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I feel a flash of jealousy and stamp it down. She's to be mine. And mine alone.
The way it always should have been.
3
MEL
Xander's mother smiles at me, takes my hand in hers, and presses a kiss to my cheeks. "Mel. It's so good to see you."
I let her hug me before pulling away. "It's good to see you too, Martha."
And it is. Whatever Xander and I had, whatever our past is like, Martha has always been kind to me. Six years later, there are streaks of gray in her dark hair and lines around her eyes, but it's obvious where Xander and his brothers get their charm.
"Come sit. I've had Asher make a feast. You'll like it."
She leads me to the table where a meal is spread out already. Xander pulls my chair for me before settling into his.
"Where is your father?" I ask, turning to him.
Silence greets my question, and I wonder if I've said something wrong. But how will a family alliance be forged without the man whose very business it is that Xander would be taking over?
I ignore the thought of just what it is that business is. The fact that we are who we are makes it all the weirder that Xander’s father isn’t here. It’s not like we’re in the grocery business or anything, but hey.
I can’t sit and judge. It is, after all, the same thing that my father does. I can't afford to point fingers or throw stones from a glass house.
"He'll be down in a second. Alec will be with him." Martha replies. The table is silent, the ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall the only sound.
Father has probably gone ahead to speak to him. I don't understand how they can stand each other now after ruining their children's lives. But it is not my place to question the way the men run their business.
In truth, there's a maelstrom inside of me, zipping through my veins, and I find that I am tapping my hands on the table when Xander's hand covers mine.
I pull away and turn to him. "This will not be any different. All we need to do tonight is sign the contract." He says, his voice a caress that sends a shiver arrowing to my core, much to my distress.
Seems my body hasn't gotten the memo that this isn't the past.
I let my hair fall over my face to hide the rush of color to my cheeks.
"There's a contract?"
“Our families have not seen eye to eye in years. Of course, Amore mio, there's a contract." Xander says.
Amore mio? The use of the old name has my thighs clenching under the table, my hand almost fisting, too, except he's got his hands over them.
I lean into him, note Daniel has his eyes on me, and hiss my words. "Don't call me that. I can't take it. Please."
His lips tighten, and he fills my space. "You can take it, and I can’t wait to have you begging for every inch mia mor." Then his hands leave mine as though he'd asked for the time of the day, as though he hadn't left me grateful I'm sitting because my knees are suddenly jelly.
I miss his warmth immediately, but it's better this way. Getting involved with Xander would be a terrible idea, especially as this time, we're signing a damned contract.
The rattle of a wheelchair fills the oppressive silence, and Xander shoves his chair back. I turn towards the sound, stifling a gasp when my eyes meet his father's.
Amory Vittoria has a blank look on his face like he has trained the rest of his children to be. I leave my chair, walk up to him, and bend to kiss him on the cheek as my sign of respect.
"Mel, never thought I'd clap eyes on you again. You've grown." His voice is half lost in his throat, no longer the deep timbre of a man who recognizes his own power.
He looks a step away from the grave, his eyes droopy, his hair as ashy as his complexion, and it comes to me finally: the reason Xander needs a wife. I lift my eyes to his, and I know he can read the look on my face.
He needs to take over the Famiglia, and he cannot do that without a wife.
