My cock got so fucking hard as she tempted him into pleasuring her. It surprised me how much I enjoyed watching her with another man. Last year, when she was with the Knights, she looked like a fucking queen taking charge. I loved seeing her so empowered, but things were different now. My girl craved someone other than me, and I only had myself to blame.
“She has feelings for Marcello,” my dad insisted.
It was a statement, not a question.
Anyone could see how much she cared about him. Marcello had always admired his queen and would have treated her better than me, shown her real love. I’d shielded him from the brunt of my father’s rage, and because of that, he wasn’t as cold and cruel. His heart wasn’t black and tainted like mine.
“She has feelings for me, too,” I assured him. “Alex would never choose Marcello over me. She’s mad at me and trying to make me jealous.”
“Carl is planning a September wedding for whoever she chooses. She can only marry one of you. So you better get your head back in the game.”
“Alex is marrying me,” I challenged.
I would kill Marcello before I let him walk down the aisle with my girl. Maybe I didn’t deserve her. I’d fucked up more times than I could count, but no one would ever take care of her like me. No one could fulfill her desires or satisfy the darkness in her soul the way I did. She would always come back to me, no matter what. I was sure of it.
My dad shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes on Alex as she kissed Marcello’s forehead. “I don’t care which one of you she marries as long as she produces an heir. If we don’t fulfill the terms of the deal I made with The Founders Society, we’re in trouble.”
“Dad,” I groaned. “I got this. Trust me.”
“You could have locked down this arrangement years ago.” Disappointment scrolled across his face as he lowered his voice. “If it were Marcello, he would have married her already. We are in an impossible situation because of your inability to do the right thing.”
“I will ask her again soon,” I promised. “We had a rocky start. It took Alex a while to readjust to Devil’s Creek.”
“And whose fault is that?” Dad turned his scary dark brown irises on me, giving me a look that burned my skin. “You haven’t spent more than a few hours with Alexandrea since she arrived in Devil’s Creek.”
“I was trying to keep psychopaths from kidnapping her,” I shot back, annoyed with his intrusion into my life. “She understands that.”
He released a dark chuckle as he gazed at Marcello and Alex. “You threatened to break her finger to put a ring on it. I expect you to know better than to handle her like that. She’s a lot like your mother, Luca.”
“I apologized. Alex knows I didn’t mean it.”
“A queen demands respect,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Alexandrea doesn’t know it yet, but she is queen material. You almost had her. She was right there within your grasp before you played games with her brother. You have screwed up everything for this family with your petty bullshit.”
“What I did to Aiden wasn’t about Alex.”
“No?” Dad cocked an eyebrow at me. “Because I disagree. So does Carl. You almost killed the only male heir to the Wellington fortune because of your selfishness.”
“Aiden was getting in the way of Alex and me.”
He shook his head, annoyed. “Alexandrea doesn’t belong to you. Have I not made myself clear?”
“She’s a means to an end,” I whispered. “I know, Dad. You’ve only told me a few hundred times.”
“Without this union, we will lose everything. You have seen firsthand what happens to men banished by The Founders Society. Do you want that to happen to us?”
I sighed. “Of course not, Father.”
“If she favors your brother, then he will marry her.”
“She’s not marrying Marcello.”
He rolled his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
“Well, it matters to me.”
Ignoring my statement, he brushed up against my arm and said in a hushed tone, “I spoke with Carl. He refuses to give his permission for you to marry his granddaughter.”
I looked over at Carl Wellington, that sneaky motherfucker. He was on the other side of the room talking to Sonny. “We don’t need his permission.”
“Yes, we do. You know the rules, Luca.” My father’s gaze followed mine. “Carl’s vote with The Founders Society carries a lot of weight. We don’t have the same connections or status as the Wellingtons. But we have money and the Knights. As long as you stick to the plan, we will have everything we want. I have spent years working toward a future for my sons. Do not fuck this up.”
“I have the situation under control.”
“You said that the last time.” He snorted. “She almost killed you.”