Riley Cahill had a smirk on his face, “Ah, you Chicago fellas know how to make me smile.”
“Tie him up, Alfie,” Luca commanded.
We watch as Dillon gets tied up to the back bumper of the car. Alfie then gets into the vehicle and drives off, dragging the man behind him. His screams gave me goosebumps. The look of horror was all over my face. I tense as Luca walks toward me.
He whispers, “Just know you’re responsible for that. Your reckless behavior put that person in this position. He’s lucky Emilio came in before something worse happened.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper back.
“Your sorries become less meaningful each time you need to say them. And if you ever think of running away again, I’ll put you in the damn box and lock you in there for just as long as you’ve been away for.”
Chapter 41
My brother sat there puffing on his cigar as a handful of men seated with him at the table playing poker. Emilio was standing off to the side, just watching. I’ve been on house arrest for over a week, and I was starting to get cabin fever. This was the first time I saw Emilio since he dragged me back to Chicago. He had distanced himself so far from me that I barely got a hello. There was no official goodbye parting, just an absence. A sudden abrupt absence louder than any voice could be.
The room was full of cigar smoke and the smell of bourbon. Standing at the table, I clear my throat.
“Luca.”
My brother glances up at me as I stand opposite the table. “What are you doing here?”
“I have a proposal for you.”
This made Emilio walk closer to the table, standing behind Luca. Both of them waited for me to speak.
“What is it?” Luca asked, uninterested.
“Hamilton Branton.”
Luca raised his head from his deck of cards and looked at me. “The D.A.’s son. What about him?”
“Arrange a marriage with him.”
Shocked, Luca asked, “Why should I do that?”
“He’s the D.A.’s son.”
Luca looked back down at the deck of cards. “I already have the D.A. in my pocket.”
“For now.” I stood tall, confident in my words.
He was looking back up to me. “For now?” he repeated, urging me to continue.
“The Branton family are political legacies. There is no doubt that Hamilton will be the successor to his father.”
“That’s up to the people of Chicago,” Luca shot back.
“And we know how the people of Chicago vote,” implying the obvious. “So when Hamilton takes his father’s place, you’ll need him on your side.”
“Except arranging this will mean I owe the D.A. and I don’t like owing anyone. The point of having someone in your pocket means you have control over them, not the other way around. I don’t see this working in my favor.”
I look down in defeat. Part of Luca must have felt bad for me. Since Aria found out she was pregnant, she has been in New York figuring things out. They should know who the father is any day now, so Luca has been in a mood. The whole situation had him on his feet, and I was convinced that was why he went easy on me—or maybe my mother and sisters put pressure on him to be kinder to me.
“Then pick someone,” I request.
“Pick someone?” Luca was holding back from laughing. “Last time I had arranged something for you, you threatened to kill yourself.”
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, I nod my head. “Take it as a plea to get back in your good graces.”
