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“I need to cut to the chase. My father and Niko were attacked in Greece. My father—he, uh, he didn't make it,” Emilia says, tears shining in the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, my God. I'm so sorry!” I console, wanting to hug her. “Was this when Antonio was there?”
“Yes. That's what took him so long to find you. Antonio was trying to hold me together as well as grieving my father.”
“Hold you together? Isn't that Niko's job?” My jealousy rears its head, and the question falls from my lips before I can stop it.
Emilia laughs, taking no offense to my rude question. “Niko was wounded in the attack. He was in a coma.”
I gasp. “Emilia, you've been through so much.”
“I married Niko when he was unconscious, but I don't regret it. It took almost losing him to know I didn't want to waste more time questioning everything. I loved him, which brings me to what you must ask yourself and the reason I told you all this to begin with.”
“What's that?” I ask.
My mind whirls as I take in everything she just told me. How tragic it must've been to lose her father and have to marry a man who wasn’t even alert to talk to her. I mean, he could've died as well. Here I am, feeling sorry for myself when things could be so much worse.
“Melina, ask yourself if you would be okay walking away from Antonio and losing him forever.”
“Emilia…”
“If you love Antonio that should make your choice simple,” she adds.
“I just don't see why he's pushing so hard on marriage,” I answer dejectedly. Everything would be fine if he could just give me time. I’m not asking for forever here. I just need some time to make sure we are on the same page instead of being scared about how hard I will fall when he's not there to catch me.
“That's why I asked Vic to leave us alone. Niko told me something in confidence, and normally I wouldn't betray that. I’m only doing so now because I know what you're feeling and how hard it is. I need to tell you so you can make the right choice. Your father destroyed your belongings and had your brothers beat Marco up,” Emilia tells me quietly.
I close my eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. “My father is a monster. I hate him,” I tell her through gritted teeth, trying to calm my racing heart. “Is… is Marco okay?”
“Yeah, as far as Niko knows, but that's why Antonio wants you to have his last name. He wants you under the family's protection, or at least that's part of his stupid plan,” Emilia says, shaking her head.
“What plan?”
“I've already said too much. Remember when you go in there that Antonio may try to be the bad guy, but he's not,” Emilia insists. “He would never do anything that would bring you pain.”
Her warning doesn't bode well for me. A stupid plan? Antonio playing the bad guy? I don't know that I fully grasp what she wants me to. In fact, everything she’s said only leads to more questions than answers. I don't hide my frown as I try to consider all the possibilities.
Emilia walks towards the room, telling me there's nothing left to ask. She's done talking. She owes me nothing but risked her husband's confidence by telling me. I admire and appreciate her choice, even if I still don't understand. I wait near her as Victorio opens the doors, but she doesn't step in. She just shakes her head at me.
"Some places I don't need to be right now. Besides, you have this. Plus, if you choose right, we will spend lots of time together in the future," Emilia tells me, smiling. I can see the sincerity in her eyes and I know she means it. “Zoe, Angelina and I have been looking for a fourth member of our tribe, and I think you'll fit right in.”
I want to ask who Zoe is, but Victorio clears his throat, waiting for me. As good looking as he is, I don't have it in me to stand up to him as Emilia did.
I look at both of them before walking in very tentatively. Each step chases away rational thoughts and panic courses through me. I'm too nervous to focus on what's about to happen. I’m going into this with no idea what I'm going to do.
antonio
Melina walks into the room with Victorio sauntering in behind her. I can see from across the room she's a nervous wreck. Each step is less sure than the one before it. Victorio looks at me, making sure I can see him mentally calling me a stupid fuck. I don't think I necessarily disagree with him. He doesn't know it, but it makes the Greece trip more likely for him.
Fuck if I care what they think about my choice right now. I know my men well enough to know they would make the same call if they were in my shoes.
Melina looks at me, confusion marring her pretty face as she takes in Niko and Killian standing near the priest and then to her brother, tied to a chair, looking worse for wear with the bruises her father had her other brothers inflict on him. I'm sure to her it seems like he's held prisoner. I can't help her assumptions, but I sure as hell can use them to nudge and guide her in the right direction. Before I discovered Marco was already beaten, I wasn’t above doing it myself to pull this off. The simple fucking truth is, I’ll do whatever I need to do so that today ends with my ring on her finger.
The priest looks far too calm and relaxed for being in a room with armed guards, a possible hostage, and a slightly unwilling bride. I don't know much about the priests in Boston, but fuck, I have soldiers that would be less comfortable in this kind of atmosphere. I should ask Killian how he knows this guy. I need his backstory, but that's a worry for another time.
Melina's painful gasp cuts through the silence in the room as she looks at Marco, bringing a shaking hand to cover her mouth. It's hard to miss the tremble in her fingers, even as she tries to stop it. She turns her gaze to me, and the pain in it burns through me.
For the first time in my life, I'm second-guessing everything—every choice. I may have handled this all wrong. Melina is not like other women. She has her own scars from her father—Scars that I will take great pleasure in killing that son of a bitch for that reason alone. That is the biggest reason for all this.
