My face fell. “You can’t be serious. No way in hell am I going to marry that bitch.”
Dad hit the locker again. It was the third one he’d dented so badly, I doubted anyone would get their stuff out of it ever again. “The Antonacis are well connected among the Traditionalists. I abolished the goddamn bloody sheets which caused an uproar and almost a revolt. Do you realize what would happen if I allowed you to dishonor a Captain’s daughter without you putting a ring on her finger?”
“So what? We’ll make a bloody statement and force them to follow our command. We’re Vitiellos, we don’t bow to anyone’s whims.”
“You want me to kill loyal men, the core of our Famiglia, because you couldn’t keep it in your pants? I’ve been way too lenient with you. For once you’ll have to carry the burden of your actions.”
I had underestimated Cressida and her ambition. I’d wanted to make her eat her words. But she’d turned things around, and now I was stuck with her.
“There has to be a way around it,” I muttered.
Dad took a deep breath, running his hand through his dark hair. “The Traditionalists feel cheated as it is. Marcella’s bond with a biker, the bloody sheets, and our bond with the Camorra, they were a lot to stomach for them. This would be the tipping point. I won’t weaken the Famiglia with a bloody statement only because you can’t stand your future bride. Cressida will be your wife. You have years to get used to the idea, and you fucking will, or I swear you’ll feel my full wrath.”
I glowered at my father. “Yes, Capo.”
On our way home, we didn’t speak. I was trying to figure a way out of the mess. Like Dad had said, I still had years before I had to marry. Until then I’d have to find a fucking solution out of this. The idea of being with Cressida for the rest of my life was too harsh a punishment for a few lousy fucks.
When we entered our mansion in the Upper East Side, Mom was in the living room with Valerio, helping him with his homework. One look at her face told me she knew what was going on.
Dad motioned at Valerio to leave. He grumbled but obeyed. “You’re in big trouble,” he muttered as he passed me.
Thanks for the heads up… I tried to ruffle his unruly blond hair but he dodged the attempt. His reflexes were getting better.
Mom wrung her hands as Dad headed her way. He kissed her briefly and they exchanged a few quiet words. Mom nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t happy.
Mom barely reached Dad’s chest, but she was his rock nonetheless. She stood by his side and his decisions, even if she disapproved of them. At least in front of others, even us kids, it had always been like that.
She would never contradict Dad’s decision but her face when she looked at me spoke of her concern. She was worried for me. She’d always wanted me to marry for love.
Dad shook his head once more, then headed out, obviously still too pissed to be in a room with me for long. Mom followed him with her eyes before she looked at me once more. She let out a quiet sigh and headed toward me. Stopping in front of me, she touched my cheek, peering up at me with worry-clouded eyes. “Will you be okay?”
“With marrying Cressida?”
“Yes.”
“Sure. I always knew I’d marry for tactical purposes, not love,” I lied. For some reason I couldn’t bring myself to use her as a way out of this. She was the only force on this planet that could change Dad’s mind if he was hellbent on something, but I admired their marriage too much to drive a wedge between them. “Love is for dreamers or weaklings. I’m neither.”
“Your father is many things but not a dreamer or weakling.”
“Dad’s the exception to the rule. Your story isn’t the norm, Mom. Many married couples barely tolerate each other’s presence. That’s what I can look forward to with Cressida. With a little luck, she’ll hate me enough a couple of years into our marriage to punish me with silence, then I won’t have to talk to her.”
Mom regarded me quietly. I could see that she was wondering where the boy had gone that she’d raised. She almost looked at me as if I might be an impostor, or as if the boy was still inside somewhere. Truth be told, I was pretty sure the easy-going boy had been the impostor in the first place. Given Dad’s genes anything else would have been a big ass surprise.
Mom still worried about my emotional well-being. If she could look inside of me, she’d know that nothing could hurt my feelings or break my heart. Marcella’s kidnapping and the aftermath had hardened me, had turned me into who I needed to be to become who I was destined to be. My grandfather had shaped Dad into the hardened man who ruled over the Famiglia with an iron fist. Dad hadn’t done the same to me out of love for Mom. What he had been too weak to do, the bikers who’d kidnapped my sister had accomplished.
I’d enjoyed the carnage. It ran in my blood. Maybe I’d only held it back in the past because of Mom. I patted Mom’s shoulder when she didn’t stop looking at me with worry-clouded eyes. “I’ll be fine, Mom. I don’t need love.”
I went up to my room but Marcella was already inside, browsing through a magazine, high-heeled feet crossed at the ankles. I had suspected that she’d be over to dinner today because Maddox was out on a run hunting his former biker buddies. Her dark hair was brushed back, revealing her maimed ear, which still made my blood boil even if my father and I had taken vicious revenge on many bikers.
Marcella looked up and shook her head. “I told you to stay away from Cressida.”
I closed the door, crossed the room over to my desk and sank down on the chair. My phone beeped with another message. I put it down on the desk. I’d reply to Maximus’ messages later. “I did it for you. To pay her back for talking shit about you.”
Her blue eyes narrowed. “And I told you that you’d get yourself in trouble. You realize she’s probably gloating like crazy right now because she’ll be your wife, a future Capo’s wife. Paying with her virginity for it was a small price for a lifetime of everyone worshipping the ground she walks on. If I think about it, thanks to you I’ll now have to be nice to her, so you really did me disservice, not just yourself.”
I gave her an annoyed look. I knew I’d fucked up. Marrying Cressida was at the top of things I loathed to do. I didn’t want her at my side. She was already acting like royalty because her father was Captain. I could only imagine how much worse she’d treat everyone around her as soon as she had my ring on her finger.
“It’s too late now. Dad made it very clear I have no say in the matter. I need to marry her to keep the Famiglia happy. My actions were too dishonorable apparently.”