Chapter 1

AURELIA

The first time I saw the Moretti brothers, one of them had a gun pressed against my cousin’s temple.

Caterina was beyond terrified, her lips trembling as tears streamed down her face. She kept trying to wipe at the snot and tears with the back of her hand, but it only made her look more disheveled.

“What did you just say?” Leone Morretti asked, bending so he was eye level with Caterina, the gun never leaving her skin.   From the way he looked at my cousin, I could tell he was furious, and barely keeping his anger contained.

Caterina hiccuped, choking on her own breath. “I… I don’t want to marry…”

“Enough of this nonsense, Caterina.” Uncle Peter interrupted, before his daughter could finish saying the words that would damn us all. “Forgive my daughter. She has no idea of what she’s saying”

Leone scoffed, “it appears your spoiled brat doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation, so I’ll break it down for you.” He stood up, wiping the nozzle of his gun as if the way it had come in contact with Caterina’s skin had infected it somehow. “Your daughter is to stand before us as a wife in less than forty eight hours, and your life, your family, your position in the Cosa Nostra, and pretty much the whole of your existence. is all hinging on this union. My brother and I will not accept anything less than complete obedience” 

Uncle Peter took a deep breath, raising his hand in a placating gesture. “Please, Leone. I give you my word, everything will go smoothly in the ceremony.”

Leone nodded. “See that she remembers her place Peter, because I won’t be so kind next time.”

From where he sat in a chair near the corner, Rafael Moretti finally spoke.  “Leone. Let it go.” 

Leone clicked his tongue in distaste, before pocketing the gun he was holding. 

“Grazie,” Peter said quickly, his voice shaking as he reached for his daughter. He grabbed Caterina by the arm, but when she resisted even a little, he fisted her hair and dragged her from the room. She yelped, stumbling after him as he hauled her toward her chambers, and I scrambled after them, not wanting to be left behind with the twins. 

Uncle Peter stopped in front of his daughter’s dressing room, tossing his daughter to the floor as he scowled down at her. “Are you fucking stupid? Do you want to get us all killed?”

Caterina only cried harder, “The brothers are monsters, father. Would you really watch me marry them?”

“You have to marry them. That’s final.” He answered, then turned his attention on me, and before I knew what happened, he slapped me so hard I stumbled a few steps back.  “And you? You put her up to this, didn’t you? Why didn’t you stop her before she did it?”

I stuttered, not knowing the right words to say. “It wasn’t my idea… I…”

“Shut your mouth, Aurelia. Since you let this happen, you have to fix this. Make sure Caterina gets prepared to meet her husbands properly this time,” He ordered, before storming off angrily, leaving me alone with my hand still on my stinging cheek.

“My life is over!” Caterina blurted, flopping on her cushion immediately we made our way into the room.

“Calm down, Caterina,” I muttered, picking up a comb to start detangling her hair.

“Calm down?” She turned her head to face me, “I’m about to be shackled to two devils and you want me to calm down?” 

“They’re not here to drag you to hell. They’re here to have dinner, and get to know you a little bit before the wedding ceremony. Besides, I’m sure your father would make sure nothing happens to you.”

She glared at me in the mirror. “You don’t understand. What if they’re wife beaters? I heard that the brothers don’t even like themselves? What if they don’t even let me leave the house? What if they…” She broke off with a choked sob. “Why does it have to be me?”

“That’s how betrothals work, Caterina. Your father arranged it. You knew this was coming.”

She sat up straighter, sniffing.  “Then why not you? You’re a Reed too, aren’t you?”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, biting back the retort on the tip of my tongue. 

Caterina tilted her head, watching my face for any reaction. “Oh. Right. I forgot. The daughter of a traitor isn’t exactly a first pick.”

I ignored the comment because she wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t heard my whole life. I was nobody. I was not first pick, or second, or any pick at all.

And I was fine with that, because it was better to be unwanted than to be trapped. 

Caterina wiped her face and groaned. “Why couldn’t I have been promised to someone normal? Not the Moretti twins. Everyone calls them devils for a reason. One of them is supposed to be cold hearted, the other… God, they say he’s worse,” She shuddered like she just imagined something terrible. “I’m going to end up buried in their cellar, aren’t I?”

I crossed my arms. “You don’t know that.”

“All done. I’m going to check up on the event planners now. Don’t get any ideas, Caterina. Be downstairs in five minutes.” I scolded, not wanting to get punished again for her actions.

I slipped out of her chambers, pulling the door shut behind me, made my way down, then nearly screamed when I slammed into something solid. Not something. Someone.

My palms hit bare skin; warm, unyielding muscle, and I stumbled back, my eyes widening. Rafael Moretti stood in front of me, shirtless, his trousers low on his hips, a thin chain glinting at his throat. His dark hair was mussed like he’d only just gotten out of bed, though his blue eyes were fixed on me, and up close, he was even more handsome than I had expected. 

My heart lodged somewhere in my throat. Of all the halls in this sprawling house, of course I had to pick the one leading to the Moretti brothers’ rooms.

He caught my wrist before I could trip over myself, steadying me with a firm grip.  I could feel his eyes slowly roaming over my body before settling on my cheek, still stinging from my uncle’s slap, an unreadable expression on his face.  

I should’ve stayed silent. I should’ve curtsied, apologized. Instead, the first thing that tumbled out of my mouth was:

“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

Heat scorched my face the second the words left me. I wanted to bite my own tongue off. 

His brows lifted, and the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile as if he was amused about my statement. He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice so only I could hear.

“Would you prefer I was?”

My mouth opened, but no sound came out. His hand released mine slowly, the small smile still playing on his face like he knew exactly the effect he was having. 

“Watch your steps next time, Piccola. You look like you bruise easily,”  he warned, then moved past me without another word, as if our collision hadn’t just  rattled the ground beneath my feet.

Disoriented, I stood there, going over everything he had said again and again, my pulse still thrumming in my ears. The way he had touched me…

I gave myself a mental shake. What was I supposed to be doing again?

I turned back the way I came, deciding it was safer to double-check Caterina before facing anyone else. My fingers still tingled where his hand had caught me as I slipped into her chambers.

“Caterina?” I called.

The room was empty. Her dressing chair was overturned, and the window was cracked open. My chest tightened as I scanned the space; my spoiled, terrified cousin was nowhere to be found.

For a moment I stood there in the silence, numb, before the realization sank in like a stone.

Caterina was gone.