Page 7 of Blackmailed Marriage

Aria was not the woman they wanted him to marry.

Dante didn’t want to marry anyone. He knew the time would come when his parents would find him a bride. He didn’t know for sure if his dad was pissed that the choice was taken out of his hands.

Phillip Lewis, other than being an asshole, was still the son of The Boss. It did open potential doors and create a new alliance. Just not one they were expecting.

“You and Mom had an arranged marriage, didn’t you?”

“Son, it’s rare for anyone within our world not to have one,” his father said.

“When did you realize you were in love with her?” Dante asked. His parents were an odd sort of couple.

He was aware of the early days of his parents’ marriage. His father had taken a mistress, screwed around. Dante had never paid close attention to when all that changed, but his father did. He would know his father had a mistress, and in all the years he’d been working for him, Dante Sr. had not so much as looked at another woman. Unlike many of the men of the Pesci family, his father didn’t beat or harm his wife. They had a loving relationship.

“You’re not about to tell me that you’ve fallen for the Lewis girl?” his father asked.

“No. I’m not.” He couldn’t deny that his wife had intrigued him. Her father had trapped him in this marriage, and because of that, he hated her.

Right now, he was curious about her.

She was terrified of him and by her own admission hated their marriage, but she had still found a backbone to stand up to him. That had been one of her biggest mistakes because now he was curious about her.

“Just curious about you and Mom.”

Dante Sr. chuckled. He put a hand on his son’s shoulder and they walked out of the office so the cleaners could get to work.

They kept moving, heading toward the elevator. “Your mother was considered the most beautiful woman in the Pesci family, and at the time, I was the animal. I wanted to earn my title as Capo, and the sooner I did it, the better. I killed first and asked questions later. I made deals, I earned my title, and as my reward, I got your mother. Our wedding night was a disaster. Virgins are prized possessions but … they’re useless to a man who wasn’t meant to be gentle.”

Dante couldn’t help but think about his own wedding night. It had been a nightmare. Aria had laid there, even though he’d felt her pain. She’d been drier than any woman he’d ever been with. It was why he used the lubrication on her.

In that moment, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be with a woman who wanted to be with him as well. Not just any woman—to have Aria hold him, grip him, be drawn in by him, to beg him for his cock. He pushed those thoughts from his mind because that was never going to happen. Not to him, not to them. Aria didn’t want him.

“This didn’t bode well for the start of our marriage. Your mother was terrified of me, and that also meant I wasn’t ready to make it so that she wasn’t afraid. I was young, an asshole, and thought I knew best. We didn’t mesh well. Your mother was out of my league, and well, as you know, I found solace elsewhere. Any woman that would have me, I was there. I didn’t care who she was or what she’d done. She was mine, and I wanted her. Then … your mother got pregnant with you, and one day I got home from work to find her tied to a chair as one of the women I’d slept with had a gun pointed at her swollen stomach. Your mother had blood on her face. The woman—I can’t even remember her name—she’d beaten her up, and now she wasgoing to kill her right in front of me. In that moment, faced with my wife being killed, I knew I couldn’t let it happen. I had fallen in love with her, and it was all my own fault. All my fuckups that had led us to this path. I’m not a good man, Dante. I tried to be, but I fucking failed. One of the soldiers had been able to take aim, and he killed the bitch instantly. From that moment on, I vowed I would never touch another woman, and I haven’t. The difference between your mother and your wife is that mine was a gift. Aria is nothing but blackmail, and one day, you will be rid of her.”

Chapter Three

“I can’t believe we never even thought to call,” Aria said.

She laid across her bed, twirling the cord of her phone, feeling like an old-fashioned schoolgirl, in an eighties romance movie.

Isabella chuckled. “I know, right. I’ve been wanting to call you for what feels like a lifetime, and today I thought, what the hell.”

They’d been on the phone for an hour already.

“I’m going to have to go soon and put the kids to bed.”

Aria could hear them in the background.

Her sister sighed. “And once they’re gone, I’ve got the whole house to myself, and I’m going to enjoy a nice, relaxing bath, maybe open a bottle of wine, read a good book, or listen to some music. I like books, I just … since being married, I don’t enjoy romance novels.”

“Why?”

“Can’t deal with the lies, Aria. I mean, the sex can be fine, you know, but it’s just sex, and then it can be … I don’t know. Marriage is not what I expected.”

“You think sex can be fine?” Aria asked. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

“Okay, sex by myself and a good book can be a lot of fun.”

Aria frowned. “I don’t see the big deal. I don’t like sex.”

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