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Chiara takes a deep breath, but slowly. “I’m fine, thank you.”
She moves past me, but I step in front of her and smile pleasantly. It was clear from her expression over dinner that she doesn’t like Cassius or Lorenzo, and Salvatore just scared the shit out of her. All these dragons. I’ll be her prince charming.
“This must all be so strange for you. You had no idea that your father worked so closely with us before tonight, did you?”
Chiara studies me carefully, searching for the trick.
No trick. I’m just being nice.
For now.
“Sit down with me for a moment. The others have tempers and even I have a hard time making them listen to me.” I go to the sofa and make myself comfortable. “I prefer a good conversation, so let’s have a talk.”
Chiara glances toward the dining room, seeming to wonder if it’s safer in there than out here with me.
“I swear I won’t make you promise yourself to me in marriage in the next thirty minutes. You must be curious about the four of us. Maybe I can answer your questions.” I tilt my head, doing my best to disarm her. “Maybe I can help you.”
Slowly, she makes her way over to the sofa and sits down next to me, glancing at me like I’m a bomb that’s about to blow up in her face. I relax back with a smile.
“You seem different from the others,” she says after a moment.
“What, not completely insane, you mean?” She nods, and I laugh. “That’s fair. Salvatore and the others are used to getting their own way. Right now, I imagine they’re all furious that you never answered Salvatore’s question.”
“I’m not going to marry any of you,” she says right away.
“Sorry, kitten. Unless something unforeseen happens, then you are going to marry one of us.” The one who claims Chiara as his wife will have all sorts of interesting leverage over the mayor. I was arrested last year, and even though the charges didn’t stick, the memory still makes me burn with anger. That won’t happen again if I have Chiara.
Her face creases in despair. “But this is so archaic. I never imagined that my future was going to turn out like this.”
I take a pack of playing cards from my pocket and show them to her. “Maybe I have the solution. How about we play a game?”
“What kind of game?”
“A little bet to settle this once and for all. Salvatore might own the casinos, but I’m the betting man among us. If you ask him, I have a problem, but I can stop any time I like.” Another smile, this one self-deprecating.
Chiara glances at the cards. If she were going to walk away, she would have by now. I just have to reel her in.
I split the deck and riffle them together; arch them and stack them back into a neat pile. The familiar hand gestures are slick and pleasing. They never fail to get a betting man’s attention.
Or woman’s.
Chiara eyes the cards with interest. “What are we betting on?”
I sort through the cards, looking for one in particular. “If you win, then we four disappear from your life forever.”
The effect on Chiara is electric. Her spine straightens and her eyes light up. I can feel how much she wants this and I draw out the moment, drinking in every second.
“That’s not something you can promise all on your own, is it? The others seem like they do whatever they want.”
“Oh, but it is. The others will be angry with me if I lose, but they’ll stand by the bet.” If I lose.
If.
“Why?”
“Because in our world, a deal is a deal, and the only way out once a promise has been made is in a pine box.” We might be a bunch of criminals, but we have a code. We lie, steal and cheat to get what we want, but our word is sacred.
“And if I lose?”
