Page 220 of Hate Mates

Death of Me by Erin Trejo

Chapter One

“You will marry Cybil, Luciano, and you will act accordingly,” my father tells me as I sit back in the chair across from him and try to think of a way out of this. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to marry Cybil; she’s beautiful, but she’s also the enemy here.

“Why would I do that?” I ask this time, waiting to hear what he has to say. I’m sure there’s some bullshit reason behind all this mess, and I want to get to the bottom of it.

“Because that’s what I said, Luc. Let’s not get into details here. All you need to know is that you’re marrying her,” he tells me. Like fuck I will. I’d rather slice her head off than marry her. She’s everything I hate in the world, being born into the family she was.

“And if I refuse?” I ask, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, looking him in the eye.

“You won’t refuse. I’ll see you dead before I let that happen.” Now I laugh, not just any laugh, either. It’s dark and sinister.

“See me dead? I’m the one who does the killing, Father. Or did you forget that?” I taunt him. I know he has other hiredkillers but none of them are as good as me. None of them come close to what I am.

“You forget there are others?” he asks, looking me in the eye this time with all the hatred he can muster. Not that it bothers me, because it doesn’t. I can give as good as I get and he knows that.

“Others better than me?”

“Why are we debating this, Luc? Just do as you’re told!” He roars this time, probably hoping to get a rise out of me. He won’t.

“Not until I know why.” He huffs out a breath and leans forward, folding his hands together on the desk in front of him as he glares daggers at me.

“There is going to be a war, Luciano. A war we might not survive unless we have the backup we need. We need support.” I raise my hand to stop him now, not needing to hear anymore.

“So you’re pawning me off on them?”

“Not pawning you, no. This unification will set forth many things in motion. Don’t you see that?”

“I see you’re afraid of what might come, but, Father, I can handle that. War is what I’m good at,” I remind him. He nods his head before grabbing a drink and downing it one shot.

“I’m well aware of what you’re capable of, Luc. I’m also aware of what they’re capable of. I don’t want to see this family driven into the ground by the likes of the Mancetti or the Ortega families. That’s what we’re up against. If we take on allies like the Moretti’s, we’re sealing a deal of sorts.”

“We can’t stand them, Father. Never have, never will. I don’t see how getting into bed with them is the best option for us.” With a sigh, I know this conversation is coming to an end. He’s had enough of my questions, and I know he’s had enough of this conversation.

“It’s what needs to be done,” he declares.

“After what that family did to us? You can honestly sit here and say that this is what you want?” I look him dead in the eyes now because I can’t fathom why he wants anything to do with them after what they’ve done to this family.

“Do you think I forget so easily, Luc? Come on! She was my wife!” He yells loudly this time.

“And my mother. Patty’s mother. And you’d jump into bed with them the first chance you get just because you’re afraid,” I hiss in his direction. I know he doesn’t want to see this family fail, and neither do I, but that doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

“I’m not afraid. Worried, yes, not afraid, Luciano. Are you going to do as you’re told?” I sit back in my seat and cross my arms over my chest, glaring at him. He can’t expect me to marry a woman whose family murdered my mother. Then again, I could always take that out on Cybil. A new thought forms in my head, one of making her pay for all the shit her family has done to mine.

“You know what, Father? I will marry her. I will make her life a living hell the way they made ours,” I tell him truthfully.

“No, that’s not the deal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her father was afraid of that and he insists this marriage is a good one. If he hears otherwise, he will end it all.”

“You aren’t seriously thinking I’m going to be loving toward that murderer, are you?” I ask him with a cold, dark chuckle.

“I expect you to be as kind as can be,” he replies. Now I’ve had enough. I stand, shoving my chair back as I go so it squeaks across the floor before I lean forward, resting my hands on his desk in front of me.

“Then you might as well cancel your plans, Father. I have no intentions of being nice of noble to those who stole my mother away from me, let alone from Patty.” With that, I shove offthe wall and turn, leaving his office, listening to him curse and scream as I go.

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