To that, I raised a hand in the air, a cue to my man to knock on the door. And for the man inside to bring out Isabella.
"What the fuck is this?" Lorenzo asked, body going tighter than ever before.
"My proposal," I said, shrugging. "We could fuck around with this war. We could each lose dozens of men and millions of dollars. Or we can end it all right now. With an act of good faith."
"With a fucking sacrifice," Alessa snapped, practically vibrating with rage.
"Alessa here doesn't approve of my plan," I said, shooting her a barely-there smirk. "Called it out of the Dark Ages, if I recall correctly,” I told them.
"No," Emilio, Isabella’s brother, said, quicker to figure out what was going on than I was.
"I understand your hesitance," I agreed, nodding. "She is your little sister, after all," I said, waving the guard and his sister closer.
"I said no, Primo," Emilio ground out, his gaze going to his sister. “If you hurt her…” he added, voice tight.
"She isn't harmed,” I insisted. I’d been clear with my instructions. She would be no good to us if she was covered in bruises. They would never believe I meant well with my plan then.
"She's been crying,” Emilio insisted.
My gaze shifted toward his sister. She’d been pleading for me not to lock her in the room the last time I’d seen her. At that point, though, she hadn’t been crying.
She’d clearly been doing so since I’d left her, though. Black mascara ribbons were dried on her pretty face. Her eyelids were swollen, and her eyes and cheeks red from the tears.
"I imagine it was startling to be snatched off the street,” I said, shrugging. Women had a lot to fear from strange men, after all.
"Bell..." Emilio said, voice apologetic as he looked at his sister.
To that, Isabella merely shrugged. She’d been born into a mafia Family. At some level, she knew that shit like this went down, no matter how much her family likely tried to shield her from the reality of it.
"No," Emilio said again.
"War it is then," I said, moving to stand. "Shall we start now?" I asked, reaching for my gun as my men appeared from their hidden positions, surrounding the table as well as the men gathered there.
I didn’t want a massacre.
I understood how unstable that would make the mafia not only in the city but all across the United States. But I was done being treated like shit by the current administration. I was willing to fight my way back up to the top with my fists and teeth if necessary.
"No!" Isabella shrieked suddenly, a shrill, animalistic sound that had everyone pausing. Her gaze went to her brother, then the rest of the men there, as well as Alessa, assessing and understanding the damage that could be done with one word from me. "No," she repeated, looking at her brother, then turning her attention toward me. She struggled to hold my gaze, but I had to give her credit for doing it. “I’ll do it," she announced, even if her lower lip trembled as she did it.
"This is fucking ridiculous," Alessa said, getting to her feet.
"It has always been a way to secure alliances between feuding clans," I said, shrugging, keeping my gaze on Isabella as the tremble moved from just her lips to her whole body.
"Yeah, but we're not fucking warring clans in the middle ages. We're a progressive fucking modern society,” Alessa insisted.
"Of criminals," I said. "We all believe we can't trust one another. If one of yours was in my organization, that would force the trust."
"Then take me," Emilio said. "Take me on. I will work for you."
"No." What the fuck use would I have for him?
"You're not taking my sister," Emilio insisted, his body going stiff at the sounds of guns cocking all around as my men prepared for violence.
"It's okay. It's okay, Milo," Isabella insisted, trying to be brave, willing to be a sacrifice to keep the peace. As a part of me knew she would. Women were often better at that than men. Being selfless. Taking the burden upon themselves.
"It's not okay. You're not marrying this fucking monster,” Emilio growled. And, to be fair, it wasn’t an inaccurate descriptor.
"To save your life, and the lives of everyone here," Isabella said, holding up a hand as if to say there was no real choice in the matter.
"Do you even understand what you're saying?" Emilio said. "You'd have to live with him. For-fucking-ever. And other things," he added, face twisting up in disgust at the idea of his sister in bed with me.
Isabella's cautious gaze slid to me, guarded, but needing answers.
"I do want an heir," I confirmed. "It is non-negotiable."
"No," Emilio said again.
"It's... it's fine," Isabella said, though nothing about her said it was. "If you promise that you will not be the reason any harm comes to my Family," she added, looking at me, chin lifting.