“How long have you known, Nico?” Cassio asked. I knew my admission would piss him off.
“A while.”
“How long?”
“Almost three years.”
The silence that followed was condemning. It was bad, the fury rolled off from him and Luca in waves.
“And revenge? Your sister?” Cassio growled. “Benito destroyed your sister, so you’ll destroy mine.”
I stood at my full height. Cassio and I were the same height. We had never been on disagreeing terms, but there was a first time for everything. He’d be a strong opponent, but I’d be damned if I’d lose now that I got Bianca.
“Bianca will never meet the same fate as Nicolette,” I bit out. “It’s offensive, you'd even insinuate.” Resentment rose in my chest and my jaw tensed, almost to the point of pain. “She might be your sister, but she is my wife now. So don’t fuck with me or her.”
Cassio’s nostrils flared. His eyes traveled to where I knew Bianca sat there back to me. We were both angry and lost a lot because of Benito. But I had no intention of losing her. To any King member.
“You couldn’t find the right time to tell me?” Cassio’s voice was dangerously low.
I had plenty of opportunities to tell him, but I didn’t. It was a conscious decision because my need to avenge Nicoletta was stronger than my loyalty to Cassio. He didn’t know he had a sister, and I wanted to use Bianca against her father. Of course, everything kind of went sideways with her husband being sick and my cock zeroing in on the woman. If you asked my cock, she was the only woman on this earth. Fuck, I wanted her more than anything, and now she was my wife she’d remain so for the rest of my life.
Bianca was my destiny. Life has thrown her my way one too many times and I intended to keep her. I loved her strength, her softness and kindness. Heck, I even loved her temper. Truthfully, I loved every single thing about her.
“I gather you blackmailed her into marrying you,” Cassio continued.
“Stay the fuck out of my marriage,” I snarled. “She agreed to be my wife.”
Okay, that was stretching it a bit, but there was no need to point that out right now. I’d never give her up. She was mine. For life.
“What’s this shit about the contract?” Luca chimed in.
“I made it up. I’m keeping her.”
Luca shook his head. “Man, if she comes to me and wants to have you killed, you are dead. You are not forcing my sister into a lifelong imprisonment.”
“I hate to take sides,” Luciano interrupted. “But it didn’t look like there was any forcing when they were sucking each other’s lips in front of the priest.”
Cassio growled, now that he realized I was devouring his sister.
“She’s mine, Cassio,” I told him. “I’ll protect her. We’ll work out our shit.”
“How? Based on lies?”
“You are not exactly the epitome of truth,” I reminded him. He was scheming to get the woman he wanted. The head of the Irish mafia would start a war if he knew Cassio’s decoy plan.
“You hurt her,” Cassio warned, “and I’m coming for you.”
“Man, this is the best fucking wedding I’ve ever been to,” Sasha blurted out, taking a gulp of his drink. “We should do this more often. Vasili’s wedding was a fucking bore. But this… fuck, yeah! Invite me to all your weddings. Drama, suspense, threatening bride… it’s the whole package without paying a subscription fee.”
Sasha Nikolaev would be on my do not invite list going forward. He might be the best sniper to walk this earth, but his mouth was the worst.
“Forgive my brother,” Vasili muttered. “He is stuck between his teenage years and twenties.”
Luciano slapped me on the shoulder. “Welcome to the hellish bliss, Nico. Tonight will be interesting. Should Grace and I take the girls?”
Cassio and Luca growled, probably restraining themselves from attacking me. I knew the second they learned Bianca was their sister, they’d be overbearing and crowding her.
“Thanks, fucker,” I told Luciano.