Page 8 of Princess Seeks Dragon
“I’m not ready to settle down yet. To be honest,” Vincenzo slides up to me and puts his arm around my waist, “I have a little business I can’t just abandon—her name’s Gabrielle, and she’s not the kind of woman you just walk away from—no offense! If things had been allowed to happen between us naturally, you know? It might’ve worked.”
“But our parents...” I lead, heart quickening, palms sweating.What the fuck is a capo? He has another woman? Why is he telling me this?
“Mom has her heart set on a June wedding, which I said you’d never go for. Don’t have to take a honeymoon unless you want one.”
I lean on one of the expensive marble statues dotting the border of the garden path, mind reeling.
Wedding.
Honeymoon.
What the actual hell?
“Excuse me, Mr. Vincenzo. Lemonade? Iced tea?”
“Thank you, Carlotta.” Vincenzo takes two glasses from the uniformed maid. She could be a model—probably on some X-rated website with her little black dress and honest-to-God frilly white apron. As she passes, he gives her a long, lecherous look, and she deliberately brushes against him.
“Lemonade. Just made with Mom’s old recipe and it’s delicious.” He walks out to meet me on the path, but his eyes keep zooming back to Carlotta and her lambada-worthy curves as she saunters back inside.
“Thank you. I thought you said her name was Gabrielle?”
“Hm? Oh, you caught me. Look, if I have to get married to give Argento a fair shake, I’ll do it, but I told my old man I’m not done sowing my wild oats. I shouldn’t have to take a wife until I’m older, closer to when I’ll take over the business.”
“Well... I agree! We don’t need to get married.” Maybe Vincenzo’s nuts. MaybeI’mnuts. Or in a bad dream. I take a quick swig of cold lemonade (and it is as delicious as he said), and—nope. Not dreaming.
“I’m not saying that! I’m just saying you’re not like the other little princesses I’ve met. You seem less sheltered, more mature. Might as well be honest instead of lying to you and keeping the mistresses on the side.”
“Other princesses?”
“You know how some of the old Dons are. They send their little girls to all-girl Catholic schools, have a guard on them twenty-four-seven, and won’t let them leave the house unless it’s to go to mass or shopping with their mamas. A bunch of innocent little ‘yes, sir’ ‘no, sir’ virgins who don’t know which end of a cock is up.”
I’m no prude, but I’m disgusted by the way he speaks just now. “I’m sure they don’t choose that life.”
“And neither did we, right? But we don’t turn down the money.” He laughs and drains his glass with a sigh.
“So, I’m suitable?”
“Yeah, Angela. I’m amenable to a roommate sitch... for now. And like I said, you don’t seem like those scared little mice I see at ‘family funerals.’ I figured we might as well talk for real before the parents take over. Then it’ll have to be all lovey-dovey or my mother’ll pitch a fit.”
“What about my mother?” I whisper, more to myself.Does she know about this? Are these clues spelling out what I think they are?Dons and bosses, family business... I’m in the middle of some mafia drama, and I can’t turn the channel.
“Exactly why I’m treating you right. I know you’re Argento’s only child. I promise you, you’ll never want for anything. We can stay here, we can get our own little place. My wallet is your wallet.” The charming smile is back, and even though I don’t like a lot of things about this side of Vincenzo, I have empathy for him. He might have more power, but he’s still under his dad’s thumb, and he’s still getting forced into a marriage to a woman he doesn’t love.
“You’re being awfully gallant about this, but this isn’t the 1600s. You don’t just marry off your kids to—”
“You’re new to this, aren’t you?” Vincenzo cuts me off with a harsh scowl. “Families like ours are the kings of this world. We have more power than presidents, more money than princes. An alliance through blood is the only kind of insurance we have that we won’t turn on each other—or that we’ll stick together. My family’s bigger in the business than yours, but Ronnie could do bigger. This alliance will combine our houses, and boom. We’ll be one of the biggest dogs in the junkyard. You get it?”
“I get it.” We’re both pawns, but Vincenzo doesn’t mind too much, because one day he’ll be big. He’ll be the king on this bloody chessboard of organized crime.
“Your dad is too nice. This is my dad’s way of keeping him in line, too. How could anyone refuse to follow orders when this is at stake?” Vincenzo asks, his hand boldly reaching out and cupping my chin, lifting my face to his like he’s going to kiss me.
At the last second, he stops and steps away. “Not that we’ll have any problems.”
“No. We certainly won’t.”
Because I’m getting the hell out of here the first chance I get!
