Page 14 of Arranged

The doors begin to slide closed again and I open my eyes, staring down the corridor as it disappears. Sighing, I press the button for the doors to open again, and I make my feet move, ignoring the shaking of my legs.

I won’t show any fear.

I won’t show any nerves.

Only anger. Only contempt.

That’s all I have to cling to that feels real right now.

Chapter 6

Santino

Sitting in the hot seat in one of the Carfano conference rooms once again, I wait for Mia to arrive. I’ve waited for this moment for a long fucking time, and I can’t wait to see her face when she sees exactly who she’s marrying.

My little butterfly dared to spread her wings the other night, thinking she was rebelling, but she’s in for a surprise. She probably even believed dying her hair was going to piss me off, but I already know that no matter what color her wings are, my little butterfly will be mesmerizing.

Mia is mine.

Every part of her.

She can’t give away to strangers what belongs to me, and I fully intend to make that clear to her real fucking soon.

Leo, Nico, and Vinny sit at the opposite end of the table, and while I love this little game they think they’re playing with me, I have far too much excitement running through my veins to just sit here and wait for my woman.

I assume my littlefarfallais going to show up exactly when she wants to in order to keep ahold of what little control she feels she still possesses over her life. She shouldn’t have to worry about that. I want to set her free. I want her to give herself over to me so I can set her free. She’ll have all the control she wants then.

Pushing back from the table, I stand, and the three pairs of eyes follow my movements as I walk over to the windows andlook down at the unsuspecting people of New York going about their business. I’ve wondered many times throughout my life what it would have been like to be ‘normal’ and live a ‘normal’ life. One where the only things I had to concern myself with while growing up were school, friends, girls, and sports.

As the first-born son to Frank Antonucci, and grandson to Giuseppe Antonucci, I had an obligation to my family that my two younger brothers didn’t have to worry about until they turned eighteen. I, on the other hand, took on everything my father and grandfather asked of me from the moment I turned fourteen. I did and saw things a young teenager shouldn’t see or have to do at that age when other kids were playing football and trying to bang the head cheerleader.

For me, it was more like watching my dad and his men beat the shit out of those who couldn’t pay him, and then letting me have a turn with them when they were less likely to fight back so I could learn. I did bang the head cheerleader before I graduated, but my father’s idea of becoming a man was having a hooker sent to my room on my fifteenth birthday because as he put it,it was time I became a man.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. I don’t need to be taking a walk down memory lane right now.

I shove my hands in my pockets to keep the others in the room from seeing them tremble with anger. They’ll mistake it for nerves, and I’m anything but nervous right now. Pure adrenaline is coursing through my veins knowing Mia’s about to walk through the door any second now. I can feel her presence before I hear the glass door of the conference room open.

My back is still to her as I face the windows, and while no one in the room says anything, Leo clears his throat after a weighted few seconds.

With a smirk at knowing my girl is probably holding her brothers and Leo silent with a withering stare from her gorgeous eyes, I turn around. Her beautiful face goes from angry, to shocked, to passive, trying to hide the turmoil I know is brewing inside her.

Her eyes don’t hide anything, though.

In them, I see the fire she gave me the other night when she thought she was doing something to rebel against me, when all along her fate was to always let me have her firsts. I wouldn’t let anyone else have them, which is exactly why I followed her to the club when one of the guys I’ve had watching her since she met with her brothers and Leo last weekend told me where she was. I had a feeling she’d try something between then and this moment, and I was right. I’m just glad I was able to get to her before she gave what I took to some other asshole in there who wouldn’t treasure her gift like I do.

Oh, my littlefarfalla, you have no idea who you tried to screw over. But you will.

“Hello, Mia,” I greet, and her eyes flutter like delicate wings as she tries to keep her composure. She’s good at it, too. I’d assume her brothers and Leo have no idea that right now, she wants to strangle me before she kisses me. Or vice versa. Or just strangle me.

“Mia?” Nico questions, but her and I don’t break eye contact. “Mia,” he says more forcefully when she still doesn’t reply, and her eyes snap to his.

“Yes?”

“You okay?”

“Yes. Fine,” she says. “Do you all need to be here?”

---