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“As much as it pains me, yes. I’m trading a little dishonesty for your life. Unless you’d rather I didn’t?”
“No,” she says.
I finally look up. She’s tugging at her hair, pulling and smoothing it nervously.
“That’s the first step. Convince my mother we’re in love. Then she’ll help me convince my father that we can get married. Once we’re married, you’ll be safe from your father, and my deal with him will be binding.”
“And then what?” she asks quietly. “We have a hundred little bratva babies?”
“That’s the idea.”
“What if I don’t want children?”
I close my eyes. I was afraid of this. Terrified, actually. So much is expected of me as the heir to the family, and if I make one mistake, one slip-up, I can lose everything. My position is tenuous, and I need Siena to play my game now or she can drag me under and drown me in the cold depths.
“Do you?” I ask, not sure if I want to know, but needing to ask anyway.
A long pause. “Yes. I want kids. Lots of kids, actually. But that’s not the point.”
I can’t help the relieved smile that slips onto my lips. “I knew you were a mafia princess at heart.”
“Don’t be an asshole.”
“We can worry about what our life will be like after getting married later. For now, we need to survive this ordeal.”
She glares at me, but she nods. “Fine. We’ll survive.”
“Good. Get dressed. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
She rifles through the bags while I make a drink. I sip my vodka and she disappears into my bedroom with half her wardrobe slung over her arms.
What am I going to do about this girl?
Marriage and love and children.
She’s more or less a total stranger. We have a powerful chemistry, but it’s twisted by our mutual dislike for this situation. That first night keeps playing in my mind, over and over, and I wonder if she’s going to be the death of me.
Everything is so dangerous already. Add Siena into the equation?
I’m not sure I can keep it all together.
But I’ll try. I’ll do whatever it takes, no matter the price.
* * *
If we’re supposedto convince my mother that we’re in love with each other, it helps that Siena chose to look absolutely stunning. I can’t stop looking at her, and my mother catches me staring at my mistress more than once.
She’s not wearing anything special. It’s a simple floral off-shoulder sundress with a skirt that hits a couple inches above her knees and shows off a touch of her collarbone, shoulders, and throat. It’s conservative, in that it’s not low cut or too short, but it accentuates her figure like a dream. I can’t stop looking at her and thinking about peeling it off, bit by bit, and unwrapping her like a present.
“Are you even listening, Maxim, dear?” Mother smiles at me as she tugs on my arm. She’s walking with her hand wrapped around my bicep and leaning close. She’s also wearing a dress, though it’s darker and longer and matches her sunglasses and floppy hat.
“Yes, Mother,” I say, which is a lie. I was too busy eye-fucking Siena to have any clue what she’s saying.
Mother laughs, seeing right through me, but doesn’t push. Of everyone in the family, my mother has always been the most patient and kind with me. My father was more like a mentor or a teacher than a parent. I love my siblings, but I’ve always been at a distance.
My mother is my mother. I believe it when she says she loves me. I remember her curling up in my bed when I was little and tucking me in and kissing my forehead. She’d whisper,Momma loves you, little Maxim, don’t you ever forget. That was the happiest I’ve ever felt in my life.
Siena walks on mother’s other side, smiling happily.
