Page 168 of Sins of the Orchid

“Don’t you fucking move, Luigi.” Santi’s voice was commanding with a deep timbre of control that would unleash a ruthless man at any second. He held his gun by his side, finger on the trigger while Dad kept his aimed at Santi. “Amore stays with me.”

There were no soft edges to Santi right now. There never were, except that I thrived in his control. I loved it. He gave me exactly what I needed.

My eyes flashed to Adriano. He didn’t have his gun pointed at Santi and something stupid inside me warmed up. He still had his brother’s back, just as my brothers would always have mine.

“Savio. Put. The. Gun. Down.” Santi’s words carried a calmness with a hint of animosity. It was his calm before the storm.

Dad and Santi stared at each other, no words spoken, but some meaning passing between them. Hell if I knew what. I just wanted it all over and done with.

“She was meant to marry Adriano, not you.” Dad’s dark eyes full of rage focused on Santi. “You are breaking the contract,” Dad spit, his jaw tightened.

Santi’s lips curved with sardonic amusement, his expression dark and unreadable. He took a step towards my dad.

“If that’s what it takes,” Santi growled. “Amore Regina Perèz Bennetti”—I flinched at the name and barely a flicker passed Dad’s eyes. How did Santi know?—“... is mine. And if you try to take her, you will start a war. I will burn this fucking city to the ground, but she will be my wife.”

Luigi and Lorenzo remained still, though Luigi’s gun was still trained on Santi.

“She’s not yours,” Dad repeated stubbornly.

“I wasn’t asking,” Santi retorted in a hard voice..

“Santino, I told you before, and I will tell you again.” Dad was reaching his limits. “Amore will never be yours. I will never agree to her marriage with you. The contract is non-negotiable.”

Dad’s gun was still aimed at Santi’s head, and I held my breath in fear that he’d pull the trigger. Just one small pull and it would cost me so much.

“Fuck. Your. Contract,” Santi snarled. “I’m the head of the Russo family, and I didn’t agree to that contract.”

Lorenzo cursed under his breath. It wasn’t looking good. These men could kill each other, and it would take a few short minutes. I wouldn’t let them; I refused to lose people I loved.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurted out, my heart threatening to beat a hole in my chest.

Everyone’s eyes snapped to me, except for Santi’s. Though I felt his body tense. I had no idea where it came from. It was a bold face lie. Dad shot me a narrowed look, studying me. I wasn’t a good liar. The fear twisted inside me, and I thought I’d get sick at any moment. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. It’d convince them I was pregnant.

“How long?” Dad gritted out. His anger tasted like ash, burning my lungs with smoke.

“Two months.” Jesus, I was digging myself deep. But I remembered years ago, Maria told me about a girl that got pregnant by a man, and her family would have killed him if she hadn’t been pregnant. So instead of killing him, they forced him to marry her immediately.

Adriano scoffed. “Brother gets it all, doesn’t he?”

I sucked in a shallow breath. The tension hung in the room like a dark, stormy cloud threatening to strike with deadly lightning at any moment.

“Please, Adriano.” My voice came out scratchy, caused by raw emotions. I was slowly but surely losing my best friend. “Please let me explain,” I tried.

“Don’t look at me like that.” His voice broke something inside me. It was indifferent, cold, and angry. “You are getting what you wanted. So is my dear brother. Aren’t you, Santi?”

Glancing to my side, Santi’s eyes were cold and narrowed on his brother.

“You’ve been fucking him for what… months, years?” Adriano's accusation had me flinching. “And not a word. Not a fucking word, Amore.”

Santi got into Adriano’s face before I could even hear the last syllable of my name. I watched frozen as Santi grabbed his brother by the collar, his face inches from Adriano. The tension was thick as I watched Santi shove his brother against the wall, rattling the door.

“You’ll speak to my woman with respect,” Santi growled, pressing harder against Adriano’s windpipe.

“Stop.” I pushed on both of them, but neither one of them bulged. “Please, stop it!”

They didn’t even spare me a glance.

“You are such a hypocrite, Santi.” Adriano pushed against his older brother, then went for a punch but Santi was too fast and too strong. He blocked his fist, then sent Adriano flying through the room. Adriano stumbled backwards, falling against the desk in the office with such force, it sent the vase flying off the desk with a loud crash echoing against the hardwood floor of the office.