Page 11 of Heartless Union

This girl is a mystery to me, but as long as she does her part as a dutiful wife, I’ll be happy.

“So, how did it go with your future wife?” Gabriella asks.

The two of us are having dinner at an upscale restaurant in the heart of Manhattan. I promised Gabriella I’d make more of an effort with her. She’s my sister and more important than any other woman I’ve known. Though, I guess Lara will soon become the most important woman in my life. But she’s just there to be a trophy on my arm. She’s not family.

“It went well.”

Gabriella waits for me to say more, and when I don’t, she scoffs. “Is that all I’m going to get? Spill the tea.” She takes a sip of her wine, even though legally she’s not allowed to. But with my money and connections, no one in the restaurant worries that she’s not twenty-one yet.

“Lara is a beautiful woman.”

“Ok …” She motions her hand for me to keep talking.

I sigh. “She also seem distracted, which I didn’t like.”

“You’re so used to women falling head over in heels in love with you the moment they meet you. Maybe this is a good thing.”

“How is it a good thing?” I cut into my steak and take a bite. “It’ll only make things more complicated. I told Lara what I expect of her. I need a marriage alliance. Not a lifelong partner.”

Gabriella rolls her eyes. “So romantic.”

“I don’t believe in romance.”

She stares at me. “What? What do you mean you don’t believe in romance? Who doesn’t believe in romance?”

“You believe in it, I take it.”

“Well, duh.”

“Manners.”

Rolling her eyes, she says, “You’re not my father. Father ignores me. But that doesn’t mean you get to boss me around. And I’m about to give you some good advice, so you better listen.”

I chew my steak slowly. “Advice?”

“A marriage should be about romance. I get Father wants you to marry this girl and you have to make the most out of it. I don’t blame you for that. But don’t treat her like a business partner. She’ll be your wife in …”

“A couple of weeks.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Wow. That’s fast.”

“Both Father and Nico want the marriage to happen soon. Better to secure the alliance between our families sooner rather than later.”

“She’ll be your wife in a couple of weeks. What are you going to do after that? Treat her like she doesn’t mean anything to you?”

I shrug. “She doesn’t mean anything to me. She’s just a woman I need to marry to gain an ally to take down Father. Simple as that.”

“You’re heartless, you know.” Shaking her head, she takes a large bite of her roasted potatoes.

“Don’t chew with your mouth open.”

Gabriella deliberately starts to chew with her mouth open even wider. “What did you say?”

I rub my thumb across my eyebrow. “You make it so difficult to talk to you sometimes.”

She swallows her food. “No. You just suck at talking to people.” Her eyes soften. “Treat Lara well, ok? I know what it’s like to be invisible in a Mafia household. Tell me you’ll at least try when it comes to her.”

“I’ll try. I’m attracted to her, so hopefully, that will help. I don’t think we’ll have any issue having children.”

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