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I have no idea if my father knows just how evil Peter is.I do, so I know my life will be hell if I marry him.
“This is not up for discussion, Evie.It’s happening whether you like it or not.Now sit back down.” Dad points to the chair.
I stand my ground, though, and glare at him.“How could you do this to me?You knew I had plans, and none of them included marriage.”
“But mine did. I never spoke about it before because I knew who I had in mind to marry you.”
All this time, Peter remains silent.It’s not because he’s fazed in any way by my outburst.
He has that cool, calculative presence because he’s an asshole who knows how to choose his battles and when to pipe down and watch.Right now, he’s just choosing the latter because it suits him.
“Sit, Evie, do it now,” Dad orders in that demeaning tone again.
When I look back at him, I see the seriousness in his face, and I remember he’s not a man you defy without consequence.
I can’t fight this because I don’t have the means to, so I sit, and I try not to cry.
Dad returns to his seat and looks from me to Peter.
“The wedding will take place at the end ofSeptember.I'll be heading to Italy in a little over a month, but I'll return briefly in mid-July for your engagementparty.With the wedding being in September, you'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea of what the future willhold.”
Plenty of time?
That’s four months. No amount of time could make me get used to anything when it comes to Peter.
And...not when I think he had something to do with my brother'smurder.
That’s a secret I’ve carried in my heart for the last three and a half years.
I can’t marry Peter, so the only thing I can plan to do in the next four months isleave.
I just don’t knowhow I’ll be able to pull off something like that when I’m practically locked away in a tower.
3
Henry
Donatello Ricco—Donny,if he considers you a friend—is the kind of man who commands respect just from his mere presence, and that’s even before you know about his net worth.
Just from looking at his well-built frame, his silver-streaked beard, and those cunning, almost black eyes, you know not to piss him off.
I’d say most know if you did anything to displease him, that might be the last day you live.
I’ve been wondering for the last hour as I’ve sat in this meeting which of those elements has my father eating out of the tycoon's hands.
Everybody treats you with respect when you have money. That’s a given. But Donny has money older than dirt. So that could be it. It’s certainly by the graces of bringing in that said money that my ass is here.
We’re in the meeting room of Dubois’ Developments. Around the table is Donny, who’s sitting at the head like this is his company, next to him is Peter, his assistant who is a prick I can’t stand. I’m sitting next to the prick. My father and Carson, my idiot stepbrother my father wishes was his actual son, are opposite me. So, I can see every emotion play out over their features.
Carson is undoubtedly fucking afraid. He’d be an idiot not to be around the presence of a man who is a known mobster. I guess Dad would be too, but he’s used to my association with the Giordanos. I’m guessing, though, that Donny is a bit different.
So with that in mind, I think what I’m witnessing in my father’s eyes is fear.
Dad is afraid of Donny.
The fear is most evident in the way he holds on to every word Donny says,andhe’s taking notes.
I can’t remember the last time I saw him do such a thing. Normally his secretary would be present in a meeting like this to take the minutes, but the people in here are all approved by Donny himself. He’s particular about who hears his plans, and he didn’t see the need for a secretary when we could note down what he’s saying.
