Page 28 of The Arianna Arrangement

Tucker picked up two miniature pizzas, handing one to me. They were bite-sized crackers in a triangle, with a little bit of pizza sauce, a miniature pepperoni, and cheese. “Damn, this is good.”

I nodded in agreement, but my mom scoffed. “We are not having pizza of any form at this wedding reception. We have much more class than that.” It was no surprise when she went straight for the caviar canapés. Her eyes closed when the food hit her tongue and I’m honestly surprised she didn’t moan. “These are a definite must.”

Tucker grabbed the other two, handing one to me. We both tried it, and I could tell by the look on his face that it was a no for him too.

My mother didn’t listen to much that we said, deciding on the caviar, oysters, bacon wrapped dates, and tuna tartar on toast, but agreeing to the tomato and mozzarella bruschetta to appease us.

The entreés weren’t any different. My mother decided on sea bass with lemon-caper beurre blanc and sautéed spinach, crispy-skin duck paired with a sweet-tart cherry reduction and celery root purée, and lamb served with roasted root vegetables and herbed polenta. None of which Tucker or I had liked.

“Can’t we please go with lobster ravioli in saffron cream sauce or the fettuccine alfredo al tartufo?” Those had been mine and Tucker’s favorites.

“No.” My mother dabbed the napkin at the corner of her mouth before writing down her picks for Gina. “Isabella had lobster ravioli at her son’s wedding. We need to make sure our selection shows we’re higher class than she is. After all, her husband isn’t even in the top ten of your father’s lieutenants.”

Tucker leaned in and whispered in my ear as my mother discussed her list with Gina. “Want me to pull rank? I mean, I do outrank her since she’s a woman, right?”

He did because women had no authority in our world. But after the fiasco at dinner over my tantrum about the dresses, it wasn’t worth it. “Just leave it. It’s not that big of a deal in the long run.”

Of course, the cake tasting and ordering went just about as well. We ended up with a plain vanilla cake that neither of us wanted, in the most boring design ever. While my mother finalized the order, I stared longingly at a four tiered cake with gold vines and gold and white flowers that I’d never have.

If I ever ended up having a daughter, she was going to have the wedding of her dreams, no matter how gaudy I thought it was.

Chapter 12

Tucker

This place was breaking me, slowly but surely. Ari and I had been solid for years, but now, I could feel the wedge her father was driving between us growing little by little.

It was obvious he didn’t approve of the types of relationships I’d grown up around, where the men respected their wives and saw them as equals. He thought I needed to be the leader of my house and reign over Arianna, keeping her in her place.

That’s what his little display at dinner had been when he’d forced me to spank her in front of everyone. I’d done it because better me than one of his men, but that didn’t stop me from feeling guilty as fuck about it every moment sense.

I felt like a complete piece of shit. Never once had my dad or uncles laid a hand on a woman in discipline, but now, I had.

When Lucian declared the women would be spending the weekend at the spa, I was glad she was going to get some time being pampered, but my stomach was also in my ass knowing he was up to no good. He was going to do something this weekend that would make me hate myself even more than I already did.

Torture, body dismemberment and disposal, beating up old men because they hadn’t paid their dues on time, spanking the woman I loved at the dinner table in front of our families, had all made me hate the man I saw looking back at me in the mirror.

Really, I was starting to wonder if this feeling would ever go away or if he was going to make me drive the nail so far in my coffin that no one would ever get me back.

I was still in the foyer from saying goodbye to Ari, Leyla, and my mom when a throat cleared behind me. I turned to see Sean behind me. “You’ve been summoned to Don Vitale’s office with the others.” I turned to head that way, but he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. His voice came out low, knowing this wasn’t a safe space. “You’ve got to stop beating yourself up. You’re saving your family and I know that they all respect the hell out of you for it. Chin up, kid.”

That was easy for him to say. He’d been in the room for the dinner fiasco, but he hadn’t been there for the rest. He didn’t understand just how dark my soul had become.

The door to the office was open when I arrived, the guard telling me to go on in. Elio and Marco were already there, but Lucian and Sandro weren’t. It was odd to me that we’d be summoned to Lucian’s office if he wasn’t even here yet. You wouldn’t think he’d want people chilling in there without him around.

It was only a matter of a couple of moments though before he and Sandro came in. “Sorry about the delay.” Lucian took his seat behind the desk, a huge smile on his face. “We have a very exciting weekend ahead of us. There’s a new crop of women for the brothel that we need to break in. Because the four of you are being initiated, you will get first dibs on them. Now, I know that sounds like a reward that should be given to my most seasoned and respected men, but since you are the future leadership of this family, I need to see how you handle this aspect of the job.

“These women will range in levels of compliance. Your job is to make sure that they are fully compliant by the time my men get their turn. However, they are to be left unmarked. Marks on wrists and ankles from being restrained are fine, but nothing else. Each woman is expected to service each of you at least once. Understood?”

My foot started shaking as adrenaline coursed through me. This wasn’t what we’d agreed on and I knew I had to say something, but I also knew that speaking up would be a risk. “I’m sorry, Don Vitale, but during the discussion with Apollo, you said I would just have to watch unless they needed to be restrained. I take my commitment to Arianna very seriously.”

He smiled and gave me a nod. “I said you wouldn’t have to penetrate any of the women, and I will stand by that. However, they need to be broken. The other three will each penetrate each of them and then cover them in their release. You’ll simply handle yourself until time to mark them with yours. We’ve found that when they leave the room after a week of men jizzing on them and not being able to wash it off, they understand where they now belong in the world.”

This sneaky son-of-a-bitch. He hadn’t said this in front of Apollo because he would have objected, but he’d been vague enough that what he was asking of me had been approved.

“Have they already been tested and put on birth control? I don’t want any of us contracting diseases or knocking up some whore.” Sandro’s words made my heart sink. He was acting unaffected by this, but I knew from the time I’d spend with him in my room that he hated the sex trade and didn’t want to continue it once he was in charge. Raping these women was going to break a part of him and he wouldn’t have anyone to help him put the pieces back together.

Lucian chuckled. “Of course, son. I wouldn’t risk my first grandchild coming from someone we owned. It’s not like we’re living in pre-Civil War times in the south.” When no one asked any more questions, he clapped his hands and stood. “Excellent. The women are in the basement of the brothel in the intake room waiting.” He tossed Sandro a key. “That will unlock their cages. They should only be allowed out when you are taking them into one of the prep rooms. The whole basement is wired with cameras and mics so we can keep an eye on it.” His smile grew and he grabbed his crotch. “I plan to watch the whole weekend. It’s why I sent the women to the spa. Didn’t want my fun broken up.” He licked his lips and then nodded to the door. “You’re dismissed.”