Page 28 of Pomegranate Seeds

Fuck, that made him even angrier.

Salvatore cleared his throat, his punishing eyes on Valerio. “Maybe you should keep your mouth shut on that matter, Valerio.”

Maybe he shouldn’t even be here, but I was not the one to decide. He was not yet very good with topics as nerve-wracking as this one. He used to be a too tense fury ball ready to snap. After his initiation, though, he was just careless. He enjoyed the violence, but the political stuff was really not his thing. It was very surprising to me since he always tried to copy me. I was the king of this shit.

I decided to answer Gabriele because his argument was not a very good one. “It is not like your sister is a child, Gabriele. She is almost twenty.”

“You are still too old for her,” he answered. His neck was getting red. Only two of us were standing up, almost face to face. Despite being shorter than me, he didn’t let this make him look weak. He might be one of the few people who could stay this powerful against me. He didn’t leave any doubt to the fact that he was the man who ended the Five Families in New York. He was Fearless.

I was still going to get what I wanted.

“Is this really your reason to say no, Gabriele? At least think about it.”

He shook his head. His brown eyes were really filled with fire. He gritted his teeth and almost threw a knife with his words. Both to Alessio and me. “I won’t sell my sister for power like you.”

I would expect such an accusation from Michele but not from Gabriele. Priscilla was really his soft spot. Even though it messed with my plan, Priscilla having a good big brother gave me a sense of comfort.

Strange.

Alessio got onto his feet. His eyes filled with the same fire while mine only had ice. I put a hand on his shoulder even though I doubted he would attack Gabriele while I was trying to marry his sister. It was not very family-friendly. Thank God Salvatore was sitting down because I was not sure about his self-control when the topic was Mia.

I took a deep breath. Not to prepare myself but to give them a breather. “You say you care about your sister,” I started seeing him getting even more worked up. “But you are saying no without even asking her. You are completely ignoring her decision.”

An angry smile appeared on his face. “Never,” he said, his jaw flexing. “Never question my love for my family.”

He was a family man. I was one too. So, I shook my head, trying to soften him despite not having much hope. “I don’t, truly. I can see you love Priscilla, but you are doing this shit wrong.”

Before he could answer, Alessio asked, “Do you know what I did when my dad sold Mia to Salvatore?”

“What?” he asked, not looking impressed.

Alessio took a step closer, and I let him. “IaskedMia if she wanted to marry him. I didn’t want it, and Antonio didn’t want it but what we wanted was unimportant.Shewanted to marry him.”

“And if she didn’t, we both would have put our life on the line to prevent that,” I added. Even though it was true, we wouldn’t have to because Mia told me Salvatore also asked her if she wanted to marry him. No one ever forced her. We wouldn’t let them.

Gabriele couldn’t answer for a few seconds. He knew we were right. Before he could open his mouth, Michele intervened. “I think you really should ask her,” he said from his spot.

That was interesting. After he made a rude comment about Mia going to college and making Salvatore go feral, I didn’t think he was capable of having any rational thoughts. He didn’t seem like he wanted the truce. He also didn’t seem like the brother of the year.

It was a problem for another time, though. Right now, he was beneficial to my cost.

Gabriele turned to his brother, who was still sitting on the couch with a glass of bourbon in hand. “What do you mean?”

“She is not the type to say yes because she is afraid. She will say yes only if she wants to. If you want her happiness, I think you should ask her.”

He gave his brother a look that said,I cannot believe you said that.And I cut in maybe a little too cocky, “Or better yet, let me ask her. With a ring, you know.”

To that, his jaw flexed, and he waved a finger in my direction. “You are not getting close to my sister, Mazzoni.”

I didn’t say I already did because, from the look on his face, I knew I had already won. Now all I needed was Priscilla to say yes.

Priscilla

“Yes.”

Gabriele looked at me like what I said did not make any sense. “What?” he asked, confused to his core. I was a little sad to make him like this, but he would go feral if I told him I had already gone on a date with Antonio. Him asking me was already a big thing. He was not the biggest fan of Antonio, after all.

“I will marry Antonio Mazzoni,” I explained my answer even though I knew he didn’t need it.

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