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I can tell by the tone of his voice that he’s deadly serious. The only problem is that I have no desire to go through all the pomp and circumstance of an arranged marriage. I don’t have the time or patience for it. Until Loreto says something that really hits me.
“She keeps trying to get out of New York,” he explains to my surprise. “My father is onto her now, and he’s stationed additional men to watch her. I’m afraid if she tries to run again, he…he won’t go easy on her.” He pauses. “He might take things too far when he beats her this time. Please, Christian, I’m begging you. You’re the only one I know who I can ask to help me, and who my father will listen to. I love my sister and I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
This is definitely not at all what I was expecting to be dealing with over dinner, but even though I’m at first reluctant, I can’t turn away my best friend’s request for help. “Okay, I’ll at least come to meet with your father to discuss the matter,” I say, agreeing to try and keep the peace on behalf of my best friend. Plus, it might not be that terrible if I was to accept this arrangement. After all, Lara is undeniably beautiful, even if too feisty and quick to fight. I know plenty of other men who run in our crime syndicate who would give their right testicle to be with a woman like Lara Ricci.
When I arrive at the Ricci home, Loreto is already standing outside, waiting for me. And when we go in, we are instantly met with an unfolding scene, just as Loreto had predicted. As soon as I step into the open doorway of the study, I see Valentino raise his hand with a look of sheer rage in his eyes as he readies to strike his daughter. Without hesitation, almost reflexively, I intervene. I suddenly feel instinctively and inexplicably protective, as if something inside of me has flipped a switch and suddenly decided that I need to protect this woman from her cruel-handed father.
“Valentino!” I call out to him, filling the doorway with my broad shoulders and posturing myself as if I own the place. It instantly gets his attention and his hand freezes mid-air. I take a few quick strides into the room, leaving a surprised Loreto in the doorway for a moment or two before he catches up. I think he’s stunned at my quick action to insert myself into this family drama. To be honest, so am I.
I reach out and grab on to Loreto’s sister by the arm, gently yanking her toward me and away from Valentino. “I was told that we had an agreement,” I say with cold authority. “Loreto said that an arranged marriage was acceptable to you. Am I mistaken?”
For a second, Valentino looks surprised. He also looks like a sniveling fool when confronted with someone who holdsrealpower in this city. He might beDonRicci’s nephew, but that’s nothing compared to the work I do. He’s nocapo, but a little fish in a big pond, whereas I’m the whole damn shark.
“Yes, of course I’m in agreement, Christian. I was just finishing up some business with my daughter before you arrived for our meeting.”
“Consider your business with her finished.”
Valentino backs down without any further argument. He knows he’s being faced with either a powerful ally or a powerful enemy, depending on how he chooses to react to thecapostanding in front of him. I wouldn’t hesitate to put the scumbag down if given reason enough. But since the arrangement benefits him, he’s now as obedient as a tame pup. There isn’t even any need for further words, as he waves his hand at us, indicating I’m free to do as I please with his daughter.
I don’t even bother to look over at her, because I already know she’s probably glaring at everyone here in this room. If Loreto is right with his descriptive depiction of his sister’s fiery attitude about all this, then Lara Ricci isn’t going to be too thrilled at the fact that she has absolutely no say in this matter at all. I suppose it’s better than getting hit in the face, at least. I pull Lara alongside me as we leave the room and then the house, with Loreto following closely behind us. “Thank you,” he says with relief as soon as we get outside.
“What the hell are you thanking him for?” Lara spits at her brother. “For taking me and locking me up somewhere else?”
“No,” Loreto says as he tries to be reasonable with his sister. “For saving you from the precipice of what looked to be a violent attack against you by our father. And he’s not going to lock you up, sis, c’mon.”
I can feel Lara’s eyes looking over at me as if she’s questioning whether or not to believe her brother. I don’t give her any indication one way or another as I open the passenger door for her and Loreto ushers her into the seat and tosses her purse into her lap. Once we’re inside my car, I say, “Now look, calm the fuck down. You should be thanking me for effectively just having saved your life.”
“My father was intending to hit me, not kill me,” she scowls. “And besides, I’d rather die than be in a gilded cage. I’d prefer to be relieved of my mortal coil instead of being bound to you.”
I put the car into drive and mutter under my voice, “I’m starting to feel the same way.”
3
LARA
“I’m not coming out!” I scream through the thick wooden slab.
Christian is on the other side of the door, after having shown me to the room that will be my apparent bedroom here, and after I slammed the door shut in his face and locked it. “Don’t you think you might be being a tad melodramatic?” he asks. His voice is smooth and cool, a vocal rendition of what it would feel like to run my hands across a metal surface.
“No,” I argue. “Melodramatic is showing up and kidnapping a woman from her own home.”
“Technically, it was yourfather’shome,” he says. I can almost hear him smirking through the closed door. “It’s not kidnapping, either. Stop being so theatrical. And according to your brother, you were trying to run away from that place anyway. I’ve done you a favor. You should be thanking me.”
“A favor?” I hiss at him. “How is this any kind of favor? All that’s happened is that I’ve traded one prison for another.”
“Well, at least in this prison, no one will try to hit you.” His intonation suggests that he considers this place to be very far removed from a prison of any kind—more like a palace, probably, especially considering that this man has more money than anyone else in the neighborhood. He has a point, but it’s not a comforting one. It’s not the strike my father almost gave me that upsets me the most, it’s the lack of freedom to do as I please. A physical hit would be easier to bear than the brunt of constant captivity. I might not be an actual prisoner, but I sure as hell feel like one.
“I’m not coming out until you promise to let me go,” I persist. “In fact, I won’t eat or speak to anyone until I’m set free from both this apartment and the arranged marriage.”
“I’m not going to let you go, because I know that you’ll just try to run away again, like Loreto has informed me you have a propensity for doing. You’ll just wind up right back in the same situation with your father if you try that again. I told Loreto I’d prevent you from getting beat, so that’s what I’m gonna do.” His tone begins to sound more agitated than before. “I’m trying tohelpyou, Lara, and you’re simply being obstinate about it.”
“Why doyouhave any interest in protecting me? I’m sure you don’t actually care about anyone other than yourself.”
Silence hangs in the air for a moment, and I can’t tell if he’s even still there anymore until he lets out a forceful exhale. “Fine, have it your way. You can go ahead and rot in that room for all I care,” he says, the smooth, nonchalant tone cracking in his voice to reveal just a trace of elevated emotion. I wonder why I’m able to get under his skin so easily? The infamous Christian Greco is as tough as they come, or so I’ve heard. “Regardless,” he continues, “you won’t be escaping my place as easily as you did your father’s.”
I wait until I hear his footsteps fade into the distance down the hallway and then I turn to walk over to the four-poster bed in the room. It takes me less than a minute to collapse onto the pillows in a fit of sobs until I cry myself to sleep.
The sunshine beaming on my face wakes me up and I realize that I slept the whole night without stirring, probably exhausted from all the stress and crying. Around noon, Christian knocks on my door. “Lara, come out and eat something. I won’t have my best friend’s sister starve to death under my watch.”
