by Cora Reilly
Remo nodded, rubbing his throat. “I know what kind of man Cavallaro is. And I don’t doubt that Scuderi is a mastermind of twisted plans, but I will attack where he and Cavallaro don’t expect it. I will beat them at their own game. And I will enjoy every fucking minute of it.”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to join you in your crusade. I have a feeling I won’t like your plan. You are fucking insane.”
“I’m not asking you to join me. I’m asking you to stay out of my fight. In the past, the Camorra and the Famiglia worked together. Peace in our territories can lead to peace between our families in Italy as well.”
“My territory is my only concern.”
Remo shrugged. “We can both profit from a union. I can offer you safe delivery routes for your drugs through my territory. You lose more than half of your deliveries because either my men or Outfit soldiers intercept them. Peace means you won’t have to worry about it anymore. You can double your profits. And I will keep Dante busy with attacks so you can focus on the Bratva and not worry about your family so much.”
“And all you want in turn is for me stay out of your war with the Outfit?” Luca sounded suspicious.
I spoke up. “Dante might approach you after we start our attacks. We want to make sure he doesn’t manage to convince you to help him.”
Luca smiled coldly. “I have no intention of working with the Outfit. I want Dante Cavallaro dead, trust me.” He narrowed his eyes. “So how do you want to go about peace?”
“First, we will release your soldiers and your drugs,” Remo said with a smile. He motioned at me, and I reached for my phone, causing all guns to swivel in my direction.
I sent a quick message to Savio so he’d arrange the release of the Famiglia men. I nodded. “Your men are being released as we speak, and your drugs will arrive safely in your territory.”
“Why don’t you just spill it?” Matteo muttered. “There’s more to this. I’m running out of patience over here.”
I tossed Remo a look. Matteo sounded just like him.
“We want to show you that the Camorra is willing to allow change,” I said calmly. “Fabiano is allowed to be with an outsider. He gave her that bracelet your wife gifted him.”
“I don’t give a fuck about any of that,” Luca growled. “I don’t care if Fabiano’s found a whore to fuck.”
“Careful, Luca,” Fabiano hissed, taking a step forward.
Luca raised his eyebrows.
“Why don’t we get back to business,” I suggested. “You need peace. We need peace. You want Cavallaro and Scuderi dead. We will kill them.”
Remo opened his arms. “And to show you that we are very serious about truce with you and the Famiglia, I want us to arrange a marriage between one of yours and one of mine.”
Matteo chuckled. “Oh, this is getting good.”
“We’re being serious,” I said because Remo’s expression worried me. I could tell that Matteo was starting to seriously piss him off. “Arranged marriages between Famiglias have ensured peace for centuries, and your Famiglia has always upheld the tradition. You and Aria are proof that it’s the perfect solution.”
Luca’s mouth tightened when I mentioned Fabiano’s sister. “It was supposed to bring peace with the Outfit and now there’s war.”
“Well,” Remo said, gesturing at Matteo and Romero, “that was your Famiglia’s doing. I can assure you we will uphold our part of the deal.”
“If I gave one of our women to the Camorra, who would guarantee she was safe?” Luca asked.
“Our women are as safe as your women, trust me. They have nothing to fear in our territory,” I said. Nothing that they wouldn’t have to fear in every marriage in our circles, at least.
Luca’s mouth curled in distaste as he regarded my brother. “I won’t give a woman to you in marriage, Remo. I don’t trust you one bit. You are too fucking crazy for my taste.”
“I’m not the one who will marry. It’s my brother Nino, and you will find that he’s absolutely in control of himself. Look at him. Doesn’t he look like every mother-in-law’s dream?”
I gave my brother a warning look before I turned to Luca. “It’s a good deal for the Famiglia and the Camorra. Don’t let old grudges or feuds ruin your chances of optimizing the Famiglia’s profits and securing your territory.”
“This is ridiculous,” Matteo said, but Luca was silent. He was a businessman. He knew what safe delivery routes through our territory could mean for him. Luca motioned for his brother and Romero to follow him. They walked out of earshot.
