Marry the Pierro

Chapter 2

I leave the club with Nairovi, her arm heavy on my shoulder. She can barely walk straight, mumbling random words that don’t even make sense. She keeps giggling like she’s dreaming, not drunk, and I honestly feel like she doesn’t know what she just did inside the club or what happened to both of us. She starts crying like a baby, shouting Hayden’s name. I feel a pang of regret for saying earlier that she wasn’t drunk — clearly she is.

I bring her home safely, make sure she’s inside her gate, and only then do I breathe out. The moment I take my phone from my pocket to check the time, my stomach drops so fast I almost lost my balance. 

19 missed calls..

From my father

My hands start shaking instantly…

Because tonight, I broke the one rule our family swore never to break. I wasn’t supposed to see a Pierro, and I did.

Our families made an oath during my ancestors time. A real one. The kind of oath people wrote in blood and believed in with their entire soul. An oath to never meet, never cross paths, never stand under the same roof or the same night sky. 

Whoever breaks it…

Dies.

Salvatorre and Pierro.

I walk back to my car, the whole drive home is quiet. No music and no thoughts, just the sound of heartbeat and the kind of feeling that makes your stomach heavy. As I reached home, I park the car slowly. I am like an idiot who forgot she wasn’t allowed to live freely, I stand in front of our house, staring at the gate like it’s a monster waiting for me.

HAYDEN’S POV

Hell to meet you, Hayden. 

Her whisper keeps replaying in my head like a stuck record. I lean against the wall of the hallway outside my hotel suite, trying to clear my mind. But I can still feel her voice on my skin, the way she said it boldly. I hate that it got to me. 

“Baby…” a voice whines from behind me. 

I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

“Why are you so mean?” she pouts dramatically.

“Why are you so clingy? Are you a leech?”

She steps closer and bats her lashes. “It’s because I love you. You’re the man of my dreams. I’ll do everything to stay with you. To be with you.”

I stare at her blankly, this girl is insane. “First of all, I don’t know you. Second, you’re delusional. Lastly, get out.”

“But you agree to be with me…” she steps closer, her fingers brushing against my arm, trying to hold my gaze. 

“Did I?” I pull my arm back sharply, putting space between us.

 “You didn’t remove my hands from your arms earlier.. And you kissed me.” she bites her lip, like she’s waiting for me to respond. I glance away, my fists twitching like I want to hit her but I hold back. 

“You kissed me,” I corrected her sharply. “Get the hell out of here. You’re too cheap.” 

She only laughs and sashays away like my insults were love letters. “See you around babe,” she winks and blows a flying kiss.

F*cking unbelievable. But even with the distraction, my mind drifts back to her — the girl at the club. Katlyn. A salvatore. My family’s forbidden enemy. 

She broke the rule like it was nothing. She looked at me like she wasn’t afraid, that’s wild.

When she whispered to me in that crowd, everything — lights and music – faded like background noise. 

Hell to meet you…

I resent that I almost smiled when I remembered it.

There’s something wrong with me, I should be angry. I should be ready to report her. But instead? I’m thinking about her, and that.. That’s my biggest problem.

KATLYN’S POV

I climbed into my room through the window, carefully — hoping & praying they didn’t see me leave. But when I land on the floor, I stop. My door is open. My breath thins instantly. Tears gather in my eyes without permission. I bite my lips so hard I taste blood.

I remember being a child…small, scared, and helpless – my father’s hands around my throat because I broke a vase. I remember my mother slapping me because she saw me cry. I remember thinking, maybe I was born wrong.

I shake the memory away, but it comes back harder, louder, clearer. It has a way of replaying itself even when you beg it to stop. 

“Ms. Katlyn…” Sylina is in my room, like she’s waiting for me.

I glance at her blankly, my mind is floating.

“Your father, Mr. Jace, checked your room before going to bed,” she reports. “You weren’t here. He has been calling you for an hour, and there was no answer.” 

My stomach flips. I forgot the surveillance, the CCTV is on. “Ahhhh! F*ck it!” I hit my head repeatedly. “I’m so stupid.” I pace around the room, shaking uncontrollably.

“Katlynnnn!” his voice. My father, he is calling me downstairs.

My eyes widen. I grab Sylina’s hands desperately, “Please, help me…”

She cries, “Ms. Katlyn.. I can’t, you know I can’t… and your father he’s facing something big right now.”

“I will count to three,” my father roars from below. “If you still don’t come down, I’ll drag your head here myself.”

No… I breathe in slowly.. breathe out, pretend I’m strong then I walk out of my room like my feet are chained. When I reach the bottom of stairs, I see my father, my mother, my brothers, all standing waiting for me.

PAAAAAAK! My head snaps to the side. PAAAAAAAK! The other cheek. I swallow hard, tasting blood in my mouth. 

“I don’t know what to do with you,” my father hisses. “You can’t follow simple rules. Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room?!” I look down, silence is safer. “Do you even know what’s happening in this family right now?!”

I respond, “Like I belong here anyway.” 

“Oh my god, Katlyn, shut up,” my mother retorts.

I stay still, I glance around when I notice the people around the door: policemen, men in formal uniforms, men holding documents and folders, guards with stern faces, and businessmen from banks and companies who probably know everything.

“What is going on?” I question. 

My father looks at me with frustration and exhaustion. “We’re facing a bankruptcy.” The word hits harder than the slap. “If you want things to go right” he says through clenched teeth, “you need to help this family.” I look hard, confused and scared.

“How?” my voice cracks.

“We have to arrange you with Pierro.” he said firmly.