She looks like she’s trying to chew on a sheet of metal. Her face twists and her mouth contorts. “Never,” she says at last.
“Would being my bride be so bad?”
“You killed my dogs.”
I shake my head. “You believe that, don’t you?”
“You telling me you didn’t do it? You going to lie to me? I saw their bodies, Nico.”
“Do you always make judgments without having all the facts?”
“So you’re saying you didn’t kill them? Am I supposed to just take your word for it?”
“I am many things but I am not a man who murders animals.”
“So who did kill them?”
“My father died recently. His wish was for me or my brother to become Don after his death.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
The food is brought in and laid out for us both.
Eat,” I tell her.
She picks at first but her hunger gets the better of her and she soon starts to dig in.
I carry on explaining things. “My father wrote that whoever is married and has a baby on the way will take over the family.”
“Why would he do that?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Simplify it, then.”
“My father believes I am too impetuous and carefree to rule but he also knows my brother is fucking useless. He is the elder brother so inherits the role by right.”
“And your dad didn’t want him to take over.”
“Right. He wants me to prove I can settle down. A pregnant wife would be proof of that. Giovanni, my brother, is trying to get his wife pregnant as we speak.”
“And you want to beat him to it? You want to use me to take over your family? Why me? Of all the people you could have picked, why me?”
“Giovanni made a deal with your father to get me killed but the plan went awry. Giovanni is pissed that I didn’t die. He went back and killed your animals in a rage when he found out. Once he discovers you’re alive he’ll try to have you killed. If you marry me, I can protect you from him.”
“I could just tell the cops.”
“You really think they would stop him?”
“They might.”
“What did they do when you told them I killed your family?”
She scowls at me, then mutters, “Nothing.”
“Exactly. Listen to me, Rory. You don’t have many options here. Marry me and give me a kid and I get what I want. You get Cara into college and you get to stay alive. When I take over, we can divorce quietly and you can do whatever you want with your life. I’ll even pay you a surrogacy fee.”
“You think I’d just hand over my child to you and walk away? What kind of woman do you think I am?”