Remo smiled.
“I don’t know what you’re smiling about. This isn’t Texas Hold ’em. Going all in isn’t the way to go,” Fabiano murmured. “This is a fucking train wreck.”
“Luca will agree,” I said firmly.
My brother and Fabiano looked at me curiously.
“Are you sure?” Remo asked.
“Luca isn’t the man he used to be before he had his wife and children. He won’t risk open war with the Outfit, but he wants Dante dead and he prefers us on his side. If you have something to lose like he does, you choose the safe option.”
Romero walked toward us.
“He’s the one who broke truce with the Outfit by popping your sister’s cherry, right?” Remo whispered.
Fabiano grimaced. “He did, and I let them fucking shoot me so they could escape. I was a fucking idiot.”
Romero regarded us with open distrust. “Luca will consider your offer. We have another drug delivery in three days. If it reaches our territory safely, we can discuss a truce in more detail.”
“It will arrive safely, don’t worry,” Remo muttered.
Romero nodded. “Luca wants you to leave New York now. We will contact you in a few days if everything goes as planned.”
“Everything will go as planned,” Remo said, grinning widely. “Luca better start looking for a wife for my brother. We’re looking forward to meeting her.”
CHAPTER 3
KIARA
Despite the warmer temperatures that March brought, I was glad for my thick wool sweater. I’d never grown used to the colder climate of Baltimore. The weather in Atlanta had been so much warmer. My fingers were stiff as I settled them on the piano keys and began to play. Melancholic low notes of music filled the room, a reflection of my current emotions. I had started fiddling with the composition a couple of days ago, but it was still far from good.
When my aunt stepped into the living room, perfectly styled—as always—in a beige cashmere dress, her dark hair piled on top of her head, I lifted my hands off the keys and the sound died off in a soft exhale.
Uncle Felix entered behind her. He was a tall man, heavy around the middle, with a mustache that twitched when he talked. They exchanged a look and something heavy settled in my stomach.
“We need to have a word with you,” Felix said.
I got up from the bench and followed them toward the seating area. They sat on the couch, and I took the armchair across from them. It felt like I was facing a tribunal.
“It hasn’t been easy on us, taking you in,” Felix began, and I curled my fingers into the leather of the armchair. It wasn’t the first time I heard it, but it still stung. “But we did what we could. We gave you what we could to raise you.”
They had given me shelter and education, but affection or even protection from the harsh whispers of society … No. Never that. I was grateful anyway. I knew how important outward appearances were, and they had risked their reputation by taking in a traitor’s daughter.
“But you are a grown woman now and it’s time for you to have your own home, to be a wife and mother.”
My insides tightened, but I kept my face blank. Over the years I’d learned to hide my emotions. “You found a husband for me?”
Who would have agreed to marry me? Perhaps they had settled on a soldier after all. It was for the best. If I married down, the wedding and marriage would be a low-key affair, no attention, lit
tle potential for scandal. A soldier might see me as a way to improve his position, because despite being a traitor’s daughter, I was the Capo’s cousin. Maybe that would make him overlook my defect.
Aunt Egidia smiled but her eyes showed guilt, perhaps even shame. Felix cleared his throat. “I know you aren’t aware of the details of my business, but the Famiglia is at war.”
As if anyone didn’t know that. Even small children were brought up with the knowledge that we had to be vigilant because the Outfit might attack, or heaven forbid, the Camorra.
“I know, Uncle Felix,” I said quietly.
“But Luca was approached with an offer of peace. You don’t need to bother with the details, but it might be the final step to destroy the Outfit.”
My breath stuck in my throat. What was he talking about? If the offer didn’t come from the Outfit, who else was willing to agree on a truce?
“It’s an honor, Kiara. After what your father did, we thought we would have to give you to a soldier or never find a husband at all.”
“Who is it I am going to marry?” I forced the words out, but they sounded strangled.
