The silence that followed sat between everyone for half a second before he nodded. “Very well.Let’s move forward.” Francesco lifted his hand and crooked his finger, gesturing to someone to come in.
Movement at the edge of the room pulled my attention before she fully stepped into view, and my reaction was immediate, instinctive in a way I didn’t question. Lucia Rossi.
She entered with her shoulders back and her chin tipped up, her movements controlled in a way that didn’t feel practiced so much as ingrained. And when her gaze lifted, it settled on me like she’d already decided she wouldn’t be the first to look away.
“Lucia,” Francesco said, his tone shifting just enough to make it known that, although she was his daughter, she was also his pawn.
She moved to his side right away, her attention flicking briefly to my father before returning to me.
“This is my daughter, Lucia.”
My father nodded and gestured toward me. “My son, Alexei.” That was the only introduction either of us got before it was back to business.
Her gaze stayed on me, steady in a way that would have had a lesser man, a weaker one, cowering. Hell, if I was a true bastard, one of the many men that ran in our circles who thought of women asnothing but vessels for our cock and cum, I’d have been enraged.
Instead, I felt this heat move through me because she was strong and didn’t back down when I knew she was scared as hell.
She was exactly what you’d expect from a family like this. Composed. Controlled. Raised to stand in a room like this and not show weakness. My attention dragged over her slowly, taking in details without rushing them—the line of her shoulders, the feminine curves under her dress, and, most of all, the way she held herself.
“This arrangement benefits both families,” Rossi said, his voice cutting back through the space. “It keeps things from going where neither of us wants them to go.”
My father stepped forward just enough to shift the room again. “We’re not here to debate that,” he said. “We’re here to settle the details.”
Rossi inclined his head slightly, like he expected nothing less. “Then we’re aligned. The marriage moves forward, and we don’t waste time.”
“We don’t,” my father agreed. “Two weeks. We set the date, make it public, and lock everything in before anyone starts testing boundaries.”
Francesco nodded once. “Agreed.”
“The ceremony stays private,” my father continued. “Family and inner circle only.”
“Agreed,” Rossi said. “No unnecessary attention, and security stays tight on both sides. No movement without clearance. No surprises.”
“There won’t be,” my father replied, his tone even, not offering reassurance so much as stating a fact.
Rossi’s gaze flicked briefly toward Lucia before returning to him. “And after the wedding?”
“They’ll live where it benefits both families,” my father said.
Rossi took that in then gave a slow nod. “Of course.”
There was a brief pause, both carefully measuring the other.
“And children?” Rossi asked finally, like it was just another term being set.
“They’ll come,” my father answered without pause.
“They need to. They strengthen the alliance,” Francesco added, the weight of his words settling in, quiet but final.
“Then we’re clear,” my father said.
“We are,” I added. It was my fucking arranged marriage, and I will be involved in this.
It was done, not negotiated in the way most people would understand but set into place the way things like this always were. Clean, direct, and impossible to walk back once agreed.
I didn’t look away from Lucia as the reality of it settled in, heavy and unavoidable, something darker than anything that had been said out loud. This wasn’t going to be simple, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be easy for either of us.
Because whatever this turned into, I knew my life would never be the same again.
