“We’ve been working together for too long. I’ve known you since we were young. I have a good read on you at this point.”
“I guess you do.” He leans forward on his elbows and looks me straight in the face. “No bullshit then. I’m going to ask something big from you, Luca. I need you to say yes.”
I meet his gaze head-on. “You know the Famiglia is my life.”
“That’s why this is a request, not an order. I won’t force it on you.”
“Tell me what you need.”
“The Serrano Famiglia is falling apart. Everyone knows it by now. Their chop shop business is bleeding money. Debts are killing them. Several of their high-end vehicles have been stolen. Don Serrano is in bad health, worse than he’s been letting on in public. They need help, and I want access to their operations. I think we can turn them around and make them into a profitable associate organization. But that’ll take serious investment. An alliance on this scale needs real blood to make it stick.”
My palms go sweaty. I stare at my cousin, stomach roiling. He looks back at me, his face grim. We both know where this is going.
“Just ask, Adriano.”
“I need you to marry the girl. Don Serrano is having a similar conversation right now. I need you to marry Fiorella Serrano and make this alliance real.”
I let the words sink in and almost laugh.
It’s absurd. Almost obscene. An hour ago, I was balls-deep in my future wife, fucking her like the world was about to end.
“Why me?” I ask, my voice sounding distant.
“You’re my cousin. That makes you blood. You’re also one of my most trusted Capos and high up in my organization. That makes you important. You also know that I’d never ask this of you unless it was important.”
I nod, barely hearing him. “I know that.”
“Think about it. You don’t have to answer now. But Don Serrano’s breaking the news to Fiorella, and they’ll want to start making plans soon.”
I push my chair back. The memory of Fiorella’s mouth on mine is like a bell ringing on a crisp black night. Everything inside me wakes up at the memory, at the taste of her. I know it’s dangerous, wanting her this badly. It goes against everything I believe.
I’ve lost too much over the years.
“After Aunt Sofia died, I made a promise,” I say very quietly, staring down at my clenched fists. I don’t want this. I can’t have this. “I’ll do whatever the Famiglia needs. Anything you ask of me, no matter what.”
“That was a long time ago, Luca. Nobody blames you anymore.”
“Tell Don Serrano I’ll do it.” I stare grimly at my cousin. No part of me wants this. But I owe the Famiglia everything. I owe them my life and so much more, and I’ll repay that debt for as long as I’m breathing. Even if it breaks me in the process. “I’ll marry the girl.”
I turn and get out of his office before I can think too much about the hell I just signed myself up for.
Vicious, strong little Fiorella.
Moaning under my touch.
She’s going to be the death of me.
I can already feel it in my bones.
Chapter 5
Fiorella
“It was nothing, okay?” I glare at my little sister as she lounges on my bed, smirking her face off. I swear, sometimes I hate that girl, even though I’d die for her in a heartbeat. “We were just talking.”
“Talking?” Her eyebrows raise. “His fly was down. The desk had been cleared off. You had this pretty little blush?—”
“Talking,” I say sharply, crossing my arms.
