Chapter 2

It’s the end of the banquet and I’ve managed to pull my father and Stefan into one of the ready rooms.  The second that the door is closed I light into my father.

“I am not marrying Dante Luciano!  I don’t care what you have to do to get out of this, but there is no way in Hell that I would ever marry that fuckboy!” I yell at my father.

“Lower your voice,” my father says, glancing anxiously at the door.  “The Don might hear you!”

“And so what if he does?  Who gave him the idea that I would marry his son?  What have you gotten us into, Father?” I demand as I walk closer to my father.  The Lucianos are nothing but thugs in Gucci suits.  I will never get in bed with them, literally or figuratively.

Stefan steps between my father and I, his hands separating us.  Though I can see the tension in his shoulders that belies his anger, his voice is calm.  “Quinn, you’ve got to calm yourself.  Father is right in that we can’t have the Lucianos hear this conversation.  Especially not after that was just televised to the entire city.”

I’m about to protest before he gives me a look, telling me that he isn’t done speaking.  When I close my mouth, he turns to our father.  “Now, Father, you have a lot of explaining to do.  Why did you do this, especially without talking to Quinn?”

Father still looks anxious, though he is wrapping himself up slowly, but steadily into the business personna that we are so used to seeing in the boardroom.  “I’m doing what is best for the business and for our family.  You know that sales haven’t risen back after the pandemic.  We’re not making anywhere near as much money as we were and nothing that we’ve tried has made the impact that we need it to.  The Luciano’s influence can help with that.”

He’s not wrong.  We’ve had a lot of trouble attracting new author’s since the pandemic hit.  Many of them are going to book apps, e-books, or they self-publish.  They might not get a physical book out of the deal, they get international distribution and quicker returns, all from the comfort of their couch.

The other problem is attracting readers.  When your competition is offering ebooks for free, who is going to pay to buy a book?  Even if they aren’t at the same caliber, they are FREE.  It’s a tough hustle to beat.

It’s put a big dent in our profits and it’s made it so that we’re not signing as many contracts as we were.

“How the hell are the Lucianos going to help with our bottom line?” Stefan asks and the curiosity that enters his voice feels like a blow.  Stefan knows how much this company means to our family and to our future.  He would do anything to keep it afloat.  Possibly even make me marry a mobster.

“Their electronics division is looking to branch into publishing.  They want to create their own platform with our help.  It would be a 50/50 split and help our company adapt to how things are changing,” Father says, a pleading look in his face.

Stefan goes quiet thinking about the implications and I know that I’ve lost his support in this battle.

“And why do they want me?” I rasp out, knowing that I’ve been sold out for the price of the company.

“That’s an easy question to answer,” Don Luciano says, coming through the door behind me.  Along with my alleged fiancé .  I was so wrapped up in the conversation with my father that I hadn’t heard the door open.  “You are one of the town’s sweethearts.  Entire blogs, websites, and newspaper articles are about how much people love you and how much you’ve helped the city and the people in it.  We would like to bring that energy and joy into our family.”

“So you want to use me to clean up your image,” I spit out.

Father is immediately beside me, yanking my arm backward so that he can whisper in my ear.  “Do not fuck this up for us!  Show respect!”

His hand on my wrist is gripping my flesh tight enough to leave a bruise.  It takes me a second to react because I hadn’t expected this from my father.  He has never raised a hand to my brother or me.  But pain jolts up my arm and shoulder at the way that he’s gripping and pulling me.

It must be evident on my face, because Dante Luciano speaks up.  His tone and manner are almost bored, but his eyes are narrowed in on my father’s hand on my wrist.  “I would let go of my fiancé  , Mr. Rothschild.  I don’t like my things getting damaged.”

“Thing?’  Did he just call me a thing?!  But I don’t have time to say anything.

Father’s face goes pale and he lets go so quickly that I stumble.  Father actually steps away from me as Dante stalks forward, though he has yet to look me in the face.  Actually, I don’t think that he’s looked me in the eye yet.  Almost as if he’s disgusted by what is being asked of him.

Dante reaches forward and grabs my hand in his, inspecting my wrist, when he sees the redness, he tsks before leading me to a seat.  Then, knocking on the door he asks for someone there to send for some ice for my hand.

He then takes up his spot beside his father again.  All without looking at or speaking to me.  So he really does see me as a thing that can be used for his own gain.

Don Luciano is the one that continues the conversation at that point.  “I am sorry that you were kept in the dark, passerotta (sparrow).  It was necessary to keep everything private.  But do not worry, everything will be taken care of.  Wedding, dress, even a job within the new platform that we are forming.  As soon as the wedding is complete and all the dust settles, we can begin helping your company.”

I’m stuck dumb, but Stefan is able to ask the one question that is going to completely change my life.  “When is the wedding?”

The Don smiles, though his son looks bored.  “A week from tomorrow.”