“I hope you understand that marrying into this family will damn you forever. You will never have a normal life.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “I’m not letting him go. I don’t care about the risks. And I was born damned.”
Sonny sighed. “Okay.”
Rhi jokingly tugged on the ends of his hair. “Does this mean we have your blessing?”
His eyes met hers, then he glanced over his shoulder at me. “Yes,” he breathed. “But if anything happens to her, I will kill you.”
I sat on the bed beside her, slipping my fingers between hers. “I would give my life for hers.”
He nodded. “I better be your best man. You owe me that.”
Rhi wrapped her arms around Sonny’s neck and hugged him. “Thank you, Sonny Mac. This means a lot to us.”
“I still want to kill Marcello,” he confessed. “But at least I know you’re with a man who can take care of you.”
“I don’t need to be taken care of,” she shot back.
“Please, Rhi. Yes, you do. Wherever trouble goes, you follow. Marcello will keep you out of trouble. He’s too strait-laced to let you step out of line.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Like he could keep me in line.”
I shot her a warning glare.
She giggled, running her long nails up and down my arm. “Just kidding, husband.”
Sonny groaned. “That sounds so weird. The thought you two together.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Rhi said with a smile. “If not, we’ll have to kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rhiannon
I sat on the back patio with Alex and Kali, nursing a glass of orange juice. Lately, my stomach had been a mess. My father and Sean Donnelly would arrive within the hour, a meeting I had been dreading all week. The anticipation didn’t help the churning in my belly.
Alex sat beside me with her hand on her stomach. It was too soon to see any visible signs of her pregnancy. She drank juice while Kali added more vodka to her glass, knocking drinks back at an impressive rate.
“Marcello can handle himself,” Alex assured me. “How won’t let Sean take you from the estate. He would give his life to protect you.”
“There won’t be a fight. My father and Sean are crazy, not stupid. I’m worried Sean will ask something of him.”
She flicked her long, blonde curls over her shoulder. “Like what?”
“Our firstborn child,” I joked.
She laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone sold a child to another family before its birth. That’s what happened to me. My mother promised me to Luca before my conception.”
My eyes widened at her confession. “Are you shitting me?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, I’m not. My mother ran from Devil’s Creek and refused to marry Arlo. She married my dad not long after she fled. Arlo offered her a lifeline when my grandfather cut her off. She sold me to Arlo for a monthly stipend to maintain her lifestyle.”
“Wow.”
“Then she killed Arlo’s wife when she realized she’d made a mistake by running from him.”
“Your mom killed Marcello’s mom?”
She pressed her pink lips together and bobbed her head.
“You guys have a lot of secrets.”
She winked. “More than you know.”
Kali reached across the table and grabbed a plate of cheese, shoving a slice into her mouth. “This town thrives on secrets. Hasn’t Sonny ever told you that secrets are commodities in Devil’s Creek?”
Alex chuckled. “That was one of the first things he said to me when I came back to town.”
“It’s true,” Kali chimed. “Arlo Salvatore wasn’t the richest man in Devil’s Creek or the most powerful, but he knew everyone’s secrets.”
“It’s the reason The Founders Society gave him a second chance to fulfill the deal he made for Luca and me to produce an heir.”
“You seem okay with it,” I noted.
“I love Luca.” Her face illuminated, reaching up to her pretty blue irises. “We were made for each other. He’s always understood me. Even when he was cruel and hateful, I still couldn’t see myself with anyone else.”
“Not even Marcello?”
Alex didn’t even seem uncomfortable with my question. Everyone knew about her history with Marcello. It had taken me a while to get used to their past. But when I saw them interact with each other, I could see their love was familial.
Alex considered my question for a moment, then shook her head. “No, not even Marcello. I tried to fall for him, especially when Luca was out of his mind. I think I just wanted a choice. I’d never had one before and wanted to explore my options.”
“I used to hate you.”
Alex raised the glass to her lips. “I know. It’s okay. I would have hated you, too, if the situation were reversed.”
“I always wondered if he watched over you because he was in love.”
“Nope, it was his duty. You know Marcello. He likes to save people.”
“That’s how we ended up together. He was always there when I needed him.”