18

"Not happening." Lorenzo said bluntly, and I frowned.

"Oh, come on. I don't understand why you want them to get married. She's terrified of him, and he treats her like sh*t. The marriage won't work." I whined, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. Their marriage was arranged by their fathers, so ending it is out of my jurisdiction, except I want a war on my hands. The best I can do is stall until she's done with school." He stated.

"That's not fair! She's not a bargaining chip; she's flesh and blood. She should have her own choice on whom to marry." I growled.

"Unfortunately, freedom of choice is quite a luxury in the mafia world. Power and control is everything but comes with a price. Her father paid the price of peace between Tenebre and La Forte Mano by signing off his daughter. That's the mafia way." He shrugged and gave me a small smile. "Clara is quite lucky to be espoused to Silvano. Her father made a good choice."

"Lucky! Which part of he doesn't give a flying f*ck about her don't you understand?" I scowled and narrowed my eyes at him. "There's nothing lucky about being pawned as a bride to a man that pretends she doesn't exist. She'll only be lucky if he doesn't abuse her when they get married, and I swear if he does, I'm going to burn him alive if he dares lay a finger on her hair."

"You're quite quick to judge a man you haven't met." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't need to meet him to know he's a b*tch. Clara has told me all I need to know." I retorted.

"I won't take Clara's word on this particular issue; her judgement is clouded by her vivid imaginations and fear. I know Silvano better than both of you, and I'm certain that Clara will have more than a pleasant marriage." He smirked.

"Yeah, and I'll be the queen of France." I snorted and stared out the window.

Of course he would say that. He wasn't the one that was going to be abused in the relationship. I couldn't— wait a damn minute.

"You said you don't have a say in Clara's marriage to Silvano, right? Then what's going to happen when Clara and I escape?" I snapped my head to him, and my lips curled to a deep scowl. "You aren't going to keep to your part of the deal, are you? Even though we win, you're not going to let us go! You slimy, two-timing son of a b—"

"You don't get it, so you, Gwen." He let out a dark, creepy chuckle and shook his head like he was disappointed in me. "I don't have to worry about Silvano not marrying Clara because you're never going to escape me. No matter how long you try— a month, a year, five years, ten years, all the days of your life—you'll always fail. I do not intend on ever letting you go."

What a cocky, annoying, power-drunk, crazy, sadistic, barbaric, slimy, sneaky bastard! F*ck him!

I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze it until he was choking and begging me to let go. Not that it was possible, but ugh, I wanted to so badly.

"Wow, you must really hate me if you're so hell-bent on killing me."

Lorenzo bristled at my words, as if I had struck a nerve, but I was too pissed at him.

"I don't know why you are, but I intend with every fibre in me to get Clara out of the hellhole you've trapped her in, even though it costs me my life, so start worrying about how you're going to sort out Silvano because Clara and I aren't sticking around to find out!" I spat and turned my head to the window.

The car turned ghostly silent as I cussed him in my head with every insulting word in my vocabulary until it was completely exhausted. Then I cussed him all over again, forming new ones along the way, and I must say, it was quite creative. Some of the words I made were dictionary-worthy materials.

But who did he think he was?! Just because he was devilishly handsome and ran one of the biggest syndicates in the country and also one of the biggest multi-billion companies didn't make him an omnipotent being.

And why did he hate me so much? Was it because I was close to Clara? Maybe he thought I was a bad influence on her? How can I be a bad influence when she was literally bred in blood and violence? What could be worse than a mafia syndicate? Definitely not an orphan!

Yet, he couldn't wait to kill me! I don't f*cking understand! I thought we had a little something, like a sort of weird friendship. We flirted... he kissed my neck... He touched me...

My folds tingled as that night played in my head, and I squeezed my legs.

The man was after my life, and I was still lusting over him. F*ck me!

"Gwen," Lorenzo said, and I pressed my head against the window. No, I wasn't going to answer him.

"Forgive my curiosity, but I don't understand... What makes you so loyal to Clara? I've seen a lot of friendships and relationships, but the bond between you and Clara is quite remarkable. Not everyone can boast that they would die for their friends, and only a few would be willing to do so when the time comes, but you..." His words drifted off, but his piercing gaze bored holes in my skin.

He wasn’t going to let me go until I talk, was he?

I sighed and sat up straight.

"It's quite a long story, so I'll make it short. I grew out of the foster system and thought, Hey, the best way to finally have a family is to join a f*cking gang. Then the gang leader, Rico, had a creepy obsession with Clara, and to test my loyalty, he told me to befriend her so he could get info about her, which I agreed to. I know, an a**hole move that I still regret it to this day." I winced, the disgusting memory forming a bitter taste on my tongue, and I cleared my throat.

"So lots of stuff happened; Clara and I became close, and she rubbed off on me in a really good way, so I was like, F*ck, Rico and the others, they're a**hole and I don't want to be an a**hole anymore. And there was no f*cking way I was going to let a piece of sh*t have precious Clara, so I told her the truth, and let's just say sh*t got real. Rico was pissed, so he tried to kill her, but I—"

"He what!" Lorenzo snarled, hitting the brake, and I lunged forward.