Page 3 of His to Break

As I look across the table at the three quintessential mobsters, each tall, dark, and achingly handsome in their black suits, I wonder if I made a mistake in coming here. I knew I’d feel out of my depth, but they’re even more intimidating than I imagined.

None of them are easy to get a read on. Antonio is calm and in control, a natural leader. He gives little away. Matteo has a gleam in his eye that tells me he can be quite the charmer when he wants to be, but so far, he hasn’t shown much interest in me. And Leo? The second oldest of the brothers is the most dangerous. When he fixed his cool, assessing gaze on me, it took everything I had in me not to crumble. If I’m honest, he both scares and intrigues me. I don’t know how I’d cope if he was my husband.

“You’re Vinnie Bianchi?” It’s Matteo who recovers first.

“I am.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch Leo glaring at me as if I’ve personally deceived him. It’s not my fault my father fed a lie to the world about having a prized second son instead of a disappointing daughter.

“You can prove this?” Antonio asks.

“Of course.”

Expecting this and knowing I can never return to my home after coming here, I gathered every piece of documentation I could think of. I pick up my purse and place it on the table before sliding it across to Antonio. “My papers are in there.”

It’s Leo who grabs the bag. He examines it closely, turning it one way and then the other, checking it from all angles.

“Your lapdog already checked there’s no bomb in it,” I tell him. “Believe me, if there was, I wouldn’t still be sitting here.”

Leo clearly isn’t the trusting sort because he simply raises an eyebrow and continues his thorough inspection. Eventually satisfied that it is, indeed, just a purse, he opens it and removes the contents, one item at a time, placing each in front of Antonio when he’s done with it.

“Passport. Driver’s license. Birth certificate. Parents’ marriage certificate. Proof of paternity.” He looks at me, waiting for an explanation.

“Yes, when I was born a girl, my father saw it as some sort of insult to his masculinity. He accused my mother of cheating.”

Leo shakes his head at that and mutters something that might have been ‘crazy bastard’ under his breath. He takes out another document. “Credit card statement.” His eyes widen as he scans it. “Guess you like shoes.”

It’s almost comical that all three men peer over the desk to inspect my footwear. I don’t, as it happens, have a thing for shoes. My reason for buying so many pairs was not vanity. I was never allowed access to cash, but I knew I’d need a lot of it to make my escape. So, I started buying designer shoes and selling them, often for a fraction of what they were worth. I didn’t care if I made a loss as long as the customer paid cash. Beniamino, my closest friend and the man currently standing by my side, facilitated the sales so none of my father’s men would guess what I was up to. Everyone just assumed, as the Volante brothers seem to have, that I’m materialistic.

“Show me a girl who doesn’t,” I say flippantly, because nobody needs to know my true motivations.

Leo shakes his head disapprovingly. Okay, so playing the spoiled mafia princess isn’t going to win him over. It doesn’t matter. Matteo Volante is the prize I came here for. Digging into my purse, Leo withdraws a large brown envelope. “What’s this?”

“A copy of my grandmother’s will to prove that I stand to inherit the money I’m offering.”

Charlotte Winchester, my maternal grandmother, died three weeks ago. Though I barely knew her, she left her entire estate to me. I guess it was a fuck you to the mafia Don she never wanted for a son-in-law. I’m not naïve enough to think the money will protect me from my father, which is why I need to secure a union that would probably make my grandmother turn in her grave.

“I’ll need to have that looked at before anything is agreed,” Antonio tells me.

I expected that. “Of course.”

I watch as Leo fishes the final piece of paper out of my purse and scans it. “Phone numbers?”

“Yes. The first is my doctor’s. I’ve given him permission to share any medical information you may require. The others are numbers where you can reach my brother, including his private cell. If you wish to speak to him, he will verify I am who I claim to be.”

Antonio cocks his head, surprised, I think. It’s hard to tell with him. His facial expression barely changes.

“Daniele knows you’re here?”

“Not here, precisely.” Daniele will probably freak out when he discovers I’ve come to New York, to the Volantes of all people. “But he knew I planned to seek an alliance with a prominent family.”

Antonio narrows his deep blue eyes on me. “Why do you wish to marry one of my brothers?”

I flick my hair back over my shoulder, hoping I come across as more confident than I feel. “My father has plans for me that I just can’t get on board with.”

The looks on their faces tells me these guys know exactly what I mean.

“An arranged marriage?” Matteo asks.

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