“I’m the Don already in practice if not on paper. Maybe I should just order a hit on you. What do you think?” He pauses but I say nothing and he starts to laugh. “I’m only joking, Nico. Family is everything, right?”
“I’m going to dinner, Giovanni.”
“Take a day,” he says, the laughter cutting out like he flicked a switch in his head. “Think about my offer. A million bucks and you tell the commission you’re removing yourself from the running. Let me take charge.”
I hang up on him. I can tell he’s sweating. He knows I could hire any woman and get them pregnant. He knows the clock is ticking and Santina isn’t doing as well as he hoped.
I’m not picking any woman. I don’t want any woman anymore. There’s only one woman I want. The one I spent so long looking for after our one night together.
I don’t just get a beautiful wife. I don’t just get to watch her body curves grow when she gets pregnant. I get to swallow up the Moretti name. I take it and crush it and it vanishes like it never existed. The slight on our honor is removed.
I become the Don. I send Giovanni far away. Hell, maybe give him a million bucks to take with him, show him how much that amount means to me. As long as he’s far enough from Santina that she doesn’t pick up any more bruises.
I walk out of the study and find Katie. I send her to fetch Rory before heading into the dining room.
The table has been laid out for two. It’s a big table. I remember sitting here with my parents and Giovanni when we were little. Bolt upright, backs straight, elbows off the table. Giovanni trying to kick me from his seat. Mom looking at my father with love in her eyes. She respected him. He cared for us all. Looked after us. Would do anything for his family.
Couldn’t stop the cancer taking her though. I look at the empty space where mom used to sit. Both of them gone. A pang of pain runs through me. I swallow it down. Dwelling on the past does you no good. Better to move on. Think of the future.
She always wanted me to settle down and have a family. Never listened when I said that wasn’t me.
Maybe she was right. Maybe this could be me. Rory is the first person I could imagine doing it with.
The door opens and Rory walks in. She looks stunning. Hair sitting on top of her head. A few stray curls framing her face. The dress Katie picked out for her is perfect. Clings to her curves. Shows off those gorgeous tits of hers and enough leg to get my cock twitching.
She stares at me, her arms folding across her chest as she stands still in the doorway.
“Sit down,” I tell her after she makes no effort to move or talk.
She pulls out the chair opposite me, still glaring. “I have an offer for you,” I tell her as one of the staff pours her out a glass of wine.
“I’m not interested in anything you have to offer. I want to know why you locked me in the bedroom.”
“To make sure you didn’t leave like last time.”
“So I’m your prisoner?”
I lift my own glass and take a sip. “Listen to my offer and then decide whether or not to get angry.”
“Oh, I’ll decide when I get angry or not, thank you.”
“You marry me in a couple of days.”
“No chance.”
“I’m not done.” I make my voice deeper. She shrinks in her seat, clearly afraid of my tone. “You marry me. You have a child with me. You don’t need to stay to raise it. I will do that. Consider yourself a surrogate for my needs. In return, I will retrieve your cousin from Italy and provide her with a full college scholarship. I will also ensure you are protected while you live in the city. No one will attempt to hurt you while you are under my protection.”
“You know where Cara is?” She looks excited all at once, her hands gripping the edge of the table.
“I do.”
“Where?”
“Accept my offer and she’ll be back here soon enough.”
“So you’re holding that over me?” Disgust colors her features.
“I am leveraging the chips I have available at the table. Do you accept the offer?”