Page 9 of Forgive Me, Father

“And what of your duty to your family?”

Her shoulder sagged for a heartbeat before she straightened her spine.Her gaze clashed with mine as she spoke.“I just need a minute to compose myself.I will not bring shame to the Santore name.I will fulfill my duties as demanded of me.”

“Does that include marrying a man you would rather kill than fuck?”I asked harshly.“Or would anyone in theIl Volto Nerobe enough to make your family proud?”

She let out a sudden snort, then recomposed herself.“Sorry,” she murmured, her cheeks coloring with a faint blush.“Pride isn’t something my family has ever felt for me, nor will they.I’m expected to do what a good daughter does.Nothing more.Nothing less.”

"Who were you supposed to marry?"I asked, though the answer was irrelevant.Whoever he was, he didn’t matter.

No one outranked the Pontisellos.

Her lips parted, voice barely above a whisper.“Philip.Philip DeCosta.”

I didn’t flinch.Didn’t blink.

“Then you’ll marry me,” I said, the words sharp, certain, like a promise carved in stone.

“Why do you need a wife?”she asks, suspicion lacing her words.

I lifted my ass off the surface, killed the distance between us and towered over her as I neared.

She smelled like warm vanilla and something wilder beneath it, sweet, addictive, and dangerous enough to make me want more.

Her throat bobbed, but she refused to take a step back.Defiant.I loved it.Loved the thought of breaking whatever spirit she had and making her submit.I leaned closer to her so that she could hear me.“Because the one I was betrothed to also fucked one of my groomsmen.”The last part was a lie, but the girl could relate to the situation.It would make her more open to choosing the path I want.The path I need.

Her gaze met mine.

“You’re still intact?”I asked.

She nodded.

My lips curved upward, pleased that no man had touched her that way.“Good.”

I stepped out of her personal space and could hear her taking a breath.I opened a drawer.Mica had dropped this off early this morning.It was a contract.I pushed it in front of her.“I’ll give you time to read it, and then you tell me if you are ready to become my wife.”

She looked at me and then at the contract.She stood straight, puffing her chest out and showing the perfect shape of her tits.“What’s in it for me?”

“Oh, a lot more now than what’s in that contract,la mia piccola fuggitiva.”

Her jaw muscles pumped softly.

My lips curved again as she walked toward the desk and picked up the contract.

“I don’t even know your name,” she said, staring at the pages.

“Just call me Alfonso.Nico, take her to the spare room; I still have some business to conduct,” I ordered my second.

He nodded and left with her.

I watched her walk away, her presence lingering long after she was gone.This arrangement had the potential to become the best move I’d ever made.She understood the world of the Dons, how it operated, what it demanded, which meant less work for me, fewer battles to fight.And she was undeniably stunning.

Whatever else this marriage turned out to be, it wouldn’t be a burden.Not in any sense of the word.

Nico returned a few minutes later.“I told you she was perfect.”

“And she just ran into you?”I asked.

“If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”