Page 56 of Double Trouble for the Mafia Prince

Luca nods. "We’ll discuss the rest now."

The door swings closed behind us.

I don't look away from Dante.

He takes a step forward.

His mouth opens, then shuts again.

His voice, when it finally comes, is low and rough. "You?—"

Luca clears his throat, and Dante’s words die in his.

It’s clear that he’s not supposed to be speaking right now, not until whatever verdict I’ve earned falls on me.

The Salvatore don stands with both hands braced on the edge of his desk, exercising the quiet authority of a man who has made his decision and is now only waiting for the others in the room to accept it.

The study holds its breath as the weight of his next words presses into us.

"There will be a wedding," Luca says. "Yours."

It lands like a shot fired in a cathedral.

My mouth parts, though no sound escapes.

Beside me, Rafa does not flinch.

Marco lifts the glass to his lips.

Only Dante reacts like something real has been broken.

"You can’t be serious," he says, stepping forward now, no longer stunned but angry. "You want me to marry her just because?—"

"Because they are your daughters," Luca says flatly. "Because she is their mother. Because this family does not need more scandal, more chaos, more reason for enemies to strike."

Dante turns to him, the color in his face high. "You don’t get to dictate?—"

"I do," Luca interrupts, his voice quiet but immovable. "Because I am the head of this family, and you, for all your recklessness and appetite for leisure, are still a Salvatore. You are not a boy anymore. You don't get to waste your life pretending we don't all wear the weight of our name."

My fingers curl into fists.

I speak before I mean to.

"You think forcing a marriage will fix this?"

My voice is calm, though inside I am cracking open.

"You think tying us together like animals in a pen will make the threats disappear?"

"No," Luca says, not even looking at me. "But it will do what needs to be done. The children will be protected. Their legitimacy will not be in question. No other family will dare approach them with whispers about being hidden away like bastards in the wilderness. They will be daughters of Salvatore and Rossi, and everyone will know it."

"And me?" I ask, my throat dry. "What am I in this game of image and bloodlines? Just the means to an end?"

"You are the mother," Luca replies, still not unkind, but resolute. "Which makes you irreplaceable. And also, vulnerable. There are people who would kill you just to make a point. This way, they will have to kill Dante first."

Dante laughs without humor.

"Great. A death pact. That’s really something to celebrate."