“Perhaps it would be best if we limit the happy couple’s interactions before the wedding,” Tatsuo suggests, as if he can hear what I’m thinking.
“I think that’s a great idea,” my father confirms, and even though he has to reach up to do it, he grips the back of my neck like he used to when I was growing up, his fingers pressing into my muscles with enough force to ensure I keep my mouth shut. “It will make the big day all the more special. Right, Son?”
Grinding my teeth, I give a curt nod.
“Good. Then, if you’ll excuse us.” Tatsuo Tanaka inclines his head before ushering Sora back down the path toward the house, his wife and son following closely.
As soon as their backs are turned, I shove my father’s hand away and watch them depart.
Any feelings of remorse are long gone in the wake of how things ended.
Sora might seem delicate and naive, but she just played me like a fiddle, twisting the situation to her advantage.
Dunking her in ice water hardly feels like an adequate punishment in comparison, and now my clock’s run out on convincing her to back out of the engagement.
“What thehellwere you thinking?” my father snarls under his breath, turning to me as soon as the Tanakas are out of sight.
Well, as long as I’ve dug my grave, I might as well use it.“What?” I ask with false innocence. “She slipped.”
“You and I both know that’s not true. I might not have seen what happened, but I know you, Leo. And I know where you stand on this alliance. That girl didn’t end up in the fountain all on her own.”
“She seems to think she did,” I point out.
My father snarls as he shoves a finger in my face. “You need to grow up and take responsibility. This wedding is happening whether you want it to or not, so I suggest you stop trying to make your wife hate you before you’ve even made it to the altar.”
“She already hates me. The whole family does. How could you possibly think otherwise?” I demand. “I don’t understand how you can believe that one wedding is going to solve the fighting that’s been going on for all this time.”
“Theycame tous. That means the Tanaka-kai numbers are suffering just like ours. We have them on the ropes right now, which gives us a narrow window of opportunity. This alliance is important, Leo. Believe it or not, I’m doing this for you.”
Snorting skeptically, I start to pace. “How could any of this possibly be for me? You expect me to marry a woman whose father has probably told her to slit my throat in my sleep.”
“Don’t be absurd. If you let that woman kill you, then it would be your own damn fault. From the looks of her, you’d have to help her lift the knife,” my father sneers. “You need to start looking at the bigger picture, Leonardo. If we don’t get the Tanakas under control now, we’re going to be in trouble. We’re facing enemies on multiple fronts—aside from the Yakuza, the Irish have been growing increasingly hostile, and the Russians’ greed makes them more dangerous by the year. We might run Chicago now, but you’re going to run our business into the ground before you even take control at the rate you’re going. We need allies, and the Tanakas are the only ones willing to make a deal.”
“And whose fault is that?” I demand, stopping to glare at my father. “You haven’t seemed to have a concern about stepping on people’s toes before, while you were expanding our territory and encroaching on those around us. Now you want to pretend that I’m the one failing to see the bigger picture?”
“You can’t grow an empire without stepping on a few toes, Son. We’re Chiaroscuros. We take what we want, and I have managed to hold our borders for well over a decade now. People fear ourname. They have learned to respect us above all, but you can’t keep fucking your way through the sex clubs of Chicago and expect this empire to run itself.”
“And if I don’t want to run your empire?” I challenge, dropping my voice as I get in my father’s face.
“Then our blood will be on your hands. Our enemieswillcome for their revenge. Unless we have the means to crush their resistance. Moves and countermoves, Leo. That’s what it takes to survive our world. Right now, it’s your job to protect this family by ensuring our alliance with the Tanakas.” His tone is calm and cold, his dark eyes commanding as he shifts from irate father to calculating Don. “You might not care for me, Leonardo, but would you condemn your brothers to prove your point?”
Ice trickles into my veins as my father stalks away, his words ringing in my ears.
I have no doubt the Tanakas will be our enemies regardless of this marriage.
But he’s right.
I don’t want to be their excuse for starting a war.
5
SORA
Four Months Later
The months of not seeing Leo have only made the big day more anxiety-inducing.
With tomorrow looming like an ominous black cloud, my nerves hum like a piano wire, and I release a slow, steady breath as my lady’s maid lays out my garment bag for the rehearsal dinner tonight.
