Page 6 of Ruthless King

He opens the door and a group of ten women enter the house. They’re all beautiful—I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’m in need of a wife to fuck, not to love. Beauty is preferred. I don’t need her to have a personality.

“State your names,” I say. “Starting with you.” I nod at a redhead.

She perks up. “Elizabeth Carter. My father is?—”

“I don’t care who your father is. I don’t care who any of your fathers are,” I interrupt, telling all the women. “What I care is that you show me you’ll make a good wife. This isn’t a love connection. This is convenience. If you don’t like that, leave.”

None of them move.

“Good. Now, onto the next. Your name?”

The woman in question is a beautiful blonde. She has a softness to her, unlike the redhead who’s all sharp lines and stark colors. “Aurora,” she says.

“Last name?”

“Keller,” she says. “Aurora Keller.”

I slide my gaze onto the next woman. “Your name?”

AURORA

Beatrice gave me my new documentation. I’m no longer AuroraCosta. I’m Aurora Keller. Beatrice chose the name because it was inconsequential. Unmemorable. And most importantly, not Italian.

My new identity is that I’m heiress to a small fortune. My father is John Keller, a rich businessman who died years ago and left me with all his money. When anyone searches for me, that’s what they’ll find.

They won’t find the truth—that my father was really Giovanni Costa, a Mafia man who was murdered. Probably by Nico Mancini himself.

The flight to New York was long with Beatrice by my side. She wouldn’t stop complaining about everything—from the too-small seats to the bad airplane food. It made my bad nerves even worse, but I didn’t complain, knowing Beatrice would just level her scary gaze onto me, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it again.

She coached me on how I should act. Submissive, sweet, and obedient.

“But you’re already that way, aren’t you?” Beatrice asked snidely.

She told me I better impress Nico and get him to marry me. But once I entered the hotel where all the other women were, I knew I was in trouble. Nine of them were clustered around the hotel lobby, waiting for a car to pick us up. Using her contacts, Beatrice managed to find out where everything was going to take place. She put me on the list for a potential candidate for Nico’s hand, and then there I was, in a hotel in a city I barely knew, looking at a group of stunningly beautiful women.

Beatrice left me alone, telling me she couldn’t be seen, so it was up to me to finish it.

I approached the women. “Hi,” I said.

They looked me over with sneers. So, this wasn’t about making friends. It was a competition for Nico.

“Why are you here?” I asked the redhead nearest to me.

“Because my father wants me to get married, and who better than a rich man like Nico Mancini?”

“I’m Aurora C—” I stopped, “Keller.”

“Elizabeth Carter.”

I looked over Elizabeth, wondering if she knew what Nico really did. If any of these women knew he was involved in the Mafia. Hell, that heranthe Mafia.

I had asked Beatrice for a picture of Nico, but she didn’t have any. I tried looking him up on the internet, but it was like he was a ghost.

“Do you know what he looks like?” I asked Elizabeth.

“No,” she admitted. “But I hope he’s handsome. This is an arranged marriage after all. If there’s no love, he might as well be hot, you know?”

I couldn’t disagree with her, but she was here to find a husband.

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