“We ran it by the Bosses.”
My head snapped up to my father. “And?”
“They will all vote for you to become the Underboss across all of US if you marry Matteo.”
I blinked. “Even though he’s–”
“Not Italian?” Tony snickered. “Kind of the selling point. They want into the drug business.”
I frowned. This could get out of hand.Fast.
“Matteo will handle their… Expectations.” Gìo assured me.
“What’s in it for him?”
“Matteo?” Gìo raised a brow; shrugged. “Money. Power.”
“But he already has that.”
“No one ever has enough of that, Francesca.” My father spoke with that philosophical tone he used only when discussing the slow decline of the world.
Still, I frowned. That didn’t sound like Matteo. At all.
It was so different from what I’d heard him say over that week in Hawaii last month.
Unless of course, he’d lied to me.
An invisible wave of embarrassment washed over me. I’d actually believed him. And he played me.
I looked at my brother for a moment. Really looked at him.
“You’ll help me get out?”
“I swear it.”
“Fine.” We shook hands. “When are we sitting down with him? I want to make it clear that this is nothing more than a temporarybusinesscontractfor show.”
My father exchanged a look with Gìo. “Di’Ablo already agreed.”
I felt the inferno in my blood erupt into flames, and burn everything around me.
“HEWHAT?!”
The bass from the club floor thudded up through my heels, matching the pulse hammering in my chest. I didn’t even bother checking my reflection in the mirrored hallway – if I looked furious, good. I wanted him to see it.
Zach’s birthday. Of course. I should’ve known Matteo’s little brother would be celebrating while I was losing my mind trying to process what our families had just decided.
A marriage.
Mine.
To him.
By the time I reached the top of the stairs to the VIP section, I could already see them – Zach and Maria, Trev and Nat, Kali and Zane, the whole group lounging like nothing in the world was about to implode. Zach had his arm slung over the back of the booth, laughing, completely unaware that I was about to start a war.
“ZACHARY!” My voice cracked over the beat, sharp enough to slice through the chatter. Heads turned. Conversations stopped. Every ounce of fury that had been boiling inside me since Gìovanni broke the news explodedright there. “I am going to gut you like a fish, then feed it to you!”
Zach blinked at me like I’d just grown another head. He glanced at Maria, instantly on the defensive.