“You will marry up,” Aunt Egidia assured me with a tense smile, but her eyes … her eyes still held pity, and deep down I knew that whatever horrors my past held, they would soon be accompanied by new horrors.
“Who?” I rasped.
“Nino Falcone, second in command to his brother Remo Falcone, the Capo of the Camorra,” Felix said, avoiding my eyes.
I heard nothing after that, rising without a word and walking out. I went upstairs, continued into my bedroom, and sank down on the chaise longue, staring blankly at my bed. It was neatly made. I didn’t let the maids make it, hadn’t let them make it in years. Every night I took my pillow and blanket and curled up on my chaise longue to sleep, and in the morning I returned everything and made my bed so no one found out that I didn’t use the bed and hadn’t in six years.
Six years. I was only thirteen.
As I stared at my bed, the horrors of the past took shape again like they did every night when I closed my eyes.
SIX YEARS AGO
It was dark in my room when footsteps woke me. I turned around and recognized my Uncle Durant under the gleam of moonlight. He had come to Baltimore with his wife, Aunt Criminella, to visit Aunt Egidia and Uncle Felix for a few days.
Confused by his presence, I sat up. His breathing was loud, and he was dressed in a bathrobe. “Shh,” he said as he leaned over me, his body forcing me down.
Fear shot through me. I wasn’t supposed to be alone with men in my bedroom. That was a rule I had learned from an early age. Stiff with terror, I watched as he removed his bathrobe; he was naked beneath. I had never seen a naked man. His hand grabbed my shoulder, and his other hand pressed down on my mouth. I was supposed to show respect to my elders, to men in particular, but I knew this wasn’t right. I began struggling.
He tore at my clothes. He was too strong. He tugged and pinched. His hands hurt between my legs. I cried, but he didn’t stop. He moved on top of me, between my legs.
“This is your punishment for being a dirty traitor.”
I wanted to say I didn’t betray anyone, but pain robbed me of my words. It felt like being torn apart, like breaking and falling and shattering. His breath was hot on my face, and I cried, whimpered, and begged. His hand only clamped down harder around my mouth, and he grunted as he shoved himself into me again and again. I cried harder because it hurt so much.
I hurt all over, my whole body and deep in my chest.
He kept grunting above me. I stopped struggling, breathed through my clogged nose. In and out. In and out. His sweat dripped down on my forehead. He shuddered and slumped down on top of me. His hand slipped off my mouth.
I didn’t scream. I was quiet, motionless.
“Nobody will believe you if you tell them about this, Kiara. And even if they do, they will blame you and nobody will want you anymore. You are dirty now, Kiara, you hear me? Worthless.”
He pulled out and I cried from the sharp pain. He slapped me. “Be quiet.”
I pressed my lips together, watching him get up and put on his bathrobe. “Have you had your period yet?”
I shook my head because I couldn’t speak.
“Good. Wouldn’t want you to have a bastard, right?” He leaned over me again, and I flinched. “I will make sure the maids know you got your period, don’t worry. I won’t let anyone find out that you are a worthless little whore. I will protect you.” He stroked my cheek before he pulled back, and I didn’t move until he was outside. When his steps had faded, I pushed up and managed to stand despite the pain.
Something warm trickled down my legs. I stumbled forward, grabbed my discarded panties, and pressed them between my legs, crying out again. Shaking, I curled up on the chaise longue, staring into the darkness at the bed.
Before sunrise, the door opened again, and I pressed against the backrest, making myself small. One of the maids, Dorma, stepped into my room. She was one of the younger ones who looked at me like I was a bother. Her eyes moved over me. “Get up,” she said sharply. “We need to clean you up before the others wake up.”
I stood, wincing from the soreness between my legs. I looked down at myself. There was blood on my legs and something else that made my stomach pinch sharply. Dorma began gathering the sheets. They, too, were covered in blood. “You better keep this quiet,” she muttered. “Your uncle is an important man and you are only a traitor. You are lucky they didn’t kill you as well.”
