He chuckled, but it sounded forced. “You heard Liam. A future of peace. The moment you request an annulment, peace will be a thing of the past. It will be the fairy tale that mothers tell their children in the hope of helping them fall to sleep at night. War will rage, and no one, not us, or Liam, can guarantee who will win. We all have enemies. Your father’s are now ours, and our enemies are now your father’s. We are united by blood. By marriage. Take that away, and all that will remain is war.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not, Alex. Do you think I entered this marriage lightly? I did not. I know what is expected of me. One day, men and women will look toward me, not my father. I will be the Boss of the Greco outfit. It will be up to me to decide who lives and who dies. This unity is as fragile as fine china. If you want to end this marriage, then fine, but I hope you’re willing to deal with the consequences and their deaths. Yours, your father’s, Millie’s, Stuart’s, all those children’s. Anyone you loved, or have ever loved, strangers, could all end up dead because you want to be free. It’s not a cost I am willing to make.”
****
Roman stood with Antonio, Marlo, and Cash in Liam’s backyard. His father and Liam were discussing Alex’s future.
Running a hand down his face, he glanced up toward her bedroom window, and sure enough, he saw the woman who was driving him fucking crazy staring right back at him.
“Did you convince her?” Antonio asked.
“I have no idea.”
“What’s the plan?” Cash asked.
“Simple, I’ve got to make her fall in love with me. I have to bind this marriage, and then, I’ve got to get her pregnant.” His father had been clear. In fact, after his little exposé of what their annulled marriage would look like, his father had pulled him aside and warned him that his time was running out.
Roman didn’t have the first clue of how he was going to make his wife fall in love with him. He didn’t know anything about her, and the few little bits of detail he did know was everything he’d learned in the past few days.
“And what about our part in your plan?” Marlo asked. “Do you still want us to continue … pursuing her until you’re satisfied she’s a slut?”
“Yes,” Roman said.
“Don’t you think that is going to be a little counter-intuitive?” Cash asked. “Getting all three of us to get in her pants? To fuck her?”
“The moment she caves, I will have all the proof I need,” Roman said.
“The moment you fuck her, according to you, you’ll have the proof you need,” Marlo said.
“If you don’t want the job, then I can find someone else.”
Antonio groaned. “It’s not that we don’t want the job.”
“We know what it means if we succeed,” this came from Cash.
“If you see an opportunity to pursue her, go for it. I’m not going to stop you. The moment I know the truth, I can deal with it. It will put me and my father back in fucking control over this situation, and we don’t have to take orders for Smith. That’s the goal. Until then, I’ve got some work to do.”
He squared his shoulders and made his way into the house. No one tried to stop him as he walked all the way up to her bedroom.
Alex hadn’t stayed in the treehouse, which he had to admit was cool. His dad had only ever taught him about fighting, self-defense, and training. Learning to take pain. Ever since he was thirteen, he had lessons every single day where one of his father’s trusted soldiers would inflict pain. He had to withstand the pain, and not squeal, not cave in to the pressures. The moment he learned how to take pain, and his ability to withstand it increased, his father had then given him permission to start trying to escape.
Once he learned how to escape and fight back, he was able to prove himself worthy to his father. It was why he was always by his father’s side, and his little brother, Phillip, never got the chance.
Even now, his brother struggled on a daily basis to earn his father’s respect, but then, Phillip was also ten years younger. Closer to Alex’s age, but also weak.
Entering the bedroom, he found Alex sitting on the window ledge, book in hand.
“It’s dangerous to be by the window,” he said.
“My dad has guards everywhere. I’m protected here at all times.”
“Insinuating that you’re not protected at my home.”
She closed the book she’d been reading and tilted her head toward him. “Your soldiers are ordered to take care of you. My father orders his men to take care of his family. They’re loyal to him and to me. Your men will fight for you.”
“And that’s a problem?”