I have my ways

PAK!

The slap rang in the Russo mansion like warning bells. Lily touched her cheeks. It stung. She whimpered. A red handprint marring her beautiful face.

"That's it! You are quitting your job! I'll find a Made Man you can marry. There is no use keeping a disobedient granddaughter around." Nonno bellowed, clenching his hands into fists.

Sebastian stood at a distance, a guilt-ridden look on his face. He was loyal to his master. He had no choice but to inform him about Lily's visit to Elena Salvadori's funeral.

After hearing this, nonno rushed back home, furious.

Her heart pounded so fast it hurt. The last time she saw nonno so furious was the time she ran away with Ethan. "P-please. Anything but that! I-I can't quit! P-please, nonno!" She pleaded, on her knees, like the pathetic little thing she was.

Nonno drew back as if he was sorry. "Stop being so dramatic! You won't die if you quit being a doctor. It's better if you get married before you get past your prime."

"Quit shitting on her dreams for fuck's sake!" Rosalina yelled at his face and pulled Lily to her feet. "Lily worked hard to get where is and you will not ruin it!"

Nonno gave Rosalina a murderous glare. "How dare you talk to me like that?" His voice dropped to a frightening octave. Rosalina didn't even flinch.

She gave him a twisted smile. "I'm your descendant. I am stubborn too, nonno. Lily is too scared of you. I'm not. So don't even try me!" She sniped.

"You ungrateful brat! This is what I get after raising you for all these years?" Nonno accused, hating the interference. Rosalina had a spine of steel and she wouldn't yield to any of his wishes.

He had gotten used to her rebellious nature. Knowing it would only escalate into something more perilous than a volcanic eruption.

"You mean making me owe you shit?" Rosalina scoffed, crossing her arms, and tilting her head in mockery. If this goes on, the two will shout the house down.

"Don't think you can get away with such insults!" He warned.

"Rosalina! *Come puoi parlare così a tuo nonno?" Nonna, their angel, finally came to their rescue. After a few persuading words, Nonno finally agreed to let Lily work, but under the surveillance of Sebastian.

With no other choice, Lily reluctantly agreed.

______________________

"Nonna is crazy." Leo poured himself a glass of whiskey and poured one for his older brother as well.

"Everyone in our fucked up family IS crazy." Enzo stirred the glass of whiskey and drank it, letting the burn settle inside in his gullet. He lit the tip of the cigar. A rush of intoxicating calmness setting in his nerves.

Elena had always gotten what she wanted, through nook or crook. Even at the brink of death, she had made her oldest grandson give his vow to marry a Russo. And in a moment of weakness, he gave his word.

How very cunning of you, nonna.

"I don't understand why she chose Lilliana to be your bride. You are the exact opposite of each other." Leo mused, finding their polarity utterly comical.

"She doesn't want this alliance to happen," Enzo muttered, letting out a whiff of smoke. They floated like eerie ghosts around him.

"Cause she doesn't love you?"

"Yes."

"Do you hate her because she is a Russo?"

"No."

Leo laughed and then nodded. "She seemed like the hopeless romantic type. She probably likes it vanilla too."

"I don't love her." Enzo was honest with her. Brutally honest. His words were as straight as an arrow, piercing right through her chest and inflicting pain. Then she cried. He fucking made her cry.

"If you marry her, you'll ruin her life."

"I will not hurt her and I won't let anyone else hurt her either," Enzo said. He had no intention of hurting Lilliana Russo. He wanted to talk business. To negotiate and give her a fair share of what he offered.

If she had taken the offer, she would have been the most powerful woman in New York City. But the stupid woman refused.

After this alliance, she will be trapped with him forever because the Salvadoris did not believe in divorces.

"You made her cry."

"She is terrified of me."

"And you think she can bear to live with you for the rest of her life? Get outta here." Leo clicked his tongue and swatted his hand in the air in disapproval.

"I want her to want me."

Leo choked on his whiskey. "Do you want her?"

"Yes."

Leo clutched his stomach and laughed hysterically. "You don't love her, but you want her. Now that's laughable."

"We want what we can't have. It's in our blood." The Salvadoris thirsted for what they don't deserve, and he definitely didn't deserve Lilliana Russo.

He didn't deserve to caress that delicate face that replicated an angel's, to have those big, doe-like eyes to crave for him, or hear her moan his name when he made her touch the skies.

But fuck, he wanted it all.

Leo rubbed his chin."Let me guess. You want that woman to love you because you can't have it."

"Precisely."

Leo muttered 'bastard' under his breath. "She seems like a genuinely nice person. Nonna would slap you in the face if you play with her feelings."

"Nonna is dead."

"I would slap you on her behalf."

"I'll have your hand chopped off."

It wasn't an empty threat.

"Ruthless, aren't you, brother?" Leo loved his IDGAF attitude but also hated it just as much. "Her nonno will never say yes to this alliance"

"He will."

Leo quirked a brow. "How are you so sure?"

If Enzo wanted, REALLY WANTED, he could have Lilliana dragged down the aisle, dressed up in a pretty white wedding dress, make her recite the wedding vows, and kiss the hell out of those damned lips until she was out of breath after he slipped the platinum band on her dainty finger.

But he wouldn't do that. It would make him seem like a coward. Like his uncle. Like his father.

He exhaled the dense, white smoke. He resembled a regal dragon breathing fire. A sly glint in his eyes. "I have my ways."