Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
"An alliance paid for with my flesh," I snap in defiance. "He freed me from being prostituted to increase the Genovese fortune and position. That's what you meant to say, Marcello. That's the truth of what he did. He gave me a choice about matters that impact my life, my future, and those of any children I have. And he offers his own fortune in place of theirs. The Maceo fortune doesn't even compare to what Luca offers, and you know it."
Marcello clenches his jaw, stubbornly refusing to admit that I'm right even though we both know I am. He's too intractable for his own good.
"Just go, Marcello," I say sadly. "And don't come back here again. I may be able to protect you this time, but he'll kill you next time, and I won't be able to stop him." As much as I love my brother, I'm not even sure I could try to protect him if he tries to get to me like this again. I made my choice. I belong with Luca now. I can't ask him to stand aside and let my brother taunt him and attack his people on his own property.
"I'm not leaving without you, Callie."
"Well, I'm not going with you," I say, exasperated. "And if you're here when Luca gets home, he will kill you."
Something flickers through his expression, the same thing I saw the other night when I reminded him that he wasn't innocent in allowing me to be sold like chattel. Guilt. I've known him my whole life. I can read him. And what I read in his eyes now makes my blood run cold. He's hiding something.
"Tell me," I growl. "Now, Marcello."
"The sit-down is a setup, Callie," he says quietly. "Father is in too deep with the Maceo family. He's been borrowing against your marriage contract for years. If I don't show up at home with you in the next hour, he's going to kill Luca."
"No," I whisper, shaking my head. "No." Even as I speak the denial, I see the truth in his gaze. The pity. He's not lying to me. My father is going to kill Luca to get me back.
I was never free. We never won. Like Ricardo's house of cards, we were impermanent, destined to fall.
"I'll go," I mumble, my soul screaming in pain. Whatever it takes to keep Luca alive…that's what I'll do. I have no choice. I'd rather live a thousand lifetimes knowing he's safe and I can't have him than to live a single one where he's gone and I have to pick up the pieces.
Sacrifice. That's what it means to be a principessa. That's our destiny.
Chapter Ten
Luca
"Mind your temper, Luca," Rafe mutters as we pull up in front of the deli midway between Valentino and Genovese territory. At least, it looks like a deli. It's nothing more than a front for these fucking meetings. Neutral ground. At least it used to be.
I suppose Genovese probably wouldn't see it that way if he knew Rafe shot Tommaso inside before having the place scrubbed of all evidence.
"I'll mind my temper so long as he minds his fucking mouth," I mutter to my brother. "He insults my future wife at his own peril."
Emilio Genovese is a boorish, insolent prick on a good day. He always has been. If he lacks the good sense to treat his daughter with respect, I'll respond as he deserves. She's endured enough because of him. Selling her into a marriage contract as a child. It's a disgusting, shameful practice that should have died out long ago. She isn't property to be bartered and sold. No woman is.
"I should have brought more weapons," Antonio mutters, earning a grunt of agreement from Mattia.
Rafe snorts, though the look on his face makes it clear he's missing his own piece right now. We're both unarmed, exactly like the rules demand. It's not a comfortable position to be in.
"Let's get this shit over with," I growl.
Antonio and Mattia exit the vehicle first to make sure everything is copacetic. They check around, looking in windows and under cars, prodding at bushes. Mattia vanishes inside the deli to look it over.
"I'm marrying Amalia," Rafe says.
"Figured as much." I arch a brow, asking the same question he asked me the other night. "Does she know?"
He gives me the finger, smirking. "She said yes, stronzo."
"Congratulazioni," I murmur, genuinely happy for him. Merda. He deserves happiness in his life. Perhaps more than any of us. He's held us together, no matter how steep the personal cost. And it has been steep. He sacrificed everything. "You deserve peace."
"So do you." He eyes me for a moment. "You and Gabriel have been trying to take our businesses legitimate for a long time. When this shit is over, you two should focus on that again."