Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

“Stepped up to do what?” I narrow my eyes.

“Be with her. She was with Riccardo first.”

My lips part. “What are you saying to me?” I ask, and I wonder who else knew this.

“I was the coward. I could never muster the courage to tell her how I felt. Then I did it one day. I couldn’t stand it. Watching him with the girl I loved, knowing he knew I loved her more than he did.” He pauses, brings his hands together, and continues. “I told her how I felt and asked her to think about it, about me and her. After all, I was about to break up my two best friends. It just so happened to be that the next night, Riccardo proposed. But she… couldn’t say yes. I was there when he asked her, right there in front of everyone we knew, and she couldn’t say yes. Instead, she looked at me, and I knew she chose me.”

“Pa, you’ve never told me this,” I rasp in shock.

“It’s a bad story, son. We decided to be together. Of course, that ripped us all apart. It wasn’t until after you were born that Riccardo came back into our lives. He saw a business opportunity we could both get involved in and be stronger together. I agreed because I felt guilty for what I did. That guilt made me make a lot of mistakes. I gave him too much power. Then he screwed me over.”

“It was like he changed overnight,” I add.

“He’s only ever behaved like that when it came to your mother. Except at the time he did it, there was no reason to. Years had passed since they were together. So, I think something happened.”

“Like what, Pa?” I don’t know what to think. Mom would never cheat on Pa, and not with Riccardo.

“Son, I accepted him back into our lives, but I kept one eye open for the eventuality that he might try to take my girl. My guess is he tried to move in on her, but she chose me again, and it infuriated him. At that time, he had power and didn’t need me anymore.”

“My God,” I breathe.

He raises his hands. “He turned the Syndicate against me and took everything from us. He hated me because I had her. I felt you needed to know. It provides more context to the story.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“You can’t help who you have feelings for, Massimo. It’s just something that happens. So… if you feel for this girl, it won’t matter who she is or where she came from. Don’t be afraid to show her your heart.”

I listen to him and note how he knows me so well. He knows my heart is the one thing I keep locked away from the world and the one thing I’d keep away from Emelia.

I place a wall up around my heart. Every time I’m with her, pieces of the wall fall away. I fall too. For her.

This wedding might be part of the contract, but I know what I’m starting to feel for her is real, and that scares the fuck out of me.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Emelia

Today marks exactly one week until the wedding.

We have a morning ceremony, so by this time next week, we’ll be married. I’ll be Emelia D’Agostino. I’ve been thinking about the wedding a lot since yesterday. It dawned on me that the buildup was now over and this was the last part. The countdown.

We’re on our way to the fundraiser. This time, we’re in the back seat of a limo.

Things have been weird between Massimo and me since the other night.

There’s a noticeable strain that was the result of stepping too far over the line. He’s been distant. I feel like I intruded and saw too much, saw what he never wanted me to see when I recognized that glint in his eyes. The glint that vanished straightaway. A sign that we’ll be close physically, but he’ll never give me his heart. A sign that I must never give mine to him either.

When I told him I could see him, he said don’t. That one word held so much meaning and carried a lot of weight. It snapped me out of the trance, or whatever spell I’d been under since our first kiss.

That kiss bamboozled me in such a way that I hadn’t even thought of that plan of mine to escape since.

We’ve been in this limo for over an hour, and Massimo hasn’t looked at me once.

The limo pulls up in front of the building. The guards are already waiting to escort us out. It makes me nervous. Not even Dad had this many guards.

A man with so much protection is one with a lot of enemies.

Massimo is at my side when we step out of the car. A beautiful woman with auburn hair looks at him like she wants him, or maybe it’s that she’s had him and wants him again.