9. Franco

Chapter 9

Franco

I stand there trying not to look guilty, but there's a rage deep inside of me. Aria should be mine. We belong together. We were made for each other. It's like we're two halves of a whole. Two puzzle pieces that belong together perfectly.

I can't stand the thought of her being with Marco, and when he walks in, and we're forced to jerk away from each other, it enrages me. I don't want to hide what we have.

I have to make her mine.

Marco stands in the doorway for a moment, considering us before crossing to the table. "Aria, sit, please."

I notice he doesn't ask me to sit.

Marco pushes a folder toward Aria. She flips it open, and there is a stack of pages within it.

"Our marriage agreement. This will bind us in our marriage, and you will ensure I have heirs as soon as humanly possible."

Aria looks up at him with wide eyes. "Heirs? "

"Babies? Children? Call it what you will. We begin as soon as the nuptials are complete."

I walk over and pick up the contract, tossing it into the fireplace. "She's not doing it."

"Franco..." Aria starts to say.

"No, I'm not letting you force Aria to marry you. She doesn't want to be with you."

Marco stands up. "I warned you not to get too close to her."

"I'm not a thing..."

"Stay out of this," Marco roars.

"Don't yell at her," I roar back at him. I slam my fist onto the table. "She doesn't want to be with you, and I won't stand by and let you force her."

Marco points a finger in my face. "You're going to Italy to cool off. Maybe some time with our distant cousins will teach you what family loyalty is. Until you leave, you are forbidden to even look in Aria's direction. You will eat, sleep, breathe, and I don't give a fuck what else in your room, and you're not to come out."

"You're not my fucking father, Marco. You can't ground me." I step up to his desk, getting more into his face. "You can't send me away. We may be brothers, but if you try to do this, it will be the end of any relationship we have."

Marco steps around the table, and in his shoes, he's slightly taller than I am. He always wears thick-soled shoes to make him taller. He always has to be the man. He's nothing but an insignificant...

"Prick. You're a fucking prick. I am the head of this family. What I say goes."

"Throw your temper tantrum somewhere else. Aria can pick who she wants to be with and marry that person. You can't just have whatever you want like a giant child."

I point to where Aria is standing in the corner, playing on her phone. She clearly doesn't want to get involved.

"I can and I will because I am Don. Not you, little brother. You forget your fucking place."

"Apparently, my place is cleaning up after you and all the whores you fuck," I snap at him. "What STI are you going to give to Aria first, Marco? What are you going to pass down to your so-called heirs?"

Marco grabs my suit jacket and lifts me slightly. "I should fucking shoot you."

"You're too much of a pussy to shoot me," I growl, pushing him away.

He swings, hitting me in the jaw. I see stars, but my arm is already swinging, and it connects to his stomach. We come to blows, throwing punches at each other, trying to get the upper hand.

I push him away, and out of the corner of my eyes, I see that Aria has left. "Aria?"

Marco takes the chance to punch me in the middle. I double over, out of breath. "Know your fucking place." He spits on the ground in front of me, blood. I must have busted open his lips .

I stand up and look around the room. "Aria?"

"Aria?" Marco yells. "Get back here."

I glare at him and walk out of the room, looking down the hallway. "Aria?"

I walk down the hallway and look over the railing downstairs. Then I go upstairs to her room. I knock on the door and open it.

"Stay away from her," Marco says as he marches over. He slams the doors open and steps inside. "Aria?"

When she doesn't answer, I turn and walk with purpose to the front door, which is slightly ajar. I go outside and look around. There's no sign of her.

I take out my phone and dial her number. She cuts the call.

Marco comes outside and looks around. "Where is she?"

"She's taken off because of your stupid contract." I walk toward my car.

"Where do you think you're going?" he yells.

"To bring her back to safety, she's in danger, you moron," I yell. I get into the Maserati and drop the keys from under the visor. The engine roars into life, and I pull off, leaving Marco in my dust.

I try dialing Aria again, but the call goes straight to voicemail. "Shit!" She's turned off her phone. The tracking system on her phone won't work now. Even as frustrated as I am right now, I admire her smarts.

Finding her won't be easy, but it's not impossible. I' ve had to hunt more skilled prey than her in my time. Only for the first time in my life am I not sure if I want to find her. Finding her means returning her to Marco and fulfilling the terms of his "contract".

