Page 35

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CASPIAN

T hat mother fucker .

The biggest giant shithead that ever walked the planet.

What the fuck was his problem?

I showered as quickly as I could, my leg screaming in pain, trying to get the stench of that dickwad off my body. I’d been so fucking angry that I didn’t even think I could face Leona.

I considered stomping into Ciel’s room where she was working, but that would be tattling like a little bitch, and I didn’t need her to fight my battles for me.

I stared at myself in the mirror, a towel wrapped around my waist. The bullet wound scars from when Leona and I got attacked at the airport in Philly were still prominent. Then there was the scar down my peck from the time when Max and I got carried away in training. I twisted to see the scar on my back from the tweaked-out asshole who tried to jump me when I was ten, a few months before Leona and Don Vero took me in.

None of those injuries killed me. They’d made me stronger.

I could fight that shitbag by myself.

I grinned as I remembered the look on Ryuji’s face when I said she’d wear my ring. A part of me relished the look of devastation on his face. But another part of me felt so fucking guilty.

Not for that fucker, but for Leona.

What if that’s the same kind of look she wore?

I had to decide what to do about proposing.

Should I tell her that the Vero men would only see us if she agreed to marry me? Fuck, that was so shitty to even think. But that was where we were at.

My heart raced. Would she say yes, knowing it might secure the Vero army?

Would I be happy with that? Or would I regret forcing her hand?

I dragged my hand through my hair and limped to the dresser to pull on some clean clothes. I hissed through my teeth as I pulled on my pants. Why the fuck did he have to go for my knee? When I was finally feeling stronger?

There was a soft knock on the door.

I buttoned my jeans and pulled the door open before jerking back in surprise. Obi stood at the threshold.

“May I come in?”

I pulled the door open. “Uh, sure. But Leona is in Ciel’s room.”

“Yes.” He stepped inside. “I wanted to speak with you.”

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t think we’d ever had a conversation one-on-one, besides that short exchange this morning.

Had Ryuji tattled like a little bitch? Was Obi here to reprimand me for our fight?

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you here to talk about Ryuji?”

He shook his head, a frustrated look on his face. “No. What happens between the two of you is the least of my worries.”

“Excuse me?” I scoffed.

“Caspian, you must secure the Vero Family army through marriage to Leona.”

I blinked, then recoiled. “What?”

Had he overheard me on the phone with Giulio this morning? I should have gone downstairs. Why did I take that phone call in the hallway?

Then my brain caught up to what he was saying. Why the hell did he think he had a say in the matter?

“The Italian Criminal Families will not pass leadership to female family members. However, if you get engaged to her, you both can claim ownership over the Family.”

“I understand how it works. I grew up in it. I’m asking why you’re saying this.”

“Is that not what Giulio advised you?”

My eyes narrowed. Wynn had agreed not to say anything. He must have told him anyway, the dick. “How did you know that’s what Giulio said?”

He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Because it is exactly the same thing I would have said. It’s what you’ve been thinking—and what I’ve been thinking—since we first spoke about going after the Vero men and stealing them out from under Volpe’s control.”

“You’ve been thinking about it that long?”

“Leona’s engagement has always been a play to consider. If not you, then someone else?—”

“Someone else? Who the fuck?”

“—But engagement to you offers the greatest reward with the minimal amount of risk.”

My mind raced as I tried to latch onto what he was really saying. “You’re talking like you have always wanted to use her marriage.”

“She is a mafia princess of one of the strongest Families in New York,” he said calmly, levelly, as if he was simply speaking facts. “Her marriage, and what can be gained from it, has been debated since she was a child. This is no different.”

“It’s so much fucking different now. She’s not a pawn. She’s not something to use.”

Not something to use for me, and certainly not something to use for anyone else. Who the fuck else did he want to marry her to?

His gaze hardened. “This is not personal. It’s the easiest way for us to get what we want.”

“Leona deserves the opportunity to show them,” I insisted. The whole reason I hadn’t told her yet was because I believed that. I didn’t want her to be forced into one decision or the other. I wanted other people to see her value as so much more than just a game piece. How the hell was Obi insisting that was all she was? “If she shows them how strong she is, the Vero army will follow her.”

