At this, Larissa gasped and clutched her brother’s arm. “Gastone… you were saying you thought… “
Gastone rose from his chair, sliding it back from the table. “Alisa? As in Alisa Montes? I thought she looked familiar.”
“Yes, that Alisa,” Caspian confirmed, taking his seat at the head of the table.
“What the fuck? You married Alisa Montes?” Federico’s voice screeched in shock. “Marc Montes’s daughter? Like the federal prosecutor?”
“What were you thinking?” “Have you lost your mind?” “Well, there’s reckless and then there’s suicidal!”
All around me, the room turned into uproar until Caspian bellowed at them all to shut up.
Alisa straightened beside me, and I saw her eyes narrow. “I’m right here, you know.”
Considering how nervous she was, she grew a thick skin pretty fucking fast.
“And we’re all very interested in why,” Luca added, leaning forward with a hiss.
“Guys,” Kate, Caspian’s wife, interrupted with a pointed look around the table. “We have a guest. Perhaps we could attempt civility before the interrogation?”
“Thank you, Kate.” I nodded gratefully. “And yes, I married Alisa. It’s a long story that involves an auction, a kidnapping, and her father being an even bigger piece of shit than we thought.”
“Dante!” Alisa hissed, but the damage was done.
“Auction?” Beatrice repeated. “Kidnapping? What the hell did you do, Dante?”
“Why do you assume I did something?” I protested.
“Because it’s you,” two of my brothers said in unison.
I couldn’t argue with that logic.
Caspian raised his hand, commanding silence. “Let’s eat while the food is hot. Dante can explain how he managed to secretly marry the daughter of one of our biggest threats over dinner.”
His tone was calm, but the look he gave me promised consequences. I’d seen that look before—right before someone got their kneecaps broken.
Servers appeared, bringing out platters of food. The smell of roasted meats, garlic, and herbs filled the air, momentarily distracting from the tension. Wine glasses were filled, bread was passed, and for a few minutes, we pretended everything was normal.
Then Giovanni broke the silence. “So, Alisa, how exactly did my brother convince you to marry him? Blackmail? Threats? Temporary insanity?”
“Gio,” Larissa warned her husband.
Alisa set down her fork. “Actually, I needed protection.”
“Protection from what?” Federico asked, suddenly interested.
She hesitated, glancing at me. I nodded slightly. These people were family. She could be honest around here.
“From whoever my father was planning to sell me to,” she said quietly.
The table went silent again. I watched their faces process what she’d said—shock, disbelief, then even more disbelief.
“Marc Montes was selling his own daughter?” Achille whistled low. “That’s cold, even for a fed.”
“He’s being blackmailed,” Alisa insisted, though I heard the doubt in her voice. “He wouldn’t do this unless someone was forcing his hand.”
“Or unless the price was right,” Luca suggested.
Alisa flinched. I shot him a warning look.
