Page 10 of Corrupted Heir (Mafia Kings: Corrupted 1)

I nodded stiffly. It was my duty as eldest son of the Luca family, and I was loyal to this family no matter the cost.

“Go speak to her father so we can begin preparations. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

And with that, I was off—to see the chief of police, of all people. Not how I wanted to start my day, but the Moore girl was in for one hell of a surprise too. Something told me she wasn’t exactly prepared for a life steeped in crime and all the murder and corruption that went with it. The idea of seeing that uppity woman squirm brought me a modicum of comfort. At least I wouldn’t be the only one stuck in marital hell.

***

The greasy smell of frying burgers wafted out the open front door of the Main Street Diner. I stood outside, trying to breathe shallowly while I looked inside in search of Police Chief Douglas Moore. He wasn’t a difficult man to spot given he was rather large and round for a member of the police force. I spotted him at a table far in the back, shoveling one of those revolting burgers in his mouth. Thick sauce dripped from his fingers, but he didn’t seem to mind. I could almost hear the whooshing bruit of his clogged arteries.

I entered the establishment—if the dirty checkered floors and the crude collection of rickety tables and metal chairs could be counted as an establishment—and made my way toward the poster boy for heart disease at the back. The four stars embedded on his collar twinkled beneath the fluorescent lighting, like a neon sign driving attention to some badge of honor pinned beneath them. I sniggered. The man didn’t have an honorable bone in his body.

“I’m on lunch until one o’clock, so buzz off,” he mumbled between bites without looking up when I stopped directly in front of him.

I resisted the urge to wrinkle my nose at the pathetic heap of a man and waited for him to look up and realize his mistake.

He swallowed an oversized mouthful of food and glanced up irritably, but the moment his eyes met mine, his widened in surprise and he coughed and spluttered. Disgusting.

“Dominic, I’m so sorry. If I knew… well, of course… I mean…” He swallowed again, giving himself a moment to collect his composure. “There are no lunch breaks when it comes to helping my good friends. Please, sit down.” He motioned to the empty seat across from him.

“I’ll stand, thank you. This won’t take long.”

“Oh?” he said, glancing around like he might be able to find reinforcements amid the riffraff here. If I was here to kill him, did he really think anything could have stopped me?

The thought of letting him squirm, wondering what was coming his way, was tempting, but I just wanted this over with. “The Lucas have decided it’s time for our families to be joined… permanently.”

His eyes shifted back and forth like he was still looking for a lifeline. “You… you mean the marriage?” he stuttered. “Oh, no.” He cringed, running his greasy fingers through the graying tufts of hair around his head.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Moore. I will be marrying your daughter, have no doubt about it. Be grateful I’m an honorable man, and decided to give you fair warning first.”

Arranged marriages were a long-standing tradition in my family, as was the tradition to speak with the bride’s father first. Of course, Police Chief Moore really had no say in the matter. In this case, it was more of a courtesy.

“I… I thought that it wouldn’t happen considering how long it’s been since the betrothal,” he said, eyes darting around.

“Ain’t that just the way?” I smirked.

“Please, she doesn’t know about any of this, Dominic. Nothing of the mafia life. Fallon doesn’t know I’m involved at all. She’s a normal girl.”

“And?” I tilted my head at him. “It’s not my problem you chose to keep the truth from her. You’ve known about the engagement for decades.”

“But you can’t do this. You just can’t. Fallon won’t be able to handle it.”

Yeah, I’d met the woman. Agreeable was not how I’d describe her. But no one who’d met me would describe me as the marrying type, and it wasn’t like I got a say in the matter. So, she could damn well just suck it up. “If you don’t hand her over, you know we’ll just take her.”

I turned to leave, but he threw out his grease-covered hand.

“Wait. Please, Dominic. She’s a good woman, a kind person.”

Were we talking about the same woman here?

“She’d never hurt a fly, so just… just…” He floundered, but then a light sparked up in his eyes. “Just take her on a date. Yeah,” he said, nodding to himself. “Yeah, if you take her on just a few dates, you could, you know…”

“You want me to seduce your daughter, Douglas?” I didn’t bother trying to hide my amusement.

“Yes… I mean, no…” He looked away, flustered. “What I mean is… you could get her to have feelings for you… Sweep her off her feet, you know? And then you could propose, and she’d never have to know…”

“She’d never have to know that her father is a slimy piece of shit?” Douglas Moore had a long history of doing favors for very bad people. People far worse than the Luca family. “What was that gaming commissioner’s name?” I asked, hitting a nerve and making his eyes bulge out of his fat face.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he said, pulling at the collar of his shirt.

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