Page 85 of Sworn to My Heart
“It’s not that different from your world, Luca,” I try to calm him as it seems he’s already plotting another killing spree he’s not prepared for. But it’s in vain; he’s not even listening, trapped in his rage.
“It’s not going to happen. Until we figure out a solution, you’re going no where near the sea, not even our private beach!” He roars possessively, seemingly on the verge of losing it.Great, now he’s beginning to grasp the problem.
I place my hand on his cheek, offering silent understanding. “There’s no way out of these marriages of convenience, Luca.” I try to convince him, but inside, I’m also a storm of emotions.This marriage is the reason I haven’t been home for so long.
“Marriage of convenience...” He looks at me suddenly, repeating what I said, seeming to understand something I don’t.
“Yes, Luca, marriages of convenience,” I confirm, just in case he thought I was madly in love with that merman. I’m not sure what’s going through his mind at this point.
“Alin, think about it for a minute. Marriages of convenience. Convenience. If there’s no convenience, there’s no need for these marriages,” he states the obvious, and I don’t understand where he’s going with this.Does he have a plan?
I want to ask, but he gets up from the bed, quickly putting his pants back on and storming out of the room, leaving me confused. What the hell is he talking about? What don’t I understand?
I swiftly rise from the bed, grab a wide t-shirt from his closet, and follow him down the stairs, wearing the shirt as a makeshift dress.
“Luca, what do you mean?” I ask curiously from the end of the staircase as he heads to his office on the ground floor. He seems to have a plan, and I’m not sure if I like it.
“Come,” he commands, and I comply, following him into his office with quick steps. He has already called Mariano and Pedro.
“Luca, I think you need some rest. You’re not planning to start a war with merfolk, I hope,” I plead, but it comes out more like a question.
“Don’t worry,” he says, sitting in one of the chairs at the conference table, but his words make me worry even more.
I carefully sit in a chair next to him, and within two minutes, Mariano and Pedro enter the room quietly, sitting at the two chairs opposite of us.
Luca appears satisfied now.What is he plotting?
“As we all know, Alin is part of the mafia and my woman. We managed to eliminate the threat to her here on land, but now we need to deal with the next threat - her arranged marriage,” he begins explaining as if he’s in a business meeting. I smile at the sight, trying to stifle my laughter.
Luca fixes his brothers with a steely glare, awaiting their reaction to his declaration.
“Congratulations, brother. But is this really how you want to propose? With us in here? Where’s your sense of romance?” Mariano sighs and rises from his chair, but Luca sends him a bone-chilling look, and he immediately sits back down.
“If I were marrying her, it wouldn’t be a threat, Mariano,” he replies in frustration, clarifying the issue for both of them. Now his expression turns serious.
Sorry, Mariano. It’s not me, it’s Luca who’s lost his mind.
I sigh in despair, realizing Luca is about to make my problem everyone’s problem.
“Her family is marrying her off. A marriage of convenience for cooperation with another pod,” he explains, and now the brothers listen intently, their curiosity piqued.
“We need to come up with a plan to eliminate the convenience of this. That way, the need for it dissolves and Alin is free,” he continues. The brothers seem to understand, and now I do too. He wants to devise a plan here, like they do for their operations. I’m definitely convinced he’s gone mad.What does he even know about my world? What kind of plan is running through his head?
“What other option do we have besides continuing to hide me?” I ask in despair, but he silences me.
“If you just listen, you’ll understand,” do I see a scheming smile?
“We need to find a way to get rid of the head of the other pod and his son. Once we eliminate those at the top, all that’s left are scared little fish without leadership. Your parents should be able to handle them,” he explains. “We might come from different worlds, but it appears the rules are the same.”
He explains his idea confidently, and I chuckle at his comparison of the terror pod to little fish. He’s taking all this information about me much better than I thought. But I understand there’s some truth in his words. There’s a reason he’s the capo; if anyone can devise such plans, it’s him.
“Alin, we’ll need every piece of information you have about this pod,” Luca demands.
“How hard will it be to reach the head of the pod?” Pedro suddenly asks, deciding to join the conversation. It seems, for once, he’s starting to feel more comfortable with my identity.
“For you, it’ll be impossible. You’ll lose oxygen halfway there, and it would be too difficult for me to maintain enough oxygen for all three of you anyway. For me, it’s a suicide mission. The law forbids me from approaching them until the day of the wedding; that’s how they prevent uprisings. Just swimming in the area would get me accused of treason.” I answer Pedro and turn my gaze back to Luca.
“According to the rumors, the father is from a royal lineage, and while the son has no powers at all, the father received more than enough for the both of them. My parents say he can paralyze any living thing with a mere touch, freezing them to death,” I recount, my body tensing. The more detail I provide, the more I understand why I never thought of such a plan myself.
