a life with you. I know who you are. I know what it means to be in your world, but I’m not ready to...” I swallowed the words. “I can’t just give up my morality. I can’t.”
“So you decided to make a deal with the Devil?”
“That’s not...” I pressed my lips together. Nicco had a point. “I can’t really explain it. All I know is in my heart of hearts, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to this. Maybe it makes me a fool or naive, maybe it makes me unworthy of your love, but this world has proved itself to me as a dark place. You said I was the light. I’m not ready to give that up.”
Taking me by surprise, Nicco stood and came to me, falling to his knees before me. “You are the light, Bambolina, but it doesn’t change the fact Fascini needs to pay for his crimes.”
“I know.” I brushed the hair from his eyes. “But there is always a choice.”
“What did he want from you, Arianne?” Defeat washed over him.
“Nothing I wouldn’t have one day given anyway.” Leaning down, I cupped his face, touching my head to his. “He wants my name, Nicco. He wants us to marry.”
Chapter 25
Nicco
“No,” the word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Arianne paled, jerking away from me, leaving me cold and desolate.
“No?” She cried. “But I thought... you don’t want me?”
“Not like this.” Never like this.
I wanted our future to be born out of love, not obligation.
“But it solves everything,” she said unable to disguise the pain in her voice. “Your father will help make sure Mike and Scott pay for their crimes, my father’s life will be saved, and we’ll be together.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” I ground out.
I wanted a life with Arianne, a future. But she deserved more than... than this. She deserved an engagement and a bridal shower. She deserved to enjoy all the planning and lead up to her wedding day.
She deserved so much more than a last-minute wedding arranged as part of a business transaction.
“Your father said you wouldn’t be happy.” Sadness laced her words. “But I thought... I’m just trying to do the right thing.” A soft sigh escaped her lips. “Is the idea of marrying me so unappealing to you?”
“Bambolina, that’s not...” I inhaled a sharp breath. “This is not how I want it to be.”
I wanted to put this all behind us and enjoy being a couple. I didn’t want her to rush headfirst into something she wasn’t ready for.
Something we weren’t ready for.
“I know what I want, Nicco,” Arianne’s expression fell as if she could hear my thoughts and sense my torment. “Did I imagine I’d be married at eighteen? No, I didn’t. But I also didn’t imagine that I’d meet someone like you. I didn’t imagine that everything I thought I knew would turn out to be a lie.”
Frustration laced her words. “Nothing about this is what I’d ever imagined, but here we are. I love you, I love you so much...” Silent tears trickled down her cheeks but I was paralyzed, unable to reach for her.
My father had said all along that Arianne could be the leverage he needed over Roberto, and he had gotten his wish.
It didn’t matter if Arianne thought the choice was hers. I knew the truth.
I would always know the truth.
And one day, it would drive a wedge between us.
“Nicco, please, say something.”
“I need to talk to my father.” I stood, running a hand over my jaw.
“It is already done.” Panic overwhelmed her voice. “I made my decision. I don’t understand why you’re fighting me on this?” Defiance burned in her eyes. “Unless you don’t want—”
“Bambolina, stop.” I curved my hand around her neck, holding her close to me. “I love you, but I don’t want you to do something you’ll one day regret.” Something she might one day resent me for.
“This will unite our families, Nicco.” She eased back to look at me. “It will right things.”
The sincerity in her gaze almost killed me. But you couldn’t just rewrite a bitter history with a wedding—a wedding born out of business.
“Don’t you see,” I said, angling her face to mine. “You are just replacing one cage for another.”
“No, that’s not what this is. I’m choosing this, I’m choosing you. I want this, Nicco. I want you.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I thought you felt the same about me. I thought—”