Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Alright. I’ll deal with that after,” Lorenzo said, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miko already coming out with a broom and dustpan. “Come in here,” he said as he moved into the dining room.
It was a big table, but it only fit twelve people, and Cesare, Gavino, and their other three brothers were already seated.
I opted to stand, leaning in the doorway, feeling like this really wasn’t a meeting I likely needed to attend. But when everyone knew I spent a lifetime feeling on the outside of this Family, being included was a step in the right direction. So I needed to keep my head in the moment.
And not on the pants-free woman in my apartment. And all the things I wanted to do to and with her when I got home.
Lorenzo moved to the head of the table, Emilio at his one side, both of them masks of seriousness that had me standing straighter.
Lorenzo wasn’t the kind of leader who got worked up over the mini crises that came up when running a criminal empire.
The last time I’d seen him even remotely tense was when the news came out that my brother was arrested for murder.
He seemed even more worked up about whatever he was about to tell us now, though.
“Alright,” Lorenzo said when the last of the conversation died down, and he had everyone’s attention. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna come out with it,” he said.
He took a step to the side, putting a hand on Cesare and Gavino’s oldest brother’s shoulder, fingers curling in. I couldn’t tell if it was support, or if it was to keep him in his seat.
Nico looked a lot like Cesare and Gavino, but older. His features more chiseled thanks to the additional years, and some gray streaking into his dark hair.
The kids of that family either had brown or dark blue eyes. Nico had the blue.
But they were downcast.
And a muscle was ticking in his jaw.
The fuck was this?
“Renzo Lombardi is going to marry Lore,” Lorenzo declared.
The voices erupted immediately, everyone a mix of enraged and confused.
Because there was no fucking way we were going to make one of ours marry goddamn Renzo Lombardi, the capo-dei-capi of a crew that was, until very recently, an enemy of our Family.
Technically, Emilio’s new woman was a Lombardi, but only through marriage, not blood. And Renzo had been itching for a blood marriage. Like we had with two of the other families.
Santo, Lorenzo’s brother, had married a Morelli.
And Isabella, Emilio’s sister, had been all but forced into marriage with Primo Esposito.
Thankfully for both, there was love there now.
But no one was stupid enough to think that sweet, shy, insecure little Lore would love the cold, calculating, unfeeling Renzo Lombardi.
“Look, I get it,” Lorenzo said, squeezing Nico’s shoulder harder as the man seemed to vibrate with his own hidden feelings.
Anger?
Concern?
Who knew.
But he was going through it.
Everyone getting riled up likely wasn’t helping.
“Shut the fuck up, and let him speak,” I called, making people turn to look at me, brows raised. But they all shut up before looking back at Lorenzo.
“I get it. I’m not happy about it, either. No one here is happy about it,” he added, glancing down at Nico, then at the other brothers, who were just barely holding it together better than Nico.
“We’ve been dealing with this shit for months, going back and forth, trying to talk Lore out of it. Clearly, she’s got some misguided idea that she’s going to save the whole Family by making this sacrifice.”
Nico mumbled something under his breath at that, but didn’t go on.
Technically, Lore wasn’t exactly wrong with that line of thinking. From what I understood, Renzo had been pretty clear about getting his marriage and the alliance that would come with it, or starting an all-out war against us.
Sure, we were secure in who we were, and in our allies. But none of us knew enough about the Lombardi Family to really know what we were up against, what they were capable of doing.
Lives would be lost over time.
Maybe even people in this very room.
It was the same reason Isabella had agreed to marry Primo. To save those she loved.
But Isabella had been older, more worldly.
Lore was, what? Twenty? Twenty-one, maybe? I doubt she ever had a drink, ever broke curfew as a kid. Hell, who knew if she’d ever even dated.
This was wrong on every fucking level.
“At the end of the day, short of locking up Lore in a tower somewhere—and believe me, we’ve all considered that—he said, looking at her brothers. “We can’t force Lore not to do this. We’ve all tried reasoning with her. She’s… putting her foot down.”
“Did he specify it had to be Lore?” someone asked.
“No. He made no specifications on who it needed to be. Just a Costa,” Lorenzo said.