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Aella sighed deeply, stretched out on the bed, and cuddled a pillow. Elongating her limbs, Ilaria did the same, resting her hand on her sister’s shoulder before addressing the more pressing topic.
“Are you scared, Elle? Not about Cassius, but the reason why. The…” she trailed off, unable to continue her sentence.
If it were anyone else asking, Aella wouldn’t have admitted it.
“I’m terrified, Ria. But giving up freedom to erase fear isn’t something I think I can do.”
“Then you’d better start working on a backup plan, sis. Because, similar to you, Daddy isn’t one to back down without a fight. And as much as I hate to back him in this situation, I’d gladly be content with whatever keeps me from losing you.”
“You’re not going to lose me, Ria,” Aella sighed wistfully, blinking slowly. “I’ll figure something out. Something that won’t involve me losing myself.”
“Hey, girl,” Cassius murmured, having been greeted at the door by his Doberman. He wasn’t attached to many things, but he held Nova close to his heart. She stayed briefly, soaking in the love and rubs while scoping the scene to ensure everything was intact, then scampered away, leaving him alone.
It’d been two days since the disastrous meeting at the Torrisi estate, and now that he’d returned home, Cassius finally had the peace and quiet necessary to sort out the turn of events. Having to prepare to wage war to fight for his family’s honor and respect was one thing. The prospect of an arranged marriage was something else entirely.
If that hadn’t been bad enough, Aella’s reluctance to tie herself to him rattled his pride. He was Cassius fuckin’ Farina. Women literally begged for the opportunity just to be seen with him, and Aella Torrisi had barely spared him a look.
And when she did look at him, the lust, admiration, or desire he was used to was non-existent. Instead, her russet eyes held contempt and hate, as if he were somehow responsible for her life’s current events.
“Like this shit won’t fuck my life up just as much as it will hers,” he muttered to himself, heading straight for the bar cart in his immense living room to pour a drink. “She and that fuckin’ attitude can figure her shit out since she knows so much.”
After filling the snifter with cognac, he trekked to the living room and plopped onto the couch. Almost as if on cue, his phone vibrated in his lap, flashing Mars’ name.
“Yo.”
“Damn, nigga. You could’ve left some money on the nightstand before you dipped.”
Despite his irritation, Cassius chuckled. “My bad. I needed to get back home so I could prep for this move.”
“I feel it. How’d the meeting go?”
“Mannnnn,” Cassius blew out a heavy breath before giving his friend all of the details of the proposed arrangement.
“Damn,” Mars whistled. “That’s… shit.”
“Tell me about it. And the craziest part is Shorty was pissed off at me as if all this was my idea.”
“I mean, that’s normal though. She did have her life flipped upside down out of the blue.”
“And so did I, but you don’t see me walking around with a fuckin’ attitude toward her about it.”
“You mad that she had an attitude, or are you mad because she’s one of the few women in existence who isn’t willing to stroke your ego?”
Cassius ignored the question. “The point is that I wasn’t checking for her. Nor do I want to marry her.”
“So why are you so mad that she doesn’t want to marry you?”
“Mars,” he replied through gritted teeth.
“A’ight, a’ight, a’ight,” Mars said, changing the subject. “Let’s get back to the important shit. Was there really a contract out on her?”
“Unfortunately. It was for a pretty penny, too.”
“Niggas don’t have a code anymore. Women and kids are forever supposed to be off-limits.”
“I know, and Severo has kept his daughters so far off the grid that I’m unsure if she knows just how serious this is. Baby Girl is living in a fantasy world if she thinks this is a one-off situation. If someone were dumb enough to try once, they’d do it again.”
“Let me find out you care.”
