“I see,” I replied, looking at the closed door before me. Saying nothing more, I walked into the room and closed the door behind me, leaving only me and Reaper alone in the room.
“What now?” I asked, keeping my distance from the man. There was something about his stature that had me concerned. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about was a deal-breaker. I could see his resolve clearly on his face. Something happened in the short time I was out in the hallway, but I couldn’t think what it could be for the life of me.
“Got the whole story from Player. You are not going to like it. I will let you deal with that on your end. Player will tell you himself. He also wants to leave the club and take Catarina away from all of this. I told him no.”
“You can’t keep my cousin hostage, Mr. Doherty. I won’t allow that.”
“I know, but I need to know he’s safe. As long as he’s with you or me, I’ll know he’s not in danger.”
“Then I will take him back to Chicago with me, along with Catarina. They arefamiglia. They need to go home anyway. The family misses them.”
Reaper nodded, then added, “I will allow that on one condition.”
“What?”
“You agree to marry Layla tonight.”
I must have heard him wrong.
There was no way he could expect me to marry a woman I knew nothing about. I was willing to do many things, like setting up Layla on the family’s private island, where she would have round-the-clock protection and be away from everything and everyone, but marry her?
What was Reaper’s game?
“No.” I clearly stated, walking deeper into the room as I headed for the small mini bar. I desperately needed a drink. This alliance was becoming worse by the second. I could deal with a great many things, but I was not going to marry a woman I didn’t love.
Not for Reaper.
Not to protect her.
Not for an alliance, I was second-guessing.
Nothing.
Ignoring the glasses, I just took the cap off a bottle of scotch and took a big gulp, and sighed as the spicy liquid warmed my insides. Taking another quick drink, I turned to the man who hadn’t moved an inch and said, “You know something, Mr. Doherty, I will admit to wanting this alliance between our two families. For the longest time, I thought we could both be very profitable, and I liked that our beliefs aligned in a great many things. When my cousins joined your club, I had you investigated. Though I don’t agree with many of your tactics, I believe in what your club stood for. But this…no. I will not marry a woman I just met or don’t trust.”
“I think you will, Giovanni. In fact, when I tell you what I learned while listening to Player’s history, I think you will beg me to marry her.”
Smirking, I had to give it to the man.
He did have Moxy.
But that was only going to get him so far with me.
Mr. Doherty may think he knows something, but so did I, and I knew there was nothing on this planet to ever make me marry Layla.
“I got a text from Matrix stating that Victor Capribella was murdered in his bed this morning in Sicily. It’s all over the news and papers. The man has no heirs. So, by my calculation, that means once I kill Diablo, that makes Layla the sole heir and head of the Capribella Family. You want peace between your two families. Here is your chance. Marry her, and you control both families. Marry her, give her your name and protection, and I will sign whatever contract you want.”
17
Layla
“I won’t do it!” I shouted at the room of men who were all staring at me as if I was on display. It wasn’t that I was scared, far from it. There was nothing any of them could do to me that hadn’t already been done.
I’ve been to hell and survived.
Now that I was free, there was no way in hell I was ever going back. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to shackle myself to any man, especially a man who didn’t know me or didn’t love me. I was willing to do a great many things for this stupid fucking club that I hated, but marrying Giovanni Valentinetti was a big hell no from me.
Not happening.