My stomach sank. This was my Ace card, my final plea. If Antonio didn’t take it... I didn’t know what would become of me and Nicco.
“I’m sorry,” I kept my voice even. “I’m not sure I understand. I can try to have the paperwork drawn up sooner, but we’re running out of time. Mike is going to kill my father, Antonio. He’s going to—”
He silenced me with his hand. “My son is prepared to kill for you, to die for you, Arianne... What are you prepared to do for my son?”
I frowned.
What did he mean?
“I love Nicco, I would do whatever I could to protect him.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” His lip curved, a dark expression crossing his face. It sent a shiver rippling through me. “The bonds of marriage are sacred in our world. They bind together two people far more than any promise.”
Marriage?
“You want me to marry Nicco?”
“Mike Fascini might be blinded by his thirst for vengeance, Arianne, but he knew what he was doing convincing Roberto to promise you to his son. One day you will be the Queen of the Capizola empire and your child will be the heir. Fascini knew this. He knew if you gave Scott a child, the Ricci bloodline would supersede the Capizola line.”
“I’m not... that doesn’t...” It was crazy talk, yet, deep down, I knew he spoke the truth.
“My son loves you, Arianne. He has chosen you as his woman. One day, he will ask for your hand in marriage. It is inevitable. I am not asking anything of you that isn’t already written in your destiny.”
Antonio’s eyes narrowed as he watched my reaction. I realized then, it was a test.
He was testing me.
I didn’t belong in their world. I was too pure, too righteous. He wanted to know how far I would go to prove my loyalty to Nicco.
To his family.
Staring him right in the eye, I gave him a small nod. “I’ll do it. Do this one thing for me. Save my father, and I’ll marry Nicco.”
“You will?” Antonio looked oddly relieved.
“Like you said, I love your son, Antonio. I look into the future and see a life with him. So yes, I’ll marry him.” My body hummed with nervous anticipation, with the idea of binding my life with Nicco’s so definitively.
“Do you want to tell him, or should I?”
“Let me talk to him first.”
He nodded. “As you wish. But, Arianne, you should know he might not like this. Niccolò has never taken well to following orders, especially my orders.”
But this was different.
This was me giving myself to him completely.
Heart.
Body.
Soul.
And in marriage.
“Nicco?” I entered the kitchen and he looked up. His expression was crestfallen, tugging at my heart strings.
“You shouldn’t have come here, Arianne.”
“Yes, I should.” I walked over to him, stopping just out of touching distance. “Can we talk? Somewhere private?”
His eyes swirled with uncertainty. I’d driven a wedge between us by coming here, and I knew he felt betrayed. But there was no going back now, only forward.
“Please,” I added.
He pressed his palms against the counter and stood up. “Okay, come on.”
It stung when he didn’t take my hand, but I took a shuddering breath and followed him out of the back door to the fire pit where we’d once sat with his cousins and Alessia.
That night seemed so long ago, when it was only a couple of weeks. I was different now.
We both were.
But the truth was, I’d never felt stronger.
I no longer had to sit around and let other people determine my fate, I could carve my own path.
I just needed Nicco to see that.
He sat down in one of the lawn chairs and I did the same. The air was cool between us, and not only from the frigid fall temperatures.
“What did you offer him?” Nicco didn’t look at me, his eyes staring off into the distance.
“How did you—”
His gaze finally shifted to mine, filled with so much intensity my breath caught. “I know you, Arianne. I think I knew last night that you wouldn’t let it rest. So what did you offer him?”
“We negotiated,” I said calmly, fighting every instinct to go to him and beg him to understand. “I offered to make him a partner in Capizola Holdings if he’ll hand the Fascini to the authorities.”
“And he accepted?” His eyes narrowed, dark and menacing. A shiver skated up my spine.