AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And now I’m one of them.
“Dante,” I say, looking between him and Giana as they stand in the small living area of Dom’s safe house. “Come on.”
After Niccolò ordered his men to keep me here until the auction, I requested to see Giana, to which Niccolò obliged for some reason. Giana told me that, per the DeSantises, Dante had to come with her.
It doesn’t surprise me. Everything is a fucking pissing match.
All tactical movements and carefully orchestrated attacks.
No matter how decent the DeSantis family is, they wouldn’t let Giana come onto Amato property by herself. It makes sense.
Dante runs his hand through his hair as if we’re just standing here on any fucking Wednesday.
“Evelina, you know these types of men. You aren’t new to this life.”
Giana grabs hold of Dante’s hand and looks at me. She’s upset. I know her.
“I’m sure my brother doesn’t act like it, but he wants you. He’s always had this…thing. He tries to not let women close to him. It’s because of something really awful that happened when we were kids...” The look in her eyes makes it seem like she’s a thousand miles away, remembering something that I’ve got zero insight on. She smooths her long dark hair and takes in a deep breath. “Look, I have no idea what’s going on with the two of you. Short of a couple heated exchanges in your bookstore, I haven’t been privy to seeing much. But…he’s chosen you, and now that he’s been given the title of boss, he needs a wife.”
“Boss?” I practically spit out the coffee I just sipped.
Niccolò’s the boss of the Amato family?
“What happened to your father?” I ask. “Niccolò didn’t mention it last night when we spoke. I knew nothing about the change.”
Why would I? Mafia men only tell women things if they need to know. And clearly Niccolò decided I didn’t need to know.
“Gabriel fled. Matteo and Nicco made it look like the cartel kidnapped you and Sofia from that room, so Gabriel thought they were closing in on him. He and my mother are off in Costa Rica somewhere, or at least that’s what he told Nicco and his top men.” Giana sighs and looks up at Dante.
I can’t even imagine the amount of heartache she’s endured with such a piece-of-shit father.
At least my parents can’t hurt me anymore.
Not like hers have.
Dropping Dante’s, Giana takes my hands in hers.
“You could live a life of luxury with Nicco. He’s nothing like our father. Gabriel is a coward who needs to hurt and beat and kill in order to live, Evelina. Gabriel Jr. was the same way, but not Nicco and not Matteo. Neither is like Gabriel. Yes, Nicco is forward. He’s a cocky son of a bitch, and he’s not the warmest or most sensitive man—he likes to get people worked up, likes a reaction, but he’s not cruel.” She shakes her head and squeezes my hands in hers. “It’s a way out of this hellhole. And it’s protection. And I promise you he’s got a soul, Ev. I promise.”
Her words pierce my soul.
He’s got a soul.
He’s not as dark and cruel and relentless as the rest of these men.
Could it really be true?
While I can’t deny the intense sexual attraction I feel to Niccolò, fighting it is all I’ve ever known. It’s not something I can just flip on and off. My brain is wired to do anything but trust, and my ex only proved that’s the right way to be.
“I need to know why the auction needs to happen,” I tell them as I look around at this room with medically white walls and barely any furniture.
While I despise the fact that I’m locked up like some prisoner who’s done something wrong, no harm has physically come to me, and for that, I am grateful.
“Niccolò needs a wife now that he’s a boss,” Dante says, stepping forward, hands clasped together. “He knew you’d refuse. We spoke briefly about a plan like this should he find you. He’s been looking for you for months, Evelina. He never stopped. Giana is right. He cares about you, and we might not know what’s sparked that, but he does. So while he assumed you would refuse, him asking you was more of a test, I guess. He knows you well, somehow.
“So what happens is, you go to the auction, and he buys you. He’s going to set things up so it looks like The Blood Syndicate, the cartel, put you up for sale. This way, if Gabriel Amato or any of the other top men happen to see the auction roster, they believe the break-in and subsequent kidnapping of you and Sofia were real.”
His eyebrows knit together as he rolls his shoulders. “I know it sounds fucked up, but it’s fucking semantics, Ev. He buys you from that auction, and it looks like he just needs a wife. Maybe it even looks like he’s sticking on to our family by buying you. It keeps up the charade in case Gabriel is watching from afar. It looks like he’s just following protocol.”