I've always been fiercely loyal to my brother, the whole family, in fact. I've paid a high price for it, but it's always been worth it to know that they're safe and protected. For the first time in my regimented life, I begin to wonder if he would do the same for me.

He must know or at least suspect that there's something between Aria and me, and yet, he insists on pushing this marriage contract. It doesn't matter which one of us she marries. The only conclusion I can come to is that this isn't about the family or honor for him - it's about winning. He wants to win no matter what the cost to any of us. Even if it robs me of the woman I love and her of the life she deserves. He would rather be in a loveless marriage as a winner than concede defeat and be with the woman he's meant to marry.

I pull over to the side of the road and pick up the phone. Aria can't be far, and neither of us heard a car pull away while we were fighting. Unless she took one of the electric cars she loves. "How did I fall for a do-gooder?"

I pick up the phone and call Harold, the house manager.

"Did Aria leave the compound?" I ask him without greeting.

"Yes, sir. She took the keys to the Prius but didn't give an indication of where she might be headed." He sounds panicked. No doubt Marco has already laid into him, and he's scared for his life.

Everyone working at the compound knows that Marco and the family are dangerous. It wouldn't occur to Marco that the staff might have no reason to prevent Aria from leaving. The terms of her living there and the arrangement are not their business.

Marco comes on the line.

"Where is she!" He barks.

"I don't fucking know! You scared her off. Once again, I have to clean up your messes! Just leave it to me!" I cut the call.

I don't know what it is, but something's changed between my brother and me, and we both know it. A shift so subtle but obvious. I'm not the blindly obedient little brother who does everything he is told and is obedient to a fault. I've found something worth fighting for and defying the family for, and he knows it.

Maybe that's why he's being such a hard ass about this and insisting on marrying Aria. To keep me in line and where he needs me. "Could it be? He sees Aria as the only way to keep me close and malleable?"

Even when we were boys, it was always clear that Marco would take over as Don of the family. We knew as children what we had been born into, but none more so than Marco.

He still moves through the world with a sense of authority and entitlement that used to make even school teachers buckle. He has a deceptively kind demeanor that hides a ruthlessness and determination to get his own way.

His greatest weakness is his fear of losing control. For a moment, I was convinced that he was in love with Aria and that maybe I should back off for the sake of familial peace, but the truth is Marco only loves himself, and everyone around him are just pawns to be controlled. They are kept and discarded as he needs.

What's to become of Aria when she's provided the heirs he needs and I have moved on? I don't know that I'll feel about someone else how I feel about her, but I know that I will move on. It's not in my nature to sit around pining for my brother's wife. Watching him enjoy the love, family and devotion that should be mine. Aria may not want to marry him, but she will, for the sake of peace and my sake. She will sacrifice herself so that I don't lose my family or my life. She won't even ask me for permission or if it's what I need her to do—she'll just do it to save us both the agony of a tortured goodbye.

My mind returns to the task at hand, and I force myself to think about the woman I love and what I need to do to get her back and keep her safe. I can't let her make this sacrifice, and I won't. My brother cannot be left to ruin life after life in search of ultimate control. I love him and would never do anything to hurt him, but this is my life and my love, and come hell or high water, she will be mine. No matter the cost or Marco's rage—we will be together.

I start the car up and take to the road. Like the path ahead of me, dark and treacherous, my life has taken a turn down a path that's forbidding. I fight the fear creeping through me at the thought of what I'm risking based only on a gut feeling.

Aria has never given me any indication that she feels anything for me. All I have to go on is the look in her eyes when we're alone and the quiver in her voice when I touch or the longing in her embrace when we're together.

I know that she was meant for me the way I know this car or myself. She may not realize it or even want to show it, but we belong. She is mi familia. She's the home I've been waiting for for so long. She's the balm to the ache I've felt my whole life. The only place I've ever felt safe. I want to build a home and a life with her. I cannot let her go or risk losing her. I will die for her. For us.

I speed up. I am fueled by the need to find her and make her mine. I need to get to her before Marco or one of his soldiers does. I know her better than he ever will, and until she comes around and gives herself heart, body, mind and soul completely to me - I will rely on my instinct that it's meant to be. She will come around. She will look past my flaws and my work and love the man beneath it all. I have to believe it, or this is all a suicide mission.