn’t the only obstacle we’d face.”
“Then we sever their loyalty.”