Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
My father sighs. “He has me over a barrel. You could refuse—”
“No, I won’t refuse,” I say with a rush of anger. I won’t have that asshole take my father’s kingdom from him. I won’t give him that satisfaction. “I will marry the son of a bitch if that means you don’t lose everything.”
I will marry Satan. I will be his wife. I will plaster a smile on my face in public but turn away from him the moment we’re out of view. I will live in London, and he can reside in hell, where he belongs.
I’ll be damned if he gets anything more than that.
My father pauses, searching for the right words. “I want you to know that I would not ask this of you if it wasn’t necessary. I would never put you in harm’s way.”
I give him a dark look. “It sounds like you’ve been doing that my entire life.”
His eyes drop as he plays with the heavy ring on his pinky finger. “You loved him once.”
“When we were children. And if I remember correctly, you destroyed that friendship. You broke my heart and then told me I had to get the fuck over it.”
His eyes flick up. My father loathes me cussing. “For the sake of peace.”
“There has been no peace, apparently. And now it all rests on my shoulders.” I don’t know who I’m more angry with—my father for all of his lies or the asshole demanding my hand in marriage.
“It’s a business transaction. You’ll be married in name only.”
“Fantastic,” I reply, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“The marriage will last for twelve months. You will appear on his arm as his wife in public. It’s a role, Bella. Nothing more.”
“And such a small price to pay for peace,” Alberto adds.
“Says the man whose entire existence hasn’t been reduced to arm candy in the last five minutes.”
My father looks tired. “Cara mia—”
“Fine,” I snap. “But I want an airtight agreement that this is nothing more than a business deal. And I will be filing for an annulment twelve months and one day after the wedding.”
I think about the boy I had loved with all my heart.
How I thought I would die when we moved from Italy to America.
Back then, I was so in love with him.
But now I hate him.
Just as my father wanted me to.
7
Nico
I wait and watch from the back seat of the Escalade. Forty-five minutes ago, Bella entered The Olive Grove to meet with her father and Alberto.
From what my sources have told me, she has no idea her father is still involved in the old ways. Apparently, Vincent Isle Ciccula fed her a lie when they moved to the US, told her he’d shed his Mafia skin, and pursued a more honorable life as a restaurateur and visionary entrepreneur.
But it was all a facade.
Oh sure, he set up his restaurants and invested wisely in start-ups here and there, but he remained very much a part of the old world.
We’ve been at war ever since the night my mother died. Both sides have taken a hit. His men versus my father’s men—who are now my men, now that my father has stepped down.
And Bella had been none the wiser as she etched out her safe little life in London with her safe boyfriends and her safe dreams.
Pain shoots through my jaw before I realize I’m clenching my teeth hard enough to hurt them.
Back in London, it was hard to watch her with other men, especially that asshole with the blue blood and crooked nose. He was an earl of something and utterly wrong for her. He dimmed her fire, something I don’t plan on doing once we’re married.
I don’t want to dim her anything.
I want to ignite it and feel her hellfire sear my skin.
Inside the Escalade, there’s no sound except for the steady sound of my heartbeat in my ears as I wait.
Bella’s been inside long enough to learn her fate, and I figure about now she realizes how duped she’s been.
That her world is about to change.
That she’s about to become my wife.
I’d give anything to see the look on her face when her father tells her that he has brokered the marriage.
Like other dons before me, witnessing the moment someone realizes their fate has become an addiction of mine. That split second when they understand that everything has changed is charged with so much power and retribution, it’s intoxicating.
My own came to me as a boy of seventeen, and it shaped me into the man I am today.
It’s almost midnight when she finally reappears. She steps out of the restaurant looking lost in thought, and I can’t help the kick in my chest when I see those beautiful curls blow in the gentle evening wind.
She hails a taxi and stops to look both ways before crossing the street and sliding into the yellow cab. When they pull away, as per my instruction, Mateo, my trusted driver, pulls away from the curb, and we follow her through the glittering New York City streets.