Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“What’s on your mind, Maxwell?” I finally ask when the silence between us stretches to an uncomfortable heaviness.
“Are you planning marriage?” he asks out of the blue.
“What?” I ask because there’s really no way I can respond to that.
“Katherine. Whenever we have these family functions, you always bring her. Is it serious? Are you planning marriage?”
“I’m not the kind of man who does marriage. It gives your enemies tools to use against you. Katherine is just someone I scratch a mutual itch with. She knows the score.”
“What if the girl you marry already is a target? What if by marrying you, she’d only be safer?”
“Maxwell, I’ve only had one drink, but for some reason, I’m having a hard time following you. What are you saying?”
“I’m offering you my daughter.”
I use the pads of my fingers to rub hard against my forehead, as if that can help me make sense of what just happened. When it fails to work, I look at him shaking my head. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Emilia. I want to give her to you.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Emilia is her own person, and she is also a kid.”
“I know this. My God, don’t you think I see what is happening around me. She’s sixteen and soon she will be way too vulnerable. I won’t be able to protect her and there’s only one man I know that can.”
“I… Let me get this straight. You want me to be your daughter’s guardian?”
“In a way.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You’re her father.”
“Yes, and if something happened to me—like it did with Gio—there’s no one, Niko.”
“But you—”
“I’m alone. If I die, then I leave Emilia alone and unprotected.”
“So, you want me to become her guardian if something happens to you?” I prod. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I know nothing about kids and guardianships. Even worse, Emilia is quickly becoming a woman. What in the world am I supposed to do with her? She’ll begin dating and things—if she hasn’t already—and with men like Dante circling her, it’s not going to be pretty.
“No. Guardianship leaves too many loopholes. She could be convinced to jump into marriage or anything. No, I need a better type of protection laid in place, Niko. It’s the only solution.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to dumb this down for me. What is better than a legal guardianship?”
Maxwell looks at me, delivering words I may have heard from his lips but didn’t quite understand until this moment. It could be because they are words that spread chills down my spine. “I want you to marry Emilia.”
What the actual fuck?
I know he mentioned marriage before, but I didn’t think he was serious. I was sure I was misunderstanding what he meant. I even tried to reason things out in my mind. I take a breath. There must be a way to get around this conversation—despite feeling like I’m walking through a field with landmines buried everywhere I step.
“Maxwell, she’s sixteen.” I don’t have it in me to keep my voice calm. At least I don’t sound panicked. I call that a win.
“I’m aware of that. I want to draw up a contract where you will marry Emilia when she turns twenty-one or upon my death, whichever occurs first.”
“This is ridiculous. You’re going to live forever. Besides, it’s not like you and I are that different in age.”
“It matters. Emilia is young, but she’ll be a good wife for you, Niko. She’s never let money and this life spoil her. If anything, she hates it.”
“Why would you want your daughter with someone like me, Maxwell? You know how I grew up and you know the amount of blood on my hands.”
“That’s exactly why. I know you, Niko. I know the kind of man you are and the length you will go to protect what is important to you.”
“I barely know Emilia,” I point out, quickly approaching the point where I’m at a loss for words. Of all the topics of conversation that I thought he would want to talk with me about, this wasn’t it.
“You have five years to get to know her. I have every confidence that you will fall under her spell—just as I did her mother’s.”
“Maxwell, I’m not that kind of man. I don’t have it in me. Surely you would want someone for your daughter who will treat her gently. Someone who will—”
“I want you. I know the man you are and that’s what I want for my daughter.”
“I’m not sure what to say. I truly don’t.”
“You don’t have to decide right now. Think it over. We can talk tomorrow, but I need you to seriously think about it. My back is against the wall, Niko, and that damn Dante keeps circling my little girl.”
Shit…
“I’ll think about it,” I finally respond. I am going to think about it. I am. I just have no idea what the fuck I’m going to do.