Page 56 of Ruthless Reign

“What about you?” I asked. “Are you planning to wed a Rose princess? What will you do when you take over the Caputi empire?”

Leo sipped at his coffee and shook his head. “No Roses in my future, I fear.”

“Will you be single for the rest of your life?” I scoffed. “What would our beloved mama think?”

He chuckled. “Now there’s a thought.”

“Oh, please,” I said with a disbelieving sneer. “I’m surprised you’ve managed this long without some blond gold digger in your bed.”

“Well,” he said with a playfully innocent shrug, “who’s to say I have? But there is no one I’m serious about, and this is a good thing. I’ve got more important things to worry about than some blond gold digger, as you say.”

“Right.” I turned my attention to my phone, sending a text to the group chat with Chesco and Della, promising to see them soon.

“Be careful with Della,mia sorella,”Leo said. “I know you two are close, but she’s…ambitious.”

“I know.” I sighed, a weight settling in my gut. I’d long been ignoring the voice in the back of my head that told me to be suspicious of her for more than one reason. “What are you thinking?”

“It’s a gut feeling. Something is off about her and has been for a while.”

I scowled but didn’t argue. Leo had a sixth sense about these sorts of things. He could get the measure of a person far better than I ever could, and if he told me to be careful, it was in my best interest to listen.

“When you’re right, you’re right, brother.”

Leo smiled and grabbed his newspaper again, flicking it open to the page he’d been on.

16

JULIA

Aweek went by before I could see my cousins. In that time, I finalized the rest of the arrangements for the wedding and decided on a dress. The girls came with me to try it on, but even as I stared at the beautiful lace fabric in the mirror, I lamented that the rest of my family couldn’t be there.

Nothing about it felt right. Della wasn’t crooning over how perfect it was, and my aunts weren’t gathered around with champagne, barking orders at the attendant. No, it was just me and a few women I’d met only weeks ago.

“It’s perfect,” Alba said, fluffing out the train behind me.

“How do you feel?” Selene asked, tilting her head from side to side as her bright blue eyes assessed me.

“Fine,” I said as I fussed with a piece of the trim on the arm.

“Fine?” V scoffed and came closer, narrowing her gaze at me. “No woman should get married in a dress that makes her feelfine.”

“I’m already married,” I said. Besides, this ceremony was for show only. It wasn’t real, and tears nearly ran down my cheeks at the metaphor. My marriage to Roman wasn’t real. My nascentfeelings for him weren’t real. Even the attention of the women at the bridal shop with me was pretend.

All of this pageantry was just…a farce, a charade, a game meant to put the chess pieces in the right spot before taking down the queen. But if it was only pretend, why did my heart shatter like this at the very notion? I put that in a compartment inside my mind to dissect later.

“You still deserve a beautiful day,” Alba said.

Did I? After all my family had done to hers? Roman had told me what happened to Lore on Alba and KC’s wedding day, and it had been Leo’s fault. Still, I smiled and thanked her and put the deposit down on the gown so I could mark another item off my to-do list. The dress didn’t really matter anyway, not if it was likely to be covered in my family’s blood by the end of the day.

After that, we went for mimosas and brunch, and I listened to Ru talk about her father’s upcoming trial. Aris had been locked up with Crow months ago, and both were having difficulty getting a fair deal. I felt bad for them, truly, and her plight made me even more committed to my nuptials with Roman. It may not be real, but I needed it to end the feud between our families, to finally know lasting peace.

I tried not to let the anxiety affect me, especially when I was around my husband and the rest of the club. I had to play the part of the queen, the steadfast force beside the MC’s president, the old lady who set the example for the others. But Roman could tell something was bothering me.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked later that night, after he’d spanked me and fucked me and ran me a bath. Now, I sat in the tub with him behind me, massaging my shoulders while I rubbed his tired calves.

“I’m just worried about the wedding,” I said. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

I don’t want you to get hurt.

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