Page 9 of Devious Kingpin
CHAPTER6
Juliette
Dante DiLustro. That devil was persistent.
And so was his cousin Basilio DiLustro. Of course, once his cousin learned of Wynter’s identity, mine was uncovered too. Small goddamn world.
I’d rather go to my own funeral than attend Basilio DiLustro’s wedding. Yet, here I was. Wynter was lucky I loved her. It was the only reason I was here today, preparing to endure Dante DiLustro in the same fucking city as me.
Who in the fuck did he think he was? A goddamn nutjob, just like all the rest of the DiLustros. Asking my father to marry me. I wished I had cut off his balls in his casino nine months ago rather than just kicking them.
Nine months since that incident, and he had the balls—I graciously let him keep—to ask my father for my hand in marriage. Who in their right mind even wanted to marry someone who humiliated you?
DiLustro apparently.
“You should feel flattered he wants to marry you,” Dad stated casually, his eyes studying me.
“Fuck flattery. I hope you said no fucking way,” I screeched. I could feel panic swelling in my chest. “I’m not marrying that crazy bastard.”
The vein in my father’s neck pulsed as he clenched his jaw. “You should have thought of that before you and the girls became thieves.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s ancient history,” I remarked wryly. “You can’t hold that against us forever.”
“Juliette, I swear to God,” he hissed. “Put your bridesmaid dress on and let’s get to this fucking wedding.”
Wynter was getting married, and truthfully, we should have already been on our way to the church. Instead, I was jerking Dad’s chain—his words, not mine.
I shook my head. “I cannot believe you’re letting today happen. Wynter shouldn’t be marrying that psycho.”
“Jules, stop it. Wynter worked it out with your dad,” Davina chimed in, cradling her newborn.
It was a shock to all of us to learn Davina and my dad ended up getting married. In secret, nonetheless. Wynter forgave them in the next breath, and while I wasn’t exactly mad, the idea of my best friend as my stepmother did rub me the wrong way sometimes. Either way, we all got over it and moved on.
Like I said, it had been averylong nine months since The Incident.
And now we had a new catastrophe on our hands. Wynter’s wedding to Basilio DiLustro. Our family would forever be connected to the DiLustros. That was wrong on so many levels.
“Wynter’s my cousin,” I muttered. “I want what’s best for her. And this wedding is not it.”
Honestly, I couldn’t believe that Dad didn’t use the baby as an excuse to delay the wedding. It would have bought us more time to get Wynter out of Basilio DiLustro’s clutches.
“My niece decided that it is,” Dad argued. I started to suspect he might have aged a decade over the last nine months. I, along with Wynter and our best friends, might have been to blame.
The baby cooed in Davina’s arms and Dad’s features instantly softened.
“What’s my little boy up to?” He wrapped his arm around Davina and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then on little Aiden’s forehead. Davina was glowing, happiness evident in her smile.
“Sleeping, eating, and pooping,” she teased, then wrinkled her nose. “I think pooping has just happened.”
“Want me to change his diaper?” he offered. I shook my head at the image those words painted. Then I realized what he was doing. Nobody ever volunteered to change a poopy diaper. He was changing subjects.
“No, no, no,” I protested, glaring at my father. “Don’t you dare leave me hanging. What did you tell that fucking psychopath?”
Davina gave me a scolding look. She didn’t want us cursing around the baby. As if he could talk. I had bigger problems than a baby that might one day utter a curse word. It was called Dante fucking DiLustro.
“I told him that it was enough for one DiLustro to be married into the family, and that there wouldn’t be another one.”
“Thank fucking God,” I muttered.
