Chapter 7

"And yet, you needed me to fix your fuck up," I dared.

He didn't react, he almost seemedtired?

"Unless I know what's needed, whatever you are planning, Aldo, will fall apart." He took my words, thought them through, and I pushed. "You still need me, don't you?"

"Father had promised you to California."

As in Antonio Giuliani, the Boss of Los Angeles?

My heart clawed at the idea. The thought of sharing a life with Giuliani, a man almost triple my age, caused a cold shiver through me. I didn't dwell on who would be more gentle and tentative, and the idea of love never crossed my mind. No man in our world was capable of such things, and after meeting Massimo in person, I'd been right.

"And yet, you went against him?"

"I did what had to be done," he said, unconcerned. "And I wasn't going to allow you to go to Los Angeles."

"Don't act as if your decision wasn't to save yourself. As if my well-being crossed your mind." A dry chuckle slipped.

"Believe what you wish, Alessandra. Either way, it means keeping you away from Los Angeles and New York standing." Ice-cold truth.

"Broken vows could lead to war." My voice broke at the idea of the lives it would claim.

"So be it." He gritted his teeth, and as he flickered his eyes away from mine, I saw the battle in them. In the end, he chose to give me a piece of information I was missing. "All because of the girl."

Davina. "What about her?"

"It's not that she witnessed a murder, but whose death it was."

"Tell me."

"The more you know" He trailed off. "Let's just say he was a very powerful politician, and the authorities recovered enough evidence to connect him to us. I thought Dante killed her. Now, I have to fix his fuck up since she took something from the crime scene that connects it all."

"What did she take, Aldo?" My heart raced.

"The bullet casing."

It all started to make sense. I had been told it was vital for me to catch Massimo's interest. To secure the marriage deal as Miami held all the cards for our downfall. We had no trust between our families, a long feud fixed for years and created by my father. By marrying into Miami's crime family, it meant Aldo had a way to bind both families. A way to separate the old ways and bond them to new ones for his time to come. Connecting the pieces, the girl, Davina, had not only shaken the hierarchy of New York. She spread bloodshed and rattled an entire syndicate. Taking advantage of this, my brother weakened my father's position and gained ties.

I shook my head with a reeling mind as I said, "If earlier was a fraction of Father's response, he won't allow it."

"He's old and lost in old times. He'll have to go through with it." Aldo stood, done answering me. "Miami is stronger than California will ever be, and we can't trust Miami's word without a tie binding us."

"Is there a chance I might still be California's?" I asked. A lot can happen in one night. Empires can crumble, and words can be bent.

Aldo stopped in front of my door with a chuckle, turned, and smirked.

"Knowing Massimo will be here tomorrow should answer your question." Holding the doorknob, he quipped, "As long as you step foot in Miami by Massimo's side and have a diamond on your finger" He trailed off.

It was unsettling.

Aldo's relationship with Father was filled with hatred, as it always had been. But as he tried to be nothing like Franco Zanetti, I recognized how calloused and vicious he'd become. The more Aldo's plan was seen through, the more he mirrored the man we detested. Our father.

There was nothing more I could say as he stepped out of the room, leaving me with nothing but an increasing pounding in my head and the threat of collapsing powers soon to come.

MASSIMO

Miami

I was a prisoner of my own mind. Endless scenarios, thoughts, and echoes played in the constant rhythm of puzzles. Each piece held a purpose, and all carried power. A daring labyrinth without gateways and peace. Only turns and moves to stay alive and ahead of those who posed threats to me and the expanding empire I've built.

No room for hesitation.

No room for unthoughtful deals.

But I had taken a counter move. One driven by retribution and emotion. Feelings that were buried in a time of memories that left me confused. It was disturbing to have committed myself to a marriage I had no clear vision of. Even while I tried to justify it as the most effective way to keep my younger brother, Vadim, alive, my motives were far from innocent.

The Zanettis had taken something from me. Now, I was taking her.

And she had been offered as a peace treaty. Aldo was clueless as to who he had entrusted his sister's future with. It was laughable.

He thought he was one step ahead of me, but I'd heard rumors of her father's deal with California. Aldo's motives to act at such lengths to defy his father had to be deeper than his sister's, and New York's, interests. I had to find out what they were.

Meanwhile, I would parade my prize in front of Franco Zanetti.

"This could start a war, Massimo." Leonardo Ferretti, Miami's former Boss, coughed out his reasoning.

"It's done. I accepted the deal."

My eyes followed the swirling bourbon in the glass I held. It whirled restlessly, as did my mind pondering this countermove. The pieces I needed to move to keep Miami safe, and her as mine.

But what sweeter vengeance could I achieve than by having her in my bed, and her father submitting to the arrangement? Handing over his only daughter tome.

Nothing.

Now, I will see through it.

"Your mothe-"

"Do not," I snapped.