Why am I not surprised this has to do with some guy?
Good for her.I wanted to laugh because her happiness meant I had to pay a price. And who even knew if her words were true? She’d said the last guy and the guy before that treated her well too, but they’d all used her. So why did I have to give up my freedom now? What the fuck did it have to do with me?
“You know I was supposed to get married to one of his business partners.” She rolled her eyes. “But now I’m going to marry Notin.”
Oh yeah, I’d been busy the past two months. I sparsely made it back home, let alone was in on conversations involving the business. I was mostly free to handle the shit no one else wanted to. Collecting debts, torturing, and all that fun stuff. It was mentioned to me in passing that Lorelei’s marriage had been arranged.
It shouldn’t matter who she loved. Dad set her up. It was a done deal.Then why the fuck am I here tied up?My back stiffened, and the muscles in my shoulders pulled tighter. The pain hardly registered as the wheels turned in my head.
Fuck.I’m the goddamn replacement bride.My head jerked to the side so I could glare up at my sister. Her gray eyes shimmered with unshed tears. We had our mother’s eyes, another thing that made us stand out from our other siblings.
She didn’t even have to confirm it. I grunted around the bar in my mouth, moving my tongue over it. “Hoof is ick.”
Lorelei’s head tilted to the side, her brows scrunching together as she attempted to decipher exactly what I asked.
My mouth was dry as hell. Talking was a pain in my ass, but I needed to know who.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, umm.” She squirmed as her delicate fingers drummed over her phone. “Benito Vitale.”
Why did that name sound familiar? I closed my eyes, trying to scramble through my brain. If I weren’t so fucking hungry, I’d be able to think more clearly. Benito was Italian and wanted to do business with Yakuza. Mafia? Deep tan skin, dark eyes, sharp jaw, and a gravelly voice came to mind.
No fucking way.
“He’s all right,” she said softly. “Not really my type, but he was nice enough.”
He wasn’t Lorelie’s type, but he sure as shit was mine. I’d only seen Benito Vitale in passing a handful of times. The idea of rolling in the sheets with him passed my mind. He was all brooding anger and danger. I just knew he fucked like he planned to break his partner in half. And if the rumors in the brothels were anything to go by, I wasn’t that far off. But the brothel rumors also made it clear he only sought out women. So why in the fuck were they sending me?
However, as hot as he was, marrying him wasn’t on the table. That was a disaster waiting to happen. Benito was one of those men you fucked on a drunken Sunday, woke up in the morning, and scrammed never to do a repeat.
“I mean, it could be worse,” Lorelei said.
Did she forget I was only here because of her?
“Sorry,” she rushed out. “He’s bisexual… I think.”
She stared at her phone as if looking for this imaginary proof. Not that it mattered. I was already chained up. Even if Benito didn’t like men, it was decided.
Lorelei’s head snapped up. She huffed as she stuffed the phone away. “I checked.”
Liar.She probably heard some bullshit rumor. I froze as her words really hit me.Wait a fucking minute. Why would she need to check?I cocked a brow at my sister, waiting for her to explain herself. I thought this had been all my father’s doing, but apparently not.
Lorelei stumbled back, her eyes widening. “Crap, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
No way in hell I was letting it go. I narrowed my eyes at her. Lorelei groaned as she looked away from me. She twisted her fingers as she continued to avoid my gaze.
“Dad was really angry with me and Notin. He was going to kill him, but Notin said that Benito might take someone else since he’s bisexual.”
I shook my head, dragging my forehead on the floor. Where the fuck had Notin gotten his information? There was no way in hell that was true.
Notin was dead. I didn’t give a fuck if he gave my sister flowers every morning. I was going to rip his dick off and shove it up his ass.
“Don’t look like that. I’m sorry, Har,” she pleaded, her big gray eyes pulling at my brotherly love for her.
“Times up,” one of the men watching me said.
Lorelei sighed. “I’m sorry, Harlow. I thought he’d call it off once he found out about me, but one thing led to another.”
I grunted. The old man call off a deal that would benefit his business and family? Never. He’d sacrifice any of his children for his ideals.