CHAPTER XII

Dante’s POV

I watched as Argento pulled my bride to the dance floor. I gestured for Caleb to keep an eye on them.

Despite the blunder on my part, all the Old Bosses went to witness the wedding. Even Argento, who had been evading us and been sending his right-hand man to the conferences as if he’s too good to be doing business with the rest of us, had finally shown his face. The man was too arrogant, even going straight to Caterina and danced with her while I was outside being kept accompany by f*cking Al De Rocco.

Speaking of the man, he cleared his throat and I finally pulled my gaze away from the window.

“I know you’d rather spend the best day of your life with your lovely wife but can we focus on the matter at hand. This is urgent.”

“What more do you want? I already put a bullet in the senate brat,” I spat, blowing a smoke into the night air. He grimaced.

“We need names, Dante.”

Ah we’re back on the names. As much as I was itching to shoot someone’s brains out, the current Caterina did not have the traitors’ names. It was a success that her mere presence brought Argento back into the fold and gave us stake in his hedge fund business. Gabriel Castello became more compliant as well even though he threatened her earlier. That old loud mouth had always been unpredictable. I was not so sure now if bringing the Old Families together is a great idea after all.

Maybe I should just shoot him and hope to God I hit the bullseye and put a rest on this traitor issue once and for all.

“I’m working on it,” I grumbled.

Al scowled at my words. Standing at 5’6, the man didn’t scare me but he damn well knew how to intimidate using his eyes.

“Did you atleast find out the identity of the man who took her?”

An old security camera by the town docks caught a glimpse of Lucy’s father. It was a grainy footage, just catching his thick full beard and black beady eyes, but it was better than nothing. At least I’ve confirmed her so-called dad was indeed a creepy old ass.

I opened my gallery and passed my phone to him. “The man goes by the name William Manning but we all know that’s a bullshit alias. If your men see him, I want him brought to me first and alive. This concerns my wife so I’ll be the one doing the interrogating.”

He squinted his eyes at the photo. “He’s definitely not someone who worked under Caruso. Or Vero.”

“It has been three years Al, how can you be sure?”

“I know every single man who worked under my friends. This one, I’m sure, was an outsider.”

I mulled over his words skeptically. I got a feeling in my gut that the massacre was an inside job and my instinct has never failed me before. For now, I couldn't trust anyone’s words without more leads on my end. I put my phone back in my pockets.

“Three years, Dante.” He shook his head. “Three fucking years. This has gone on for too long. I think drastic measures are called for. If the girl still can’t remember anything by the end of the month, I’ll be forced to intervene and force it out of her myself.”

“With all due respect, Al, but are you really threatening me on my f*cking wedding day?”

He glanced around. There were a lot of men guarding the estate since not only were they my father’s but also De Rocco’s, Argento’s, and Castello’s. Despite the arrangement, trust was still a commodity that needed to be earned yet again among the families. I wasn’t going to attack him though as if I was some f*cking animal.

“I know you care for the girl but don’t make this business personal. I thought your father already got that through your head.”

“You're mistaking my leniency with compassion. I simply know what she's worth. If you force her to remember, her mind will crack. We might end up with the same fate as Caruso and Vero before we find out who the traitors are.”

“One month, Dante. If there’s no progress, we’re taking over. I don’t care if you ended up with a f*cking vegetable for a wife if that’s what it takes to get this over with.”

My blood boiled and that burning urge to see his brains splattered to the ground pricked my skin. Maybe he was smart enough to remind me that we’re surrounded by guards. I threw the cigarette down the grass and stumped on its dying light, imagining instead it was a man’s head before I did something I’d regret.

“Like I said, I’ll f*cking handle it.”

“You know I trust you more than your father, figlio. I expect better results than this by next month.”

He was about to pat me on the back but thought better of it, and put his hands on his pockets instead as he got back inside.

I lingered for a moment outside. One more second that I had to spend with these people and I swore, I was going to blow someone’s brains out.

Time to end the party.

Lucy’s POV

Silence filled the entire drive to his house. What I wouldn’t give to be drunk right now but instead my mind chose this moment to be hypersensitive to my surroundings. It felt like it was pounding to the furious beating of my heart. Dante’s crisp woody scent permeated every cell in my body and the worst thing was that all I could think about was how good it smelled.

