Page 2 of Bound to Him

“Yeah, did he say he was from down south?” Vinnie frowned and knelt down to check the guy’s wallet. “What the fuck was he thinking?”

“I dunno. But those pussies that ran away will spread the message, no doubt.”

Vinnie nodded, agreeing with me that our work here was done. He made a call to our clean-up guys, and we got the fuck outta’ there.

When we pulled up at the Moretti mansion, we saw my brother standing outside the front door, bidding farewell to a man I recognized as Ron Dewey. He was the Romano’s consigliere, their family advisor. He wasn’t a lawyer but more of a family representative, attending meetings on behalf of Enzo Romano, the Romano family don.

“The fuck did he want?” I asked Antonio, jerking my chin toward the black town car speeding back down the long driveway, winding its way through the trees and roughage that bordered the property and led to the heavily guarded main gates of the compound.

My brother had a grim look on his face and gestured for me to follow him inside. He turned left and led me into the office he now called his own.

“Huxley,fratu. You know Pops set up certain ties with the Romanos in order to keep the peace between us, yes?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Part of the peace treaty involved a marriage between the two families.”

I nodded. “Yeah of course, Fiona wasn’t very happy about that arranged marriage Pops set up for her.” I thought back,unhappywouldn’t even begin to describe the tantrum our younger sister threw the day our father told her about her marriage arrangement.

Antonio unbuttoned his jacket and sat down behind his massive mahogany desk. “Unfortunately, I was referring to your arranged marriage, Huxley.”

“Fucking what?” I froze with my brows raised and my fingers clutching the toothpick in between my teeth.

“Fiona was promised to the Rossis. Viola Romano was promised to you, to officiate us as allies of the Romanos.”

“Viola?” At this point I was asking more rhetorically than anything else, trying to wrap my head around this life-shattering news. Antonio, in his usual calm and blunt demeanor, explained nonetheless.

“The younger of the Romano sisters. Originally, it would have been Olivia, the older sister, but for some reason, she’s been taken out of the equation.”

“Jesus, Antonio. Thanks for the fucking heads-up!” My words were unfairly sarcastic; I’d have loved to be told by my own father when he made the deal. “When was this decided?”

He sighed, running his hands through his hair and leaning back in his seat. “Now that Viola is twenty-one, they approached me. Apparently, Pops signed some papers on it a few years ago, to ensure the alliance between our families would hold.”

“Merda!”

I couldn’t say I ever had a good relationship with my father. As anyone might imagine, the head of the Moretti family wasn’t exactly a friendly man and even less of a compassionate father. I felt sad when he died, since he wasn’t only my father but also the don of the Moretti organization, which made his death a tragedy to the entire community. But I wouldn’t say I missed him. Especially not at times like these when I found out he’d been keeping secrets about my own life from me.

“Look, we all know you’re not exactly expected to be monogamous. Every family man has his mistress in the city.” I narrowed my eyes on my brother. What he was saying was only partly correct, since he, in fact, did not have any mistresses at all. At a loss for a similar experience, I could never understand his undying and exclusive love for his wife, Mia. “But for now, we need you to at least court the girl, show up, and make peace with her father. And, for that matter, her brother.”

“Tony? No fucking way.” My head waved from side to side, slowly and deliberately. Tony could go fuck himself before I ever approached him with my tail between my legs.

“Yes. I know you had some beef with him before, but it’s time to save face and play nice.”

That's exactly what it was—beefbetween two guys over a girl named Liza. Yet, Tony had sworn to stick my head on a steak because of it, and I wasn’t there for his boyish vendetta. If a man couldn’t keep his own broad happy enough to be true to him, in my mind, he should deal with it like a man and move on. Besides, I didn’t even know she was his girl! The stupid slut had been playing us both for months.

I sighed and dropped my head into my hand, my thumb and middle finger rubbing my temples. “You know I hate this, right?”

I’d never considered marriage before. Although… that actually made it easier to consider this because it was just a contract, right? A roommate, even. It didn’t have to disrupt my life that much.

“I know.” Antonio nodded, at least looking like he understood my frustration, but not giving me any leeway to get out of the situation. “But we all need to do our part in this family. As I said, you don’t need to be a saint, but just keep your dick clean until there’s peace between the families, okay? I won’t have you caught with your pants down and embarrassing not only us, but the Romanos as well.”

“Yeah, I got it,” I ground out, biting down harder on the toothpick between my teeth. I couldn’t argue with Antonio, not anymore. He was the boss, and that trumped being my brother apparently.

I bid him goodbye and headed right back out the front door, not bothering to change or eat. I had to get away before the reality of my near future really sunk in, and I did something to derail the whole peace treaty.

2

Olivia

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