Filed to story: Bound by Honor (Aria & Luca) Drama Story
Her infallible trust in me was my incentive. I kissed her temple and held her for a while. I wasn’t sure who was comforting whom. It didn’t matter. Eventually, I pulled back. I had a call to make. “I’m sure Sofia can use some distraction. Why don’t you go find her?”
Anna nodded. She knew it was my cue that I needed to work.
She slipped out and closed the door.
Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I called Remo. I didn’t want to show him how the sheets had shaken us up.
“Dante?” he said in a tone that made me forget my resolution almost instantly.
“I got your message.”
“I know you don’t follow the Famiglia’s bloody sheets tradition, but I thought it was a nice touch.”
I’d always despised the tradition, had found it utterly distasteful when I’d been confronted with it at Famiglia weddings and even the occasional Outfit wedding of very traditional families who stuck to the old habits. But these sheets stood for something far worse than a consummated marriage. They stood for an act of violence a woman shouldn’t ever have to suffer, not in a marriage and not outside of it either. “There are rules in our world. We don’t attack children and women.”
“Funny that you say that. When your soldiers attacked my territory, they fired at my thirteen-year-old brother. You broke those fucking rules first, so stop the bullshit.”
“You know as well as I do that I didn’t give the order to kill your brother, and he’s alive and well.”
“If he weren’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, Dante. I would have killed every fucking person you care about, and we both know there are so many to choose from.”
Anna, Leonas, Val… he wouldn’t get near them. I’d do anything to protect them, if necessary even stoop as low as him. “You have people you don’t want to lose either, Remo. Don’t forget that.”
Samuel didn’t believe Remo to care about anyone but the note of protectiveness when he’d mentioned his brothers led me to believe something else. It was a flicker of hope.
“I thought the sheets might have made you see reason, but I see that you want Serafina to suffer a bit more.”
“Remo-” The click sounded.
“Fuck,” I growled.
I tried calling Remo in the following days but he ignored my calls. Ines’ despair rose with every passing day, and so did Danilo’s, Samuel’s, and Pietro’s wish to go through with our attack on Luca’s Enforcer.
The MCs had agreed to give a kidnapping a try in return for outrageous amounts of money and numbers of guns and drugs. I didn’t trust them. They wanted to be paid in advance because of the huge risk and I was wary of agreeing to such a deal.
I was glad when Remo finally contacted me with a new demand, one I had anticipated. My former Consigliere in exchange for my niece. Naturally, I agreed to give him Rocco. I didn’t care about his fate or the undoubtedly cruel torture he’d suffer under Fabiano’s and the Falcone’s hands. That wasn’t why I’d been reluctant to hand him over. No, it was regarded as weak to answer to the enemy’s demand, especially if said enemy asked for your former Consigliere, especially if the enemy was Remo Falcone. An action like that caused worry among the ranks of my Underbosses and Captains because they preferred to consider themselves safe and giving up one of theirs burst their bubble. Rocco had many friends among my men. He knew how to manipulate people.
Exchanging a worthless girl against a former Consigliere would be seen critically by some. Others, who held their family dear, would judge me more kindly. It didn’t matter. I’d made my decision. I had to save Serafina, for her sake and my family’s sake.
Val had baked a cake for Anna’s eleventh birthday and held a small celebration that felt more like a funeral.
Every smile was fake, every laugh forced.
We tried our hand at pretend happiness. It tasted fake, bitter.
Anna blew out her eleven candles, her eyes closed tightly. I knew what her wish was even without her revealing it. She hoped things would go well tomorrow, that we’d all return with Serafina. It was my greatest wish as well. Many things hinged on the outcome of the exchange, most importantly the happiness of my family.
Samuel looked off into space, torn between hope and worry. Remo had agreed to an exchange tomorrow evening. Danilo, Pietro, and I would leave early in the morning to take Rocco to Las Vegas. Santino and Arturo had brought him to Minneapolis a few hours ago.
Anna smiled when she unpacked the painting utensils Val had gotten for her. We all ate cake afterward, trying to maintain meaningless conversation but it was impossible to overcome the tension.
I felt sorry for Anna. She always loved celebrating her birthday but today her special day had been ruined by the consequences of my choices. I promised myself that this would never happen again.
We all went to bed early but sleep didn’t come. Not for me, nor for Val. She clung to me in the dark, her body tight with anxiety. “I’m so scared that this is a trap. Going to Vegas is madness, you know it. Remo could plan to kill you all.”
“He could, but I doubt it. He’ll kill us later, after we’ve suffered for a while.”
“Suffered?”
“Under the weight of our guilt.”
“Do you feel guilty?”
“Yes. And seeing Serafina, we’ll all be reminded of how we failed her. Pietro, Samuel, Danilo and especially me.”
Val breathed out. “I can’t live without you, Dante. Don’t let rage consume you tomorrow. Don’t risk anything.”
My wrath for Remo was close to untamable. I wanted to see him on his knees, begging for mercy. Tomorrow wouldn’t be that day. But eventually…
I kissed Val and slipped my fingers between her smooth thighs, wanting to feel her warmth, wanting to feel alive. I didn’t want to talk, not about all the ways this could go wrong.
Our kiss was slow and my fingers were too. I wasn’t overcome with lust. I didn’t even want to come myself. I only needed to make Val feel good, needed to lose myself in her heat and moans.