Page 6 of Vicious Union

I can only sit there, feeling shaken up. Who is this mystery man my dad has signed my life away to?

My dad is wealthy, but I know he’s not the wealthiest man in New York. There are tons of other men who make a lot more than him. I wonder what he could offer to a more powerful man in exchange for marrying me.

I guess I’ll have to wait and see because my dad isn’t telling me more. I stuff down the rest of my pancakes, then get up, so I can get ready to meet the man who will be my husband.

“They’re here!” Dad exclaims, pulling me against him and rubbing my arm. “Are you ready, pumpkin?”

As ready as I’ll ever be. I force a smile on my face. “Ready.”

Dad answers the door and motions for whoever is on the other side to come in.

The first man to walk into the room is tall with dark hair and an imposing stare. He looks familiar.

And then the next man walks in behind him, and I realize exactly why the first man looked familiar.

It’s because he looks a lot like the man I met last night at the club.

The first man is Rocco De Luca.

And the second man is Emilio De Luca himself.

I feel the smile drain off my face and my blood run cold and my palms go clammy.

I know Rocco De Luca is married. My dad has mentioned his wife, Lara, before.

Which means …

Emilio has to be the one my dad wants me to marry.

But I don’t like Emilio. In fact, I can’t stand him for how he bossed me around last night. I can’t stand his smug, handsome face. I hate he has a handsome face because it would be so much easier to hate him if he had an ugly face.

“Surprise,” Dad whispers to me. Raising his voice, he says, “Emilio, Rocco, this is my daughter, Caterina.”

Rocco nods. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Caterina. I know you were at Massimo’s wedding. We didn’t get the chance to speak.”

No, we most definitely didn’t.

Emilio steps forward, his expression unreadable. “Caterina, is it?”

I try to not flinch. I never told Emilio my name last night. I thought I was being flirty and cute, but now I see he’s going to use it against me.

What if he tells my dad? Oh god. I’m doomed.

“It is,” I say, instilling my voice with confidence.

His eyes flick to my dad. Here it goes. The moment he tells my dad what I was up to last night. That I wasn’t in my bed in the safety of our house like he thought I would be.

“Francesco, it’s nice to see you again,” Emilio says.

“You, too.” Dad puts his arm around me. “Isn’t she great?”

I keep my gaze locked onto Emilio’s. I’m silently begging him to not say anything.

Emilio stares at me for a good long moment. I swear, he’s trying to make me sweat. But why does he get to have this power over me? Legally, I did nothing wrong. I’m an adult. I’m allowed to go out to the club if I want.

Let him tell my dad. I’ll just give my dad my big puppy dog look, and hopefully, he’ll forgive me in an instant.

Emilio opens his mouth to speak. “She is,” he says. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Caterina.” He grabs my hand and kisses the back of it. I’m so shocked by the gesture I almost blurt out the truth.

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