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It was a really nice house, with a beautiful yard full of trees and flowers that shielded the house from view. My father and mother were enjoying his retirement very much, and they’d more than deserved to be happy.

“Your father is expecting you,” one of the servants said, and I inclined my head.

My father had been notified of my arrival, and he was in his office, so I headed straight there.

“Honey,” he said, his lips spreading into a genuine smile.

“Dad.” I pressed my lips to his cheek.

“What are your impressions?” he asked as I took a seat in one of the leather chairs.

“Um, the deal seems fine, I guess. Giovanni is insane, though.”

“Why do you say that?” He tilted his head.

“Look.” I handed him the contract that I’d brought with me.

I waited in silence as he carefully read through it.

“I suppose you’re bothered by the marriage part.” He looked up at me, the corners of his lips tilted up.

“Yeah.”

“Why? It’s only a formality. There’s no danger that I can see, except you’ll have to make sure your husband behaves. If you want to have lovers, you can. And as many as you want. You can leave your husband under protection somewhere and you don’t even have to see him if you don’t like him.”

“I know, but you and Mom married because you fell in love.”

“If you fall in love, you can divorce in ten years. If your beloved truly cares about you, he’ll understand and wait.”

“It’s not about that. I don’t care about marriage. It’s about my husband-to-be. I don’t know if he wants to marry me.”

“His father doesn’t seem to think it might be an issue, and it certainly doesn’t matter. In our world, sometimes it doesn’t matter what we want. We just do what’s best for our family.”

“Right.” I bit down on my lip. “Would you have married me off to someone if it benefited our family?”

His eyes were intent on mine. “Never.”

“Exactly. You see why this concept of being forced to marry doesn’t really sit well with me.”

“But is the deal worth it? If the boy doesn’t agree, so what? It’s just one life. One life is a small price to pay for all the lives we’ve lost and the ones we might keep losing if the deal falls through.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re right. The Mazzas insist. It’s not my fault. And yeah, one life is such a small price to pay.”

“You can handle the boy. It’s not like you’re going to kill him.”

“Yeah. So you’d accept the deal?”

“If our lawyers say everything’s okay, then yes. You’re focusing on the wrong thing, Valentina. It’s not about whether either of you want to be married. The question is whether you want the deal.”

I bobbed my head.

My father was right.

Getting married wouldn’t really harm me in any way, and it would be extremely beneficial for my family. Hell, it might even be crucial to our future success.

It wasn’t going to be a problem.

I was going to make sure of it.