The familiar wooded property came into view. My stomach tightened into knots. I suddenly wished I was wearing the constricted tube top so I’d passed out and skipped to the next day. Dante’s fist clenched and unclenched in the space between us. When we pulled up to the front of the glass house, he didn’t waste time getting out of the car as if he couldn’t share the same air as me.

Does he not want this?

My whole body tensed up as the door to my side opened and without warning, Dante lifted me in his arms. He wasn’t letting me forget he owned me and he could do anything he wished to, and more inside this gilded cage he built and no one would bat an eye. Just like this young man who put the code in for Dante as his hands were full of me. As soon as the door beeped open, Dante strode inside. Wide-eyed, I watched as the man shut the door on my face, the sound deafening in the empty house.

We entered the room I’ve been sleeping alone in for the past few days and he deposited me gently on the bed. He walked in front of the mirror and took off his jacket, all the while, his eyes never left mine.

His commanding voice cut through the numb haze I was caged in. “Take off your dress.”

The cold sense of fear snuck its way back into my gut and I stayed rooted to the bed. A lot of my worries I pushed in the back of my mind came rushing in at once. The number of women he’d been with, what he expected of me. I’d never been with a man. Not like this. My father never allowed it. I’d never even had a talk with my parents about it. All I knew so far was from the internet and even seeing something from there made me embarrassed and shameful. I was as out of place as a fish out of the water. I was so lost. I wished my mother could have prepared me for this. My mother whose face I couldn’t even remember.

“Should I do the honor?” He asked, almost sarcastically. When I didn’t answer, he moved towards me and made me stand in front of him as he replaced the spot I was sitting on so we’re almost eye level. Only his focus was on my body, his eyes dark with desire and with something unbidden. I gulped.

“She has great tastes,” I said, struggling to keep still as his hands skimmed over my collarbone and swept my hair off my shoulder.

He hummed in response but he didn’t look like he was even listening as he continued to caress every inch of my skin that was exposed to him, sending rivulets of fire through my body. A small noise emitted from the back of my throat and Dante’s head jerked back at me. He was looking at me with such an intense expression on his face. I lurched back, not pulling away, but shaken with this foreign feeling exploding in my chest and filling my veins with heat at the longing so raw in his eyes.

“I-I meant Caterina. She did a great job choosing the dress,” I prattled on. I wanted to remind him that I wasn’t her so he would stop gazing at me with so much passion that was making my knees weak.

“It was your mother’s.” His fingers were now inching towards the zipper of my dress.

My eyes fluttered close. He was so adamant on keeping up this charade even in the confines of the bedroom. Maybe so, he won’t feel bad about taking another woman in place of his missing bride.

My breath hitched to my throat as he suddenly pulled me tight to his chest. I could feel how much he wanted Caterina from the warmth his body was giving out. I couldn’t hide my body’s reaction to this as my breasts were pressed against his hard muscles.

“You feel so good,” he groaned against my skin as he buried his face in my neck. He made a deep sound of satisfaction that traveled down my stomach, settling into a weight between my legs.

The sound of the zipper pulled me out of my carnal thoughts. My heartbeat drummed in my ears as though trying to beat some sense into me since my brain wasn’t fully functioning. I was fighting to hold on to it as Dante pressed his mouth to my throat, slowly kissing a line down it. Each one gradually built a blazing trail between my legs.

My top had finally come loose. This man was about to take something again from me. I went from dreaming about a happy marriage to getting my pleasure from someone else’s man who refused to even see me for who I really was.

Tears started to stream down my face.

The kisses on my throat stopped. My tube top had not come down my waist as he held the two pieces together with one hand behind me before it could fall. It was so pathetic. I felt like a little girl playing bride in someone else’s gown. The worst thing was Caterina was even younger than me. How would she have handled this? Maybe she’s even more put together than me and could have given Dante the pleasure I had no single idea how to provide.

I waited for a sound of disappointment or disgust from him but instead his soft lips returned against my skin, gently kissing my tears away. My eyelids unfurled, his face was a blur through my unshed tears. I gasped as he suddenly carried me to his chest again and put me down the other side of the bed. He took my heels off and the bed dipped down as he settled beside me.

“What are you—”

“Shhh.” His breath was warm against my nape, making me shiver. He put an arm around my waist and placed the comforter over our cloth-covered bodies. “Sleep, fiorellino.”

I was not sure how he expected me to sleep in this condition but it came easily down upon me and before I knew it, darkness enveloped me.