Page 18 of Bound to Him

Viola shook her head, lifting a shoulder while taking another long gulp of bubbly. “She didn’t. Just like you and me, she was promised to him. He looks like a fucking, filthy creep though.”

The person standing in front of me moved, and I was able to see this creep of a man. He was older. And Viola was right, he looked like a sleazy con man. Probably has a droopy as shit ball sack, too.

“Why the fuck would your dad promise her to him?”

“You haven’t heard her story?”

“What story?”

“Wow…” Viola looked surprised, scoffing a chuckle of disbelief. “The story that started with you, Huxley Moretti.”

“Me?”

“Yes. She was originally promised to you.”

“The fuck?”

I only found out just over a week ago that I was going to be married at all, but an inkling of memory of Antonio’s words that day reminded me that he did actually mention that. I just didn’t care at the time.

She sighed and repositioned her body to face me, apparently getting ready to spill the tea. “A long time ago, when we were all kids, our fathers sat down and agreed on this marriage treaty. Olivia, the eldest Romano daughter, was to marry the eldest Moretti son. Since your brother didn’t know about the treaty until after his own wedding, the deal fell to you.”

My frown deepened. I knew why Antonio didn’t tell me this because it was trivial details that he wouldn’t waste his time on, but it was interesting to know now.

“Then, two years ago, Olivia was so against being forced to marry a Moretti gangster that she ran away from home.”

“No shit?” This was getting good. Somewhat offensive, but juicy.

“She met up with this guy she met online, Steven, and lost her virginity to him at some hotel in the city. Papà arrived with two of his men, shot Steven in the head, and dragged her home again.”

“Jesus.” I’d heard of some fucked up shit, I’d even done various fucked up things, but to shoot your daughter’s boyfriend in front of her? Because she slept with him? Christ, that was brutal. I wondered if our father would ever have done that. I wouldn’t put it past him.

“Yeah, she was traumatized. Like, really. Anyway, since she was no longer—” she hooked her fingers in the air, “pure, my father decided to change the treaty. In his old-fashioned way, he didn’t believe she was his best daughter to offer anymore.”

Now Viola looked sad. Even though she was talking about being considered way more valuable than her sister, she had compassion, at least. It was good to know she wasn’t a bitch to the core.

“That’s pretty fucked up,” I said, looking back at Olivia, who was disappearing to another room with her father and the creep.

“Yeah. I can’t decide if he believes a woman’s virtue is worth that much, or if he believes she’s worth that little without it.”

Damn. It seemed that there was a lot more going on in this family than I ever imagined. Granted, I’d never really given a shit about the Romanos—other than fucking Tony getting on my nerves—but it surprised me to find out that Enzo had put his daughters through so much.

Our father was a bastard, sure. He cheated on his wife with an endless string of prostitutes and gold diggers, he ignored us as children when we wanted to hug him or tell him about our day, he berated us boys for every little bit of rebellion we attempted, and gave Fiona an unimaginable amount of shit for even trying to leave the house. Yet, we knew he loved us. We knew that while he could be a dick, he did things for our protection and safety, as well as all of his constituents. He was a caring guy, when he wanted to be.

He didn’t force Fiona to marry a man twice her age, and he didn’t killanyonein front of us. Not until Antonio and I were old enough to be in on it, anyway. At the very least, he didn’t murder an innocent person purely because we decided to sleep with them. It officially disgusted me, what a man like Enzo could do to his own family and still sleep at night.

“Do you still love him?”

Jolted out of her thoughts and shocked at my question, Viola put a hand to her chest in question. “What now? Who?”

“Your father. After what he’s done.”

Understanding relaxed her face, and she became thoughtful. “I’m not sure. I’ve always loved him as my father, and he’s always been kind to us as young girls. But ever since our mother died… he’s been pretty paranoid. About our safety, about our future, about the future of the family bloodline… the lengths he’s gone to has definitely caused distance between us.”

“With good reason.” I nodded. She drifted off, still thoughtful. Clearly, I’d brought up some emotions that were kept deep inside, and perhaps tonight was not the best time for her to bring them back up. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ve been overly curious.” I smiled awkwardly, leaning forward. “I’ll give you some space.”

She gave me a thankful smile, and I left the room, strolling down the corridor and wondering where Enzo had taken Olivia and her creepy fiancé. At the end, I found wide French doors that opened up to a balcony.

Fuck yes, I’ve been dying for a smoke for a full hour now.

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