Dom’s POV
Dom’s POV
When Don Sanchez offered me his daughter in an arranged marriage, I had expected his sexy, tall daughter Serena.
Not the frumpy, short one. When she walked in, I had tried to ignore her, but the minute she spoke to her father in a flat, almost disrespectful tone, it threw me off.
Then she mentioned Serena being involved with that cunt Cattaneo and she had my interest. No one was supposed to know about it.
I think even her father looked surprised by the announcement.
I was also shocked that she was pushing for Serena to be the one in the arrangement.
Most women would have been dying to be paired with me.
It wasn’t ego, it was just fact. Did I have as many women lined up for me as Maximo Ruiz did?
No, but I had my fair share from an ongoing selection.
When I asked to speak to her alone, I wanted to gauge her, away from her father’s influence.
However, that didn’t work out as I thought it would since she spoke to me in the same flat, unimpressed tone.
Then she destroyed all of my expectations of her sister by admitting she was a whore, at the least. I knew she was involved with men, I just didn’t realize she was that prolific.
While I was looking her over, I realized she was not as ugly or frumpy as I had been led to believe.
She had most of her shape covered with a flowy silk shirt.
She was shorter than Serena, as I had seen Serena plenty of times at events and gatherings.
Sophie was the hidden daughter. I could see why since she seemed more resistant and refrained.
She was definitely her sister’s opposite in all things.
What shocked me the most was the tightening in my pants.
My cock apparently thought she was worth noticing.
Fuck that. She’s a means to an end. That’s all.
“What do you do with your time?”
In her same flat tone, “I completed my Bachelors in communications about three months ago and I have some social media platforms I earn money from.”
The Dons usually didn’t have women that work as their wives, but since this arrangement should be temporary until I get what I needed, I could let it go.
As long as it doesn’t interfere with my plans or bring a hit to my reputation.
Besides, I could have Diego look into her social media accounts.
He’s pretty good at deep diving into people.
I kept my expression blank, and I continued to assess her. She may actually be an asset I could use, if she was this open with information.
“I would be open to you continuing your work, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your duties as my wife.”
She turned back towards me. She frowned, which was actually beautiful.
She wasn’t obviously beautiful, but standing next to her sister, she would look invisible.
Sophie’s beauty was understated, the way she had her hair and the clothes she chose did not help matters.
She appeared plain until you really looked at her.
She actually had the most intense dark brown eyes I had ever seen.
“Wouldn’t you rather pair up with one of Don Valentino’s daughters, or even Don Pedro’s daughter, Catalina?”
Hmmm, she really does know things.
“I need this arrangement with your father.” I figured a half truth would work. And it apparently did.
Her shoulder’s slumped. “Oh.”
“We can make a deal. You can continue your work, we live the life of a married couple in public, but maintain our own ways in private. A Marriage on paper. Yes?”
She seemed to think it over. For the first time, I saw a crack in her stone demeanor. “Okay.”
I nodded, “Good. We will go to City Hall and do the wedding there in two weeks.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Aren’t you supposed to put on some big fancy, splashy thing for a wedding?”
I was irritated by her response, and now I was wondering if there was more to her easy acceptance of this arrangement. “Do you need a big fancy wedding?” I’m sure she could read my anger.
She put her hands up defensively, “No, no. I’m good. Even City Hall seems too fancy for my taste, but whatever you think is best.”
I raised my eyebrow at her, then shook my head. I really needed to figure out her game plan.
I muttered, “Now just getting your father to be fine with it will be another thing.”
She rolled her eyes, which surprised me.
“Don’t worry about that. He will be more than accepting of it.
If you were marrying Serena he would have expected a Paris wedding or something else just as ridiculous.
He probably doesn’t want it advertised that you’re marrying the boring, ugly daughter anymore than you do. ”
That pissed me off, making me feel defensive. “Don’t assume you know what I’m thinking.” My jaw tightened, irritated with her.
Her voice was back to a flat tone. “Let’s get real. I’m a means to an end. Not even the one you or my father even wanted, but here we are. I don’t like this any better than you do.”
That also pissed me off. She should be grateful I’m accepting her as my wife. If I didn’t need this arrangement, I wouldn’t even be entertaining this.
Before I could snap at her, she spoke up, “We should let my father know we plan to move forward. I’m sure he will be grateful to you for taking me off his hands.”
That felt like a punch to my gut. Why would her own father be so ready to get rid of her?
I get that she wasn’t at Serena’s caliber, but still.
She was his daughter. She had a degree so it sounded like she was fairly intelligent.
I would think he would use what she had to offer to help his clan however he could.
“Why do you think he would be so eager to let you go?”
She rolled her eyes again, and turned away, facing the desk again. “I’m a disappointment.”
“I’m sure that’s not sure.”
“Oh, it is. He makes sure to tell me as often as he can. As does my adoring sister.” I could hear the sarcasm in her tone.
