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He patted her hand. “Good, Good. I am glad you could join us for this,” Vigo looked at me, “strange circumstances we find ourselves in.”
Mom smiled and nodded. Stefano took the seat at the front, while a man brought a chair for mom to sit next to him. I could see she was worried, but she knew this game, and she played her part well.
“Boys.” Vigo gave us a nod.
We nodded back as we took our position on the wall. I glanced around the room, the chairs were all full, full of our enemies, all in one room. If we had the means, we could take them all out right now. Except for one chair, one chair sat empty. The chair at the front on the other side. And it could only belong to one person, Gabriele Volante. Mom was the only woman in the room, and again I realized she was here for us. To keep us under control. What the hell was going on?
The elevator door opened, and Gabriele Volante stood there. He was a big man, broad shoulders, probably six foot three. His size probably had a lot to do with the reason people feared him. He walked in, a woman walking from behind him. A woman that could only be his daughter. She scanned the room, stopping at mom and Stefano, then scanning to me. Our eyes connected as I watched her swallow. Whatever this was, it had something to do with her. She looked at Arturo, then back at me. As clueless as we were. I watched her walk, following her father, her thigh peeking out of the slit on her dress with every stride. She was hot, if she had been any other girl, and this had been any other meeting, I might have approached her, and invited her for a drink, taken her in the back of my car, and ran my hand up the slit in her dress. Her eyes, those electric green eyes, went to Vigo who stood up and grabbed her hand. “Why, Alora. You have grown into such a beautiful woman. Thank you for joining us. It is good to see you.”
She looked at him, her face hard. “It is good to see you. I however did not have a choice in the matter of being here or not.”
I had to stifle the laughter building in my chest. Wow, this girl had guts. I watched Vigo, surely he would slap her, or grab her by the neck. He laughed. “Oh, you are a lot like your mother. Sit. Let's get started.”
He stayed standing. “After our meeting last week three more murders have happened. They are calling this killer Wrath. And to date, this man has taken out eleven of the Made Men from families sitting at this council. As well as many others from our business ventures. Rumors have been flying around that this Wrath is a result of the ongoing feud that has been brewing between The Rossi outfit and The Volante outfit for the last twenty-one years.” He looked at Stefano and Gabriele. “I assure you that is not the case, that feud is now dead. And to show,” he pointed at both of them “just how serious they are about this feud being no more.” Vigo looked over at me, then at her. “They will be joining families. Stefano’s son Luka, will be marrying Gabriele’s daughter Alora.” Gasps, and murmurs spread through those present.
I felt my chest get tight, my hands into fists. Stefano turned and looked at me, giving me his I will kill you stare. Arturo grabbed my wrist, leaned in, and whispered. “Keep it together.” I nodded and turned to look at her. She stared right back at me, I thought she would look scared, maybe flushed, something. But she looked calm and collected. Had she been told before she got here? Was she already expecting this? We stood there, staring at one another while the room around us erupted into chaos. “Silence!” Vigo yelled, fist slamming to the table. “We need to show a united front now more than ever.” He looked at me. “Luka,” turned to her, “Alora. I know this is a shock to both of you. I asked your fathers not to tell you so you could hear it from me first. This marriage will end a stupid feud that never should have started in the first place. Do you hear me? This feud ends here and now. We will unite the families once again and take out this Wrath character for good. Alora, Luka come.”
I walked forward and stood next to him, while Alora stood on the other side. “This marriage will save lives and unite us once again. Stefano has Arturo to run things when it is his time to step down. But as Gabriele was not able to produce a male heir, he has no one to take over when the time comes. With Alora by your side, you can be that man. And this careless feud can stop. In two weeks, there will be a wedding, here at the Consortium, in the garden. Luka, you have two weeks to get your affairs in order and be ready to take your place here. Do you understand?”
There was nothing I could do at this point, so I just nodded.
“And Alora, you have two weeks to prepare to welcome your husband-to-be into your home. Do you understand?”
She looked at him and nodded.
“Very well,” he smiled, grabbing my hand and placing it in hers. “You two go down to the restaurant. Use this the next hour or so to get to know one another. You are not needed for the rest of this meeting. Voralie, Arturo, you are not needed either. Perhaps the two of you could chaperone this dinner. Gabriele, one of your men can chaperone as well.” Gabriele nodded.
Mom looked at me, sympathy and worry on her face. She nodded, whispered something to Stefano, and stood up. Arturo walked over, offering his arm. She took it as they made their way towards the elevator.
I looked at the woman whose hand I was holding. She looked at me, then to her father, a look of pure disgust on her face. She dropped her hand from mine and walked towards the elevator. She said something to a man who followed behind her. I followed them, watching as the elevator doors closed behind us.