“That is naive, Caspian,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back. “This decision is not about Leona proving herself. It is about making strategic moves that further our goals.”

My hackles raised. Defensiveness turned my shoulders tight. “You don’t believe she could convince them? You don’t believe in her?”

“I never said that,” he snapped. Then he took a deep, slow breath, unclenching his fists. “I believe in her completely. This is not about belief. It is about business.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “You’re asking me to propose for business .”

“Yes.”

“You want to use her.”

“This is a measure to increase the legitimacy of our syndicate.”

I took a step back. Wrestling with this decision inside my own thoughts was one thing, but to have Obi come in here and command we do this felt like another thing entirely.

“What about her choice? What about mine?”

He raised an eyebrow, giving me a look that said he knew I’d marry her in a heartbeat. And he was completely right.

“Her choice is to control New York. This is how she does it.” He waved his hand. “Caspian, you both love each other. It is obvious. What is the problem?”

The problem was I didn’t want to force her into anything. I wanted her to choose me because of me .

I knew it was stupid. I knew it was my own fucking insecurities.

But she had never chosen me. It had always been Max. And now with the other guys? How the fuck was I supposed to put her in a position where I knew deep down she’d only say yes for the sake of the advantage it would give us?

“She will say yes, not because she feels forced, but because she loves you,” Obi continued. His voice went quiet as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “This is a means to an end. If we want to secure these men, you must marry her. Is that not what you want?”

I ran my hands down my face.

Yes, it was what I wanted. I wanted to marry her. I’d already started dreaming of her as my wife. I’d wanted to marry her since we were kids.

And she did love me. She’d said so herself. I knew she loved me more than anything.

My hands clenched at my sides. The two of us were endgame. Ride or die, baby. Soulmates. I loved her. I wanted her to wear my ring on her finger.

I’d said as much to Ryuji.

His devastated face, twisted with hurt, flashed in front of my eyes.

My chest tightened. There was a nasty, selfish part of me that wanted her to wear my ring just so I could prove to Ryuji that she was mine. I wanted to claim her for all the world to see. So Max could fucking see.

Leona Vero belonged to Caspian Di Salvo.

I glanced at Obi. His face said he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I want that.”

“Good.” His hand gripped my shoulder. “You need to propose, but you need to think carefully about the timing. I understand why you were hesitant to bring it up with her.”

“I don’t want her to feel forced.”

“I understand that. You are trying to think of what is best for her. Because you love her.”

I nodded, swallowing.

“If you tell her now, it will just set off a bomb of unease and tension between us all. She might even reject it.”

I sucked in a breath. That was exactly what I was afraid of. I couldn’t stand it if she said no. “When is the right time?”

“Shortly before Giulio’s meeting.” I opened my mouth, but he shook his head. “I know. It feels like you are springing it on her. But I am confident that she will realize the opportunity in front of her and make the right decision. Too soon and everything could fall apart.”

I could do this. I would tell her. I would just tell her when we knew it would work best. It wasn’t hiding it from her. It was helping her see how much it could benefit us.

“What about the guys?”

“My brothers will understand. This will move us all closer to our goals.” He glanced away, double-checking the time on his watch before straightening the collar of his shirt. “There’s no reason anything else has to change.”

The implications were clear. There was no reason she couldn’t still be with them and still be married to me. I knew that. But I also couldn’t fight the rancid feeling inside me that wanted to be the first in her heart—the only one etched onto her soul.

Ryuji’s face flashed before me again.

“Okay,” I responded, heart racing.

She’d wear my ring on her finger.

“We’re on the same page?” he asked.

“I’ll ask her before the meeting.”

Obi smiled tightly. “I am glad. Don’t worry. This will be short-term discomfort for long-term gain. If we stick to our plan, we will gain enough power to establish our empire. It is what is best for all of us.”

My jaw clenched as he slipped out of our room.

A few days left, then she’d be engaged to me. It would secure her future. It would gain us an army.

We just had to get the timing right.