Page 60 of Bound in Debt
“About what?”
“About us getting married.”
I roll my eyes. It’s official. Moretti men are possessive as shit. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to tell Liam.”
“You also weren’t supposed to go behind my back and try to buy a fake passport.” He grips the edge of the chair tighter and I shiver, suddenly chilled.
Not only did Liam catch on to my plans, but now Dante is in the loop. Chase Gladden is a bigger fucking rat than I thought. He’s so going to pay. I’d love to see him try and do any business on campus by the time I’m done.
“Where did you hear that?” I mutter, barely holding on to his steely gaze.
“From Angelo Lombardi himself. Now we have thirty days to pay him the six million or he’s going to change the game.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I can straight up give you to him and shave off some of the debt. Or I can marry you, take the four million dollars you’re going to get from your trust, and hand that over. I’d still have the option of selling you to him for three-quarters of a million.” I suck in a quick breath. “I wasn’t planning on going that route, princess. But this little stunt you pulled isn’t sitting well with me. I thought we were in this together.”
Tears burn the back of my eyes as I fight back a sob. I refuse to let him see my fear, to give into this overwhelming sense of defeat. As much as I’ve tried to resist, it’s obvious that my only choice is to get married and find a way to clear Marco Moretti’s debt.
“You made the deal.” I accuse, my voice quaking. Clearly, Dante made his choice—and I’m his sacrifice.
“I didn’t make the deal,” he counters, his deep voice whispering across the foot of space between us. “But I can’t trust you not to go and fuck things up again. Angelo is watching us and he has made it very clear that he wants you.” He cocks his head to the side, studying me. “I wonder what would happen if he made Liam the same offer?”
He’d give me up in a heartbeat.
Especially since Liam doesn’t have a chance in hell of getting me pregnant to get the rest of my money. I’m not letting him anywhere near me.
Unless he forced me.
I know he would bail the second the next installment of my trust cleared. I’d be pregnant with his child and at the mercy of a mob boss. There isn’t a happily-ever-after at the end of that story.
“You’re going to marry me, princess,” Dante orders, his tone hardening with each word. “I’ll have thirty days to get us out of here after the wedding, but we’re going to do it my way. You go behind my back again and I will leave you behind.”
“Does he know about the pregnancy clause? About how much?—”
“No,” Dante replies, rising to his full height. “And he’s not going to know. All you have to do is wear a pretty dress, smile, act as though you’re madly in love with me, and keep your mouth shut. You think you can manage that?”
Allying myself with Dante is my best option. I obviously can’t count on Chase to get me the documentation I need to escape on my own. Not after he tattled to Liam. Plus, Angelo apparently has connections even on campus.
And Liam has lost his last marble. Even if I could trust him not to run away and leave me out to dry, I swear I can still feel his grip on my face. Like hell will I let him have any claim to me.
No, the man standing in front of me is my best chance at getting through this.
“Okay,” I sigh, exhausted. “I won’t do anything else. I promise.”
“Don’t break my trust again, Victoria,” he warns me. “Or I will leave. You world will come crumbling down on top of you and I won’t be there to save?—”
“Stop threatening me,” I grind out between clenched teeth. “It’s bad enough that I have to do this because of your brother.”
Dante doesn’t move or flinch. The perfect portrait of a man in control, a man who can bury his temper and all the anxiety he must be feeling under a thick blanket of calm authority.
I wish I had that superpower.
“Nonetheless,” he replies finally, holding my stare. “We’re in this mess together. And I can get us out of it with or without your money.”
“How? Are you going to kill him? A mob boss?”
Dante smirks and raises a brow, yet stays silent. I’m not sure if I should take that as confirmation of his intentions or that he thinks I’ve lost my mind.
