CHAPTER FOUR: THE CONTRACT 

Donato stayed true to his word.

It came as a shock to Jesse when Alessandra called to tell him their mother had been moved from the regular ward to a VIP room. The treatment had changed overnight. The nurses were suddenly attentive, the doctors appeared the moment they were called, and the staff treated their family with an unsettling level of respect.

Even their outstanding hospital debts had been cleared. All of them.

Jesse couldn’t believe it until he saw it. 

A single thought repeated in his mind as he left the hospital: Donato really is something.

The man had done exactly what he promised. Now, it was Jesse's turn to pay the price.

Jesse sat in the private office, waiting. His palms were slick with sweat. His legs bounced restlessly beneath the table. He wasn't nervous about the money anymore; he was terrified of the deal he was about to sign with the man who ruled the city.

The door clicked open. Donato walked in like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.

“Mr. Miller.”

Jesse stood up immediately. “Mr. Sindacato. I just... I want to thank—”

“Save it.” Donato took his seat, motioning for Jesse to do the same. “You don't need to thank me. You earned it. Or rather, you're about to.”

Jesse stared at him for a moment before slowly sitting down. “So, what are the terms?”

Donato didn't answer right away. His gaze shifted toward the man standing quietly near the door. “Zane.”

His trusted assistant stepped forward, walking toward a miniature library built into the wall. Zane reached between two books and pressed a hidden switch. A soft click came from the wall, followed by the sound of locks sliding into place.

Jesse sat up straighter, his pulse racing. “What is happening?”

“We need absolute privacy,” Donato said calmly. “Not a word spoken in this room can leave it.”

“You know I have no plans to talk.”

“I know.” Donato settled deeper into his chair, his dark eyes locked onto Jesse’s. “The rules are simple, Jesse. There will be no unnecessary emotional attachments. We are not friends. We are business partners.”

Jesse nodded, keeping his voice steady. “Understood.”

“No interference in my private affairs,” Donato continued. “You don't question where I go, who I meet, or what I do when we're not performing our roles.”

“Fine. However, you will do the same for me. Don't meddle with my life outside of this arrangement.”

“Settled.” Donato gave a single, sharp nod.

“Also, there will absolutely be no sex.”

Jesse's eyebrows shot up.

Donato didn't blink. “None.”

Jesse leaned back, a dry smirk touching his lips. “Good. I don't plan to fuck you. Or be fucked by you.”

“You will, however, publicly perform as my devoted, doting husband,” Donato said, ignoring the bluntness. “You will attend events with me when required. You will stay glued to my side in public. You will behave as though you are completely in love with me.”

Jesse stared at him. There it was—the part that made absolutely no sense. He had assumed Donato was gay when the offer was first made. Now, looking at the calculating expression on the Don's face, he wasn't so sure.

“Let me get this straight,” Jesse said.

Donato waited, silent.

“You're not gay?”

“I am straight.”

Jesse searched his face for the joke, but his face was completely serious. “If you're straight, why are you marrying a man?”

“What do you think?” Donato countered.

The answer clicked into place. Jesse let the silence settle between them as the pieces fell together. Donato wasn't marrying him out of desire; he was using him as a shield. A marriage to a man was an absolute, scorched-earth way to destroy the political alliance with Ginevra Cascio without leaving room for negotiation.

Whatever the deeper mafia politics were, it wasn't Jesse's business. Donato wanted a husband to break a contract. He would get one.

“This is strictly a business transaction,” Donato reminded him.

Jesse didn't flinch. He adjusted his collar, meeting the Don's gaze dead-on. “Good. Then we're on the same page, Mr. Sindacato. But remember not to mistake my presence here for submission. And when the six months are up, I walk away with my family's future paid in full.”

Donato's jaw tightened. A brief spark of interest flashed in his dark eyes.

He wasn't accustomed to people speaking to him this way—least of all someone who expects something from him. Yet, Jesse wasn't looking at him like a beggar. He was looking at him like an equal partner in a dangerous deal.

Donato found that unexpectedly interesting.

“Sign the contract,” he murmured, sliding the heavy paper across the desk.

Jesse picked up the pen, scanned the legal jargon, and signed his name in bold strokes.

As he set the pen down, Donato stood up. “There's one more thing.”

“What?” Jesse looked up.

“We have an entrance to make this evening.” Donato nodded toward the suit jacket resting across the back of Jesse's chair. “Put on your jacket.”

---

The gala was already in full swing when the grand doors opened. Chandelier light flooded the ballroom, illuminating hundreds of high-ranking mobsters and elites from Italy's underworld.

At the center of the room stood the Cascio family, led by their powerful patriarch and his proud, ambitious daughter. Ginevra Cascio was draped in gold silk, a smug, victorious smile etched onto her perfectly sculpted face. Tonight was supposed to be the night the Del Sindacato and Cascio clans officially united. The night Donato claimed her as his woman.

Then, the doors parted.

Donato walked in, but he wasn't alone. A young man walked beside him, his arm intimately entangled with the mafia boss's.

Jesse felt the weight of hundreds of stares before he even looked around. The room fell into a suffocating hush as whispers rippled through the crowd. Who is he? Why is Donato letting him get that close?

Jesse glanced at the man beside him. Donato looked completely unaffected, walking into a room full of armed killers while displaying a wedding ring on his companion's finger as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Jesse almost admired the man's nerves. Almost.

Deciding to play his part to perfection, Jesse tightened his fingers around Donato's arm. He leaned in closer, his shoulder brushing against the tailored fabric of Donato's suit.

Donato's eyes flicked down to him.

Jesse gave him a bright, teasing smile.

“Remember,” he murmured under his breath, “devoted and doting.”

A low chuckle escaped Donato's throat. But before he could reply, a sharp voice cut through the murmurs.

“Donato!” Ginevra practically hissed, her eyes locking onto their joined arms.

An elder patriarch of the Cascio family stepped forward, his cold gaze moving from Donato, to Jesse, and finally settling on the silver band catching the light on Jesse's finger. “What is the meaning of this insult?”

Donato didn't blink. “What you're seeing is exactly what it looks like.”

A high-ranking Sindacato Capo stepped up, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Who is this man, Donato?”

Donato’s answer came without a shred of hesitation. “My husband.”