“No!” I shake my head and glance back at Ashton, imploring him to stop this madness.
He doesn’t wish to marry me.
And I don’t want to be tied to him.
He cares for Nova.
I care about Luca.
It’s a match made in hell, Ashton and me marrying. It can’t happen. I won’t let it. I’d sooner die than marry Ashton Rinaldi.
Luca hates me, but if I marry Ashton, everyone will hate me.
Nova will never forgive me.
Luca will despise me for marrying his best friend.
And Ashton will regret it for the rest of his life.
“You can’t do this, sir,” I say, pleading with him. “The agreement was that I was to marry Luca.”
Dante’s eyes flicker for a moment. “That was the agreement, but you’ve betrayed the family. Don’t you think a punishment is in order?”
“You’re going to punish Ashton for me running away?” I ask, shocked.
I knew Dante wanted me to marry Ashton. He’d gone to Ashton, ordered him, like I was just another assignment, but we’d agreed that it was foolish and stupid.
Ashton strides closer, his skin glistening and pale. He looks taken aback by the recent news of our impending nuptials.
Turns out, Ashton hadn’t lied to me when he agreed to let the choice be mine.
But Dante has other ideas, and being the mafia boss, what he says, goes.
I reach for Ashton, taking his hands, staring up into his gaze.
“I’m calling in that favor you owe me.”
Three
Ashton
How the fuck am I going to get out of marrying Harper?
I’ve never disobeyed a direct order, not from my father and certainly not from Dante. He freaking scares me.
Intimidating is an understatement.
“Sir, you can’t think that me marrying Harper would be a good idea. Luca and Harper will be pining for each other, and it’ll put me in a precarious situation.”
Luca huffs under his breath, and I glare at him.
“They’re sleeping together,” I elaborate, as if that will change things. “For all we know, she could already be pregnant with his child.”
Dante glares at Harper and glances her over.
“Are you carrying his child?”
She looks aghast at the suggestion. “I don’t think so?—”
