Six

Gianna’s POV

“Why me?”

I narrowed my eyes into slits as I glared at him. There were over a hundred girls at the bar but he chose me and here he was, doing the same thing less than twenty-four hours later. I wanted to know why, there had to be a pattern and I wanted it revealed to me.

“You’re different, Amore.”

“My name is—“

Don Alessandro held up a hand to silence me. “You see? Only a few people would dare speak to me in that manner and you don’t even care about hierarchy or power, you speak your mind and that’s what I want in a wife not some dolled-up girl with half-wits.”

“I’m sorry that I’ll have to turn you down but I’m in the process of being engaged to someone else,” I replied after a moment’s pause. I noticed Maya slap her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter out of the corner of my eyes but I didn’t care right now.

I was willing to use every chance I could get to wiggle my way out of this situation.

“Whoever he is, I doubt he could be any better than I am.” Don Alessandro smiled at me.

“That’s not the point,” I wagged my finger at him.

“Also, if you want to help your father settle this problem your brother created, you will do as I want and be mine.”

He stared at me with a bored expression on his face. It was almost as if he knew how this would end and he couldn’t wait to get there.

He was easily the most arrogant and the most annoying person I had ever come across in my life.

“You don’t want a mate, Don Alessandro. You want a puppet and you want a reason to always be involved in my family’s business and there’s no better way of doing that than marriage. You never wanted the Cartel ring in the first place, you mentioned it to hide your true intentions.”

“Are you a puppet, Amore?” Don Alessandro drawled out lazily.

“My name isn’t—“ I paused and took the time to regain my composure. He was riling me on purpose and I was fueling his excitement at this point.

“I am not a puppet, Don Alessandro and I’ve got bad news for you, you won’t get what you want. I refuse to get married to you. You can either take the Alessia Cartel ring like you wanted in the first place and return my brother bto us so we can go back home or you can decide to take something else that would massage your large ego. Anything but not me, I’m not a piece of item to be haggled over by men.”

I glared at him. I could feel a headache building up already. If I stayed one more second in here, I was going to lose it.

“Gianna!” My dad raised his voice. “Gianna, come back here!”

I paused as I held the doorknob, not willing to turn back to the table.

“It’s time for us to talk in private, Gianna.” Don Alessandro said.

I returned my gaze to him. He wore a stoic expression on his face, he didn’t give up much, and he was as closely guarded as they came.

“You’ve never spoken to her before today,” My father began. “And you suddenly want my daughter to be your wife before you let go of my son?”

“I mean no harm, Salvatore.” Don Alessandro began. “But I am a man of my word and you’re well versed with the ways of the old to know that nothing strengthens a treaty better than marriage. Your daughter will be properly protected and looked after for all of her life, I can assure you that.”

Don Alessandro led me to what I assumed was his private study as we walked toward the end of the hallway. He opened the door and ushered me in.

The soft glow of the desk lamp cast a warm, golden light upon the rich, mahogany wood of the study's paneling.

Shelves lined the walls, stretching from floor to ceiling. Behind the stately, carved table, made out of mahogany wood, a high-backed, leather chair stood sentinel.

“Take a seat, Gianna.” Don Alessandro said as he walked around the large table to take his seat.

There was a bottle of tequila on a corner of the table and he poured himself a healthy amount into a glass cup.

“Do you care for some?” He asked.

I shook my head. I had a lot more pressing issues to deal with at the moment, I could always drink later.

Don Alessandro nodded and poured the contents down his throat in one clean move.

“As you can tell, I do not have a son, only a daughter who you’ve met already. That is not enough to please my mafia council who’ve demanded that I produce an heir. My father’s bastard son who happens to be my step-brother, Donovan, has been trying to gain their favor to be named as the heir since he has a son and I don’t.”

I stared at him dumbfounded. He wanted to have a baby with me—a son, someone to take over when it was time for him to step down.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I need to do what my council wants. Well, the truth is, I can easily have every one of them killed or replaced but that would bring about a lot of trouble and I don’t want that.”

“I’m sure you’ve met several mafia dons and they’ve forced their daughters on you. Why did you choose me, Don Alessandro?” I asked.

“By some stroke of luck or whatever it was, you’re the first person to have captured my attention sexually in a rather long while.” Don Alessandro replied, pouring himself another glass of tequila.

I didn’t know if that was a compliment or a statement borne out of sexual desire. But if I was going to do this, I needed to be certain about a lot of things.

I was going to be sacrificing my whole life and I had to make sure I would be well compensated for it.

“What would I be getting out of the deal, Don Alessandro?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “You’re asking me to give you all of me, I need to be properly compensated.”

“You’ll get your brother back in one piece and on top of that, you’ll get to keep the Alessia Cartel ring.” Don Alessandro proposed.

Three days ago, I would’ve gleefully accepted the terms of this proposal but not anymore. My father had sidelined me for Miguel and I was left with nothing.

I had no power or investment to call my own and getting the Alessia Cartel ring would mean nothing to me, Miguel owned everything and it was time for things to change.