I could feel my anger rising. I understood that the women in our world were a means to an end, but that Don Sanchez would be so flippant with his youngest daughter was concerning on many levels. Unless she’s playing me. I would have to keep an eye on her.
??????????
Two weeks later we were married at City Hall.
I had a witness and my bodyguards, Sophie had her father and a couple of his men.
I would find out later, she told her father she didn’t want her sister there and if she did show up she would spill the beans that Serena was chasing Nico Cattaneo.
Don Sanchez knew that would disrupt his clan because none of the respected clans, big or small, wanted their daughter connected to Cattaneo.
He was a leper in the mafia world. Almost everything he touched was tainted goods.
Which made me realize Sophie had been right about her sister.
She settled into my mansion fine, spending most of her time in a guest room down the hall. We were close enough I could keep tabs on her if needed. I could have my men keep tabs, but I felt I needed to be involved. This was my plan. I needed to know all the parts.
Diego, my tech man, said he found out some pieces that were concerning.
Sophie had two accounts with two different handles.
One was her talking about general topics, dressed as herself.
The other one, she apparently utilized disguises and spoke on more secretive topics.
At first I was pissed off, not understanding how her father would have allowed it, but Diego made a good point at one time.
“Don Sanchez is peanuts compared to most clans. He has access to the basics: basic men, basic resources, everything is basic. He wouldn’t even know how to look into his daughter’s secret account. It doesn’t help that she has help from a pretty infamous hacker.”
“What the fuck you mean?”
“The hacker, Geronimo, has been aiding her with firewalls and her livestreaming.”
“Fuck! How does she know him?”
“Not sure. Geronimo has all her information locked down.”
“Well, can’t you get it?” I was getting pissed, now wondering even more what my little wife was up to.
Diego stared at me for a minute or two, “Boss, Geronimo is one of the best hackers out there. No one knows who he is.”
I rubbed a hand down my face. “For fuck sakes.” I paused thinking. “Do I need to be worried about what she is posting on this account?”
Diego shrugged. “It depends. She mostly posts general information of the mafia world, not too concerning. But she does talk up the social circles piece, which may put some people off.”
“Hmmm. Keep an eye on it. Let me know when I need to be concerned.”
“Sure Boss. But also, so you know, she has like a million followers, so if anything did happen, I’m sure there would be a media uproar.”
So, mi fiammetta knew how to push some boundaries.
I still could not unravel the mystery that was my wife.
I needed to let her know about the upcoming gala, so when I went in search of her a month after our marriage, I heard her speaking with the head staff, Mrs. Fancelli.
I stopped just outside of the kitchen to listen to the exchange.
“Mrs. Fancelli, would you like for me to help you with folding the linen?”
What the fuck?
“Absolutely not, Miss Sophie! You are the lady of the house. You do not clean or do housework!” She sounded appalled.
My wife’s voice was defensive, but gentle, “I helped out the staff at my father’s house whenever I got bored.” She sounded like she was pouting. I had never heard this side of my wife. I could feel my cock start to harden again.
Dammit! This was going to be a long short marriage at this rate.
I was going to need cold showers and the use of my hand on the regular.
But it’s just because I haven’t had sex in over a month.
When you have sex regularly, like multiple times per week, going without for this long is hell!
It has nothing to do with my wife! Nothing!
“You should find something else for you to do. Watch television. There are great dramas on the television nowadays. Better watching them than living them, I say.”
My wife grunted. In a lower voice, “I’ve lived enough of it, thank you very much.”
Mrs. Fancelli sighed. I took this as a good point to interrupt the conversation.
I cleared my throat as I approached, coming around the wall to the kitchen. My wife was sitting at one of the stools at the counter, facing Mrs. Fancelli, and I saw her body go rigid.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Fancelli. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak with my wife.”
She looked at me and smiled gently, then turned to my wife and frowned, but shook her head. “Of course, sir. I will go check on the girls and see what they have finished for today.” She reached out and touched Sophie’s hand. “I will see you later, piccolo.” She nodded slightly.
I was irritated that my staff got a piece of the real her, because all I got were blank expressions and flat tones.
I came around to face her from across the counter.
“We have the gala event coming up in two weeks.” She nodded, with no expression. “I will have my staff get you a dress, but I will also have Valentina do your hair and makeup.” And surprisingly, at that last statement, her face pinched up and she groaned.
I couldn’t help but smile at her reactions. “Listen here, fiammetta, you used to do it with your family, so don’t act like you're so put out,” I teased her.
She gave me a dirty look, that had my cock harden again, dammit, but I smiled through it.
“All the attention was put on Serena for that, so they only spent a little bit of time and effort on me. Since I’m your wife, they are going to poke and pull at me like a stuffed doll.
” She pouted her lips again, frowning. I honestly thought I liked this side of her better.
Maybe I would finally get to see who my wife really was.