CHAPTER FOUR:  BE MY BRIDE OR ELSE?

Sophia POV

The second I stepped out of Rosa's house, one of the men opened the back door of the black car waiting outside.

"Get in."

His voice was calm, but the gun resting against his side made it clear that refusing wasn't really an option.

Matteo stepped in front of me immediately. "She's not going anywhere with you people."

Before things could escalate, Vincent walked forward calmly, and unlike the others he didn't look aggressive or impatient, he looked controlled, an expensive suit and a calm expression, the type of man who could probably convince someone to walk into danger willingly.

"Nobody is here to hurt your sister," he said smoothly.

Matteo laughed angrily. "Right. Because showing up with armed men at midnight looks very friendly."

Vincent ignored the comment completely and looked at me instead. "Mr. De Luca simply wants a conversation."

"I don't," I replied immediately.

For the first time since arriving, Luca finally spoke from beside the car. "That wasn't a request," and his voice was low and cold, calm enough to make my stomach tighten, and God, I hated him already.

Rosa grabbed my arm nervously. "Sophia, don't go with them," but what choice did I actually have, with armed men everywhere and black cars lining the street and neighbors already peeking through their windows pretending not to watch what was happening outside, because Palermo really never changed.

I looked toward Matteo slowly. "Stay here with Rosa."

"No."

"Matteo."

"I said no."

Vincent stepped closer. "Your brother isn't invited," and something about the way he said it made my chest tighten immediately, not invited, like that was supposed to comfort me, and Matteo noticed it too, his expression darkening instantly.

"Sophia, don't go."

I wanted to listen to him, I really did, but deep down I already understood something dangerous about the De Lucas, that people like them didn't hear the word no often.

"I'll be fine," I lied quietly, before getting into the car.

The entire drive to the mansion felt suffocating, and nobody spoke, rain hitting against the tinted windows while the city lights blurred outside, and Luca sat across from me in silence while Vincent stayed beside the driver, murmuring into his phone every few minutes, and the silence somehow felt intentional, like they wanted me nervous, and congratulations to them, because it was working perfectly.

About thirty minutes later, the gates of the De Luca mansion slowly opened, and the place looked less like a home than something people should fear, armed guards stationed near every entrance, expensive black cars filling the massive driveway, even the air outside feeling heavy, and I suddenly understood why people lowered their voices whenever this family was mentioned.

Vincent opened the car door for me politely. "This way."

I didn't move immediately, and Luca finally looked at me directly again. "You're making this harder than necessary."

I stared back at him coldly. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you."

One of the guards looked shocked that I'd spoken to him like that, but Luca didn't react at all, and that honestly annoyed me more.

Inside the mansion, everything looked expensive and old at once, giant paintings covering the walls while armed men stood silently near almost every hallway, and nobody smiled, nobody looked relaxed, because fear practically lived inside the building.

Gilbert was already waiting when we entered the main room, and the moment his eyes landed on me, that strange expression from the gala returned, recognition, obsession, something I couldn't fully understand yet.

"You look exactly like her," he said quietly.

I frowned immediately. "Excuse me?"

But Gilbert ignored the question completely and sat down slowly. "Sit."

"I'd rather stand."

"That attitude will become a problem eventually."

"And kidnapping people isn't already a problem?"

Vincent looked like he was trying not to smile while Luca walked past me toward the bar area without interest.

Gilbert folded his hands calmly. "You caused quite a scene tonight."

"You spilled wine on me."

"That doesn't explain the slap."

I crossed my arms. "Maybe your son should learn how to apologize."

Luca finally glanced toward me then, cold eyes, unbothered. "I offered compensation."

"Oh wow. How generous."

The tension in the room thickened immediately, and one thing was becoming very clear: these people were not used to being challenged.

Gilbert leaned forward slightly. "Do you know why your father kept you away from Palermo all these years?"

My stomach tightened immediately. "Leave my father out of this."

"He was a smart man."

"He died."

Gilbert went quiet after that, and for a second something unreadable crossed his face before disappearing completely, and then he spoke again.

"You're going to marry Luca."

I stared at him for a few seconds before laughing in disbelief, and then I noticed no one else was laughing. "Oh, you're serious."

Gilbert's expression never changed. "Very."

I looked toward Luca, expecting him to stop this entire conversation, but he simply poured himself another drink like none of it concerned him.

"This is insane," I said sharply. "I'm not marrying him."

Gilbert stayed calm. "You don't really have a choice."

"Actually, I do."

"Marry him," Gilbert said quietly, "or your brother dies."

The words hit me so hard I genuinely thought I'd heard him wrong. "What?"

"You heard me."

I took a step back immediately. "You can't just kill innocent people whenever you want."

One of the guards standing near the door shifted awkwardly, like he already sensed something bad coming, and I barely noticed Gilbert reaching for the gun beside him until it was too late.

The gunshot exploded through the room so loudly that I screamed, and the guard dropped instantly, blood spreading across the floor beneath him while the entire room fell silent again, and my breathing stopped, and all I could think was oh my God, oh my God.

Gilbert lowered the gun slowly, like he'd done nothing unusual. "You were saying?" he asked calmly.

I stared at the dead guard on the floor while panic climbed violently into my chest, and nobody reacted, not the other guards, not Vincent, not even Luca, like this was normal, like people died in this house every day, and Vincent only sighed quietly before gesturing for the body to be removed, and that terrified me even more, because nobody looked shocked, nobody at all.

Gilbert walked closer toward me slowly. "Now," he said calmly, "let's continue this conversation properly."

For the first time since arriving in Palermo, I finally understood the truth, that these people weren't dangerous because of rumors, they were dangerous because they genuinely believed human lives meant nothing.

Two hours later I sat alone inside one of the bedrooms upstairs while guards stood outside the locked door, and I tried calling Matteo earlier, and nobody allowed it, and I tried leaving, and nobody allowed that either, and the entire mansion suddenly felt like a prison, until a soft knock interrupted my thoughts and the door opened again.

Gilbert entered alone, holding a folder in one hand. Marriage papers.

My chest tightened instantly, and he placed them on the table in front of me calmly before sliding a pen beside them, and then he looked directly into my eyes and spoke the exact words that destroyed whatever hope I still had left.

"Sign those papers and become a De Luca willingly, Sophia, because if you walk out of this room tonight without writing your name on that contract, your brother's body will be floating somewhere near the Palermo docks before sunrise."