“Of course,” I say and straighten up. “You have my loyalty, sir.” While I will serve my father’s business after graduation, right now I’m training, and my allegiance is to Dante Ricci.
Had our fathers not been allies, this would be quite a precarious situation.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that, son,” he says. “Because I have a job for you. One that I’ve already spoken with your father about.”
“Oh? What kind of assignment?” I ask, leaning forward, excitement bubbling inside of me.
Will I get my first mission to help take down an enemy of Dante’s?
Is he going to want me to execute someone for him?
Perhaps he needs me to go undercover and spy on his enemy. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s asked me to keep tabs for him, but at least Harper was an easy assignment. Getting close to her hasn’t been too problematic.
“It involves something a little more personal, a little less dark,” Dante says. “And the pay—it will be an ongoing assignment and will include a hefty upfront payment along with a decent monthly stipend.”
It sounds a bit too good to be true, but I trust him.
“Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“I’m glad you said that, because I need you to marry Harper McKenna,” Dante says.
The air rushes out of my lungs, and I can’t breathe.
He wants me to marry Harper?
He can’t be serious, but the look on his face, he’s not smiling and certainly not joking. There’s no laughter bubbling out of him, no hint of humor.
And I’ve already agreed to it before even hearing his request.
I’ve never betrayed a don, but he can’t honestly believe that Harper will agree to the arrangement.
Harper and Luca have been hooking up.
There’s clearly a spark between them. There has been since the moment I saw the two of them together. They’re either red-hot or ice-cold, and right now, the steam seems to be turned up between those two.
It’s impossible not to hear them between the thin walls, especially when I’m in the living room on the sofa, watching a movie.
Luca will end me if I intervene in their relationship.
Of course, Dante killing me isn’t a much better solution.
My life still ends in death.
I’d rather go up against Luca than his father and the entire Ricci family.
“And if she says no?” I ask, my throat raw.
I don’t want to marry Harper.
Yes, I had feelings for her when we first met, but those desires fizzled out the moment I realized Luca really liked her.
And now there’s Nova, the one girl who steals my breath away with a single glance. The one girl who I want to get to know every inch of, day in and day out.
It’s hard enough keeping her a secret, but to even contemplate marrying Harper sets my nerves ablaze.
“Harper won’t say no, because you won’t let her. You’re smart, son, you’ll make sure she knows marrying you will be saving her life and her little boy’s.”
Working for the mafia is dangerous. I’ve never been blind to it, but knowing that I’m about to push an idea of a wedding onto a girl who isn’t interested in me, while having feelings for someone else, I’m physically sick.
