Page 67 of The Casella King

I grit my teeth. As much as I want to kill her, I promised Aries I would try to find another way to resolve the issue of Darcy, but right now, I don’t see another way out. There’s still more we need to find out about her, and I’m losing my patience the more she decides not to share.

“We’re not sure yet,” I admit.

“I might have a solution,” she says. My brows draw in, intrigued. “But you’re not going to like it.” She looks to Nico and purses her lips.

“No.” Nico stands and walks over to me. “There is no fucking way, you hear me!?” he yells as he glances back at our mother.It takes me a little to catch on, and when I do, I can’t believe I didn’t think about it myself.

“It may be our only choice,” I confess as Nico shakes his head.

“How can you agree with her, after everything you’ve done, going against her wishes to marry Aries?” he pushes me, anger and tension settling in the air. I feel his frustration—marrying someone you don’t know, let alone marrying someone who was the enemy, is never at the top of the list.

“It’s your turn to do something for this family,” I say through gritted teeth.

“This is fucking bullshit!” he spits as his hands fly up into his hair, reality dawning on him that he doesn’t get a choice.

“It’s the only way to stop further unnecessary bloodshed,” Mother says as Nico fumes.

“I won’t do it.” He shoulders past me as I turn and grab him by the arm.

“Yes, you fucking will,” I say as he rips away from my hold.

“The day I marry that bitch will be the day you’d have to put a fucking bullet in my head, brother.” His jaw tenses as he looks at me, and I feel a pang of guilt in my chest for forcing this on him. He doesn’t get a choice. It’s what we must do for the Casella family. I’ve done my bit, practically given up my entire life to ensure the success and fruition of our empire, now it’s Nico’s turn to take some weight onto his shoulders.

I grip him firmly behind his neck. “Listen to me, if you don’t do this, they will be after her. She’s a liability if she’s not tethered to a Casella.”

He takes a deep breath, his eyes closing for a mere second before he speaks. “I’m not like you, brother. I can’t.”

“You can, and you will. You will show her that without us, she will suffer under the hands of those who want to be on top.” I pause, sighing. “I know this is not how you imagined it, brother,and I can’t promise that it’ll ever be something you want, but youwilldo this, for our family.”

He squeezes the bridge of his nose with his fingers as he sighs.

“I’ll handle the preparations,” Mother says from behind us as she slips back into the kitchen.

“I need a fucking drink,” Nico says as he walks out slamming the door behind him, leaving me to wonder if this is the right choice. Our whole lives we’ve been groomed to do anything and everything that benefited our family. It’s been ingrained in us, etched into our skin, that we don’t have choices, and now as the King, it makes me see the truth behind it.

No matter what we do, the importance of the future generation weighs heavily on my conscience.

I have a chance to do things differently, but if it were Dominic in charge, he would have easily killed her and been done with it, and although my logic is telling me the exact same thing, I promised my wife I would give her a chance.

The rest is up to Nico.

Giselle and I sit at the café with Ryan in her lap as we catch up. She tells me that motherhood is no easy feat, which I did not assume it was, but that it’s better now that they have space for all his things.

“I can’t thank Ezra enough.” She takes a sip of her coffee. “Ever since we moved into the new place, it’s been such a breath of fresh air. We’ve even started Ryan on a sleep schedule, and last night, I had my first night of six hours of uninterrupted sleep,” she says in disbelief.

I smile. “You must have felt so refreshed.”

“I forgot how much I used to take my sleep for granted.” She chuckles and checks the time on her watch. “Oh, I’m so late. I’m meeting Arthur, and we’re going to his parents’ place for dinner tonight.” She stands, as do I, walking to the door of the café.

I notice a familiar face standing outside the café, leaning against the large window. I could have sworn I knew her, but I’m having trouble placing her face to a name. Giselle wheels the pram out of the café, and I give her a kiss on the cheek.

“I guess I’ll see you soon?” I ask, and she nods. “Maybe we should walk you to your car…” I glance over at Henry behind me, and he steps forward.

“No, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve parked around the corner. It’ll be fine,” she reassures.

“Alright, message me when you meet Arthur, so I know you’ve got there safely?” I ask, and she nods.

She begins to walk off into the distance, waving as she turns a corner, and Henry and I walk the opposite direction to the car parked on the other side of the street. I look back over to the woman who looked familiar, but she is no longer there. It isn’t until I slide into the back seat of the car that I remember who she was.

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