I waited quietly as she bunched up the sheets and set them down on the ground. Then she began tugging at my clothes, ignoring my flinching, until I stood naked. I felt dirty, worthless, and broken under her cruel eyes.
She added my nightgown to the bloody heap on the ground then helped me into a bathrobe. “We’ll go to the bathroom now, and if anyone asks, you got your period, right?”
I nodded. I didn’t ask why. I didn’t fight it.
That night, Uncle Durant came into my room again, and again the night after, and again until he finally had to leave for Atlanta. Every morning Dorma cleaned the sheets and me. A few days after he’d left, she wore an expensive necklace. The price for her silence.
TODAY
A knock sounded, tearing me out of the painful memories. I took a deep breath and willed my voice to be strong. “Come in.”
Aunt Egidia opened the door, but she didn’t enter. Worry tightened her mouth. “Kiara, that was very rude,” she said. She regarded me then averted her gaze, and again it was filled with a hint of guilt. “You should be honored to be given to someone of importance. With your background, it’s a blessing. Your wedding will be a spectacle. It’ll bring honor to your name.”
“And yours,” I said quietly.
She stiffened, and I instantly regretted my words. I had no right to criticize her or my uncle. “We braved a lot of unpleasantness because we took you in. You can hardly hold it against us that we are happy to have found such a honorable match for you.”
“Has it been decided?” I asked quietly.
She frowned. “As good as. The Falcones insist on Luca’s relative for the marriage, naturally, so Felix suggested you. Luca would like a word with you before he makes the offer, which isn’t how it used to be done, but if he insists on your consent, we can hardly refuse him. We invited him and his wife over for dinner.” Her eyes met mine, finally. “You will tell him you are delighted by the honor, Kiara, won’t you? This is your chance to redeem your family and yourself. Maybe your brothers will even be allowed to become Captains if you marry someone like Nino Falcone.”
My throat closed tightly, and my gaze found the bed again.
“Kiara, you will tell him you agree, won’t you? Your uncle already told Luca you would. It will lead to rumors if you refuse.”
I looked back at my aunt, who looked worried.
“I will agree,” I whispered, because what else was there left to do?
Tha
t evening before dinner, Luca pulled me aside to talk to me without my aunt and uncle, which displeased them greatly, made plainly clear by the scowls on their faces.
“I’m not going to force you to marry if you refuse,” he said. His presence made me nervous.
“I’ll be twenty this fall. I need to marry.”
“That’s true,” Luca conceded. His gray eyes regarded me as if he thought he could pull any truth out of me with just his watchful gaze, but I had learned to hold on to my secrets. “But you could marry someone else.”
I could, but if I refused to marry Nino Falcone, I’d be even more of a pariah in our circles. Uncle Felix and Aunt Egidia would be disappointed, and they would have an even harder time finding someone else. And how would I justify my refusal? In our world, you married the man your parents chose for you, no matter how bad the choice. “Who would marry Nino Falcone in my stead?”
“Most of my cousins are promised or married. I’d have to choose one of the daughters of my Captains. A few of them will be turning of age this year and aren’t engaged.”
Another girl given to the monsters in Las Vegas. A girl more innocent than me. A girl who deserved a chance at happiness no matter how small it would be in our world.
Nobody had protected me all those years ago, but I could spare another girl this fate. “I will marry him. You don’t have to choose anyone else.” My voice didn’t betray my terror. It was firm and determined, and I forced myself to meet Luca’s gaze for the first time this evening.
Luca stared at me a moment longer, but I could tell he approved of my decision. Duty and honor were the pillars of our world. Each of us had to do what was expected. It would have made him and the Famiglia look bad if he couldn’t have offered one of his cousins to the Camorra. These were the rules we lived by, and his own wife had been given to him for peace. This was how it was done, how it would always be done.
After dinner, it was Aria who approached me. She smiled kindly and touched my arm while the men drank their scotch in the smoking lounge and Aunt Egidia got espresso ready for us. “Nobody would blame you if you refused,” Aria said.