Page 39 of Diavolo

She looked at him as though he was crazy. "No.Only a dumbass would accept it. You're a member ofCosa Nostra. You represent everything that has ruined my father and destroyed my life! Why would I marry into the mafia when I've been trying to escape the Mancinis for years?"

"But escape is not possible. Blood is blood, and yours is as tainted as mine," Alessandro murmured. "We were both born into a legacy that will never let us go."

Gianna might have Graviano blood flowing through her veins. But was the woman really her mother? Elyse grew desperate to review the DNA results. Alessandro could be lying again. Her mind became a mess. In a steady voice that didn't reflect her inner turmoil, she addressed him, "Mr. Vitale?"

Alessandro tilted his head toward her. "What troubles you now, Dr. Romero?"

"I don't know what you're hoping to gain from the Gravianos, but there's got to be a better solution than marrying me."

He hesitated for a moment. "You raise a fair point, I suppose. There are always better solutions than the ones we find for ourselves. Unfortunately, time is not always on our side. At the moment, I have no other choice. Something came up yesterday. Urgent and unavoidable. It forced me to recalibrate my strategy.I am a man on a sinking vessel, and you, unfortunately, are the closest lifeline."

The gravity in his voice softened her anger toward him. Elyse recalled Alessandro's heated conversation from the day before. The one that made him disappear from the villa for hours. "Is this why you were so upset yesterday? On the phone?"

Quietly, he admitted, "Sì."

"What happened?"

His expression darkened. "May I offer some advice?"

"No," she grumbled, "but I have a feeling that you're going to tell me, anyway."

"I suggest that you learn to look the other way. Especially when it comes to the finer details of our life together—like names, numbers, and negotiations. If you want to be released from marriage down the line, ignorance will be a blessing. The less you know, the easier it will be for me to let you go."

Frowning, Elyse felt even more determined to learn Italian on the sly. "So you want me to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil? Got it.Awesome.Can't fucking wait."

"This is how our world operates. You will get used to it. In time."

Our world?Fuck that. She wanted nothing to do withhisworld. This whole scenario felt like a nightmare. Elyse glared at him without saying a word. As their gazes clashed, Alessandro fell silent for a beat or two.

His expression turned stoic. Unreadable. Then, a decided gleam returned to his eyes. "We will marry once my business in Paris is concluded."

"You already found a venue?"

"SÌ."

"And set a date?"

"SÌ."

How fucking romantic.

Alessandro continued, "I also promised your grandfather that I will bring you to him."

Elyse coughed. "My grandfather?"

Decisions were being made left and right without her consent. Yet, this particular decision hit her differently than the others. Elyse felt blindsided. She hadn't even known that her grandfather was alive.

Alessandro nodded curtly. "Yes, he is very much looking forward to meeting you. Your mother was his favorite child."

"Really?"

Despite her unease, a small, curious part of Elyse wanted to meet her grandfather. Gianna might be dead, but Benedetto was very much alive. Perhaps, her grandfather could shed some light about the mother she never knew?

"SÌ."

"Does this mean I have aunts and uncles?"

"No aunts. But you have two uncles. They were your mother's older brothers. One is dead and the other is in prison."

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