Page 10 of Masked Hearts

“Adriano, shut up and listen. He wants me to marry his daughter.”

“Merda.”

“Merda,indeed. Are you with everyone?”

“Is that him?” I hear Ambrose’s voice in the background of the call.

“Hold on,” Adriano says, “you’re on speaker. Ambrose, Gus, and Mattia are here.”

“Tell that motherfucker if he wants to fucking play—” Ambrose starts.

“I didn’t call to speak to you, so shut up,” I grit out and silence takes over the call. “So to catch everyone up, his condition for all of your safety and to forgive what happened to Mattheo is for me to marry his daughter as some stupid ploy for power.”

“I mean, it’s smart,” Mattia says. “It’ll show the world that you’re just another pawn he controls.”

“It’s a very strategic plot for power, using the Vitale name would open up doors for them,” Gus agrees.

“It’s suicide,” Ambrose and I say in unison. I want to scream at yet another reminder of just how similar we think.

My entire life I’ve been moulded to be exactly like my father, which in turn made me exactly like Ambrose. Every strategic move I make is usually one he would, too. We’re both rash when making decisions, and it’s our biggest weakness. That and our loyalty to our family.

“It’ll just cause more waves around the company. Imagine what investors would do if the news came out,” I say.

“When the news comes out,” Adriano says.

“What?” me and a few other voices ask.

“You’re not seriously considering letting him go through with this?” Gus asks.

“What if we got—”

“No. The lines are tapped, they can hear everything. No planning anything, it's too risky,” I cut Mattia off.

Silence again. I wonder what the point of this call was. It was basically either going to be,Hey, I’m getting marriedorHey, I’ll get them to send invites to my funeral.

The amount of run-ins with death I’ve had in the last year has got to be comical. Valerie really did bring hell back to Tevici with her.

As if summoning her with my thoughts, I hear her voice call Ambrose in the background of their call.

“Hey,” Adriano says suddenly, and I assume the call isn’t on speaker anymore. Whether it’s because he knows that whatever they’re saying will hurt me or to hide even more, it’s probably for the best.

“Do it. It’s for the best. We’ll take care of any fallout from this side.”

I sigh. Every nerve in my body is burning with the reality of having to marry some stranger. Having to risk my entire family on a stupid marriage.

“Okay,” I say, because as much as I hate it, I know I have to trust them to get me out of this. Adriano is too cunning to do nothing, and I’d like to think the others love me enough to help him figure it out. One thing I swear to myself is that no matter what, I can’t let her get too close to me.

“So when’s the wedding? Are we invited?” Adriano quips, and I want to roll my eyes as I walk to the door of the study.

“I don’t know anything. I don’t even know if the girl is hot—” My words lodge themselves in my throat when I step out into the hallway and see Gabriel speaking to who I assume is his daughter.

“I’ll call you back when I know more.” I end the call.

She’s not hot. Not in the slightest. She’s gorgeous. Breathtaking, even. The kind of beauty Aphrodite would’ve kept under lock and key. Anyone with eyes would keep her locked up, so why is her father offering her to me on a silver platter?

Her hair cascades down her shoulders and onto her back in gentle waves that mimics a softer version of her father’s curls, with a baby yellow headband that shows off the highlights of her brown hair. The golden hue of her brown skin is another differentiating factor from her father—a trait she must share with her mother. She does, however, have her father’s height. Although shorter than me, she’s tall for a woman. Her body fills her black mini dress in a way I’ve never seen before, in the most beautiful way possible. My eyes travel further south and land on a platform pair of Dr. Martens.

They look so out of place on the otherwise innocent-looking woman in front of me, and they tell me just what I need to know about her: this girl is not as innocent as her father would have her seem.

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