Page 9 of Heritage of Fire

“Uh-huh,” Luka says, and Kate cracks up in the background. “Natallia booked us suit fittings. Buscetta’s wedding planner sent her the details for the attire—just need to go.”

I choke on an unblended piece of ice and cling to the island. “Yeah, okay. Have her send me the where and when.”

He hangs up, and I take another sip of my smoothie before dumping the rest down the sink—I can’t stomach it. I’m not hungry anymore.

“I think the navy is nice,” Kate says over dinner the following day.

“You want to marry her, then?” I quip, and Luka’s face heats. He tucks an arm around her and pulls her closer to him in our booth. After almost an hour of poking and pinning, we finished the fitting and met Ivan and Igor for dinner at one of Luka’s favorite places.

Kate chews at her lip like she does when she’s nervous. “Well, I’m excited to finally see and meet her. There’s nothing about her online. The Cosa Nostra has done a good job keeping her hidden.”

“You’ve been Googling her?” Luka asks.

Kate shrugs her shoulders. “What? You haven’t?”

She grins at him, and he steals a kiss. It’s chaste and sweet and everything Luka is not—or,wasn’t. Kate has definitely had an effect on him. It’s for the better; she balances him. God help us all if she decides this life isn’t for her anymore.

“I hope the food is good,” Igor sounds in during a lull in the conversation, and we all nod.

The wedding is in three weeks, and I’ve never felt more underprepared. I keep a tight lock on every aspect of my life. I have to. Luka's life and the Bratva depend on it.And Luna entering my world is going to throw everything off kilter. It grates on my nerves.

“Did you find out any information on what EV is and why Senator Hope seems to think he’s a club member?” I ask, shifting the topic of conversation away from my impending doomed marriage.

I hate that man. He was always a necessary evil. Willing to look the other way when it came to our weapons shipments—for a price, of course. But his loyalty was only as big as the dollar signs he was pocketing, and when Antonio offered him more, he sold us out. However, even Antonio knew the senator was triple-dipping. There’s another player in all this, and EV is a highly suspicious candidate.

“Nyet. But Buscetta is looking into it. He’s going to ask the boss about it,” Luka says.

Slumping back, I take in everyone at the table—sipping drinks and shoveling food into their mouths. My brothers. My family. All of whom I would die for. This marriage is a little like that. I’m surrendering for the good of the Bratva; for the good of my family and it hurts a little less.

Chapter 5

Luna

The shout of my name from downstairs startles me midapplication of my lipstick, and a line of it jumps past my lips.

Dang it.

I reach across the sink’s sleek granite for my makeup wipes, my elbow knocking my latest library book into the basin.

Ugh, Luna.

I roll my eyes at myself and pick the book out of the bowl. Then, letting out a breath, I open my bathroom door to hear mymammabetter. She refuses to come upstairs to talk to us. When she needs something, she shouts.

“Get your sister and be downstairs in twenty minutes!”

Today’s the day. I’m picking out my wedding dress. It’s the day most little girls dream about while dressing up their dolls, with the Dream House Castle in the background. Prince Charming waiting at the end of the aisle.

I only ever had that dream once.

When I was seventeen, Alessio, a young guard of my father’s caught my eye. He was handsome and alluring, stealing glances at me whenever he was around. His attention, along with the forbidden aspect of it all, had me seeking him out.

We’d meet late at night, talking about the day or the world outside the estate. He was older than me—twenty-one—and I will never forget how intriguing he was. His lingering looks and stolen touches in the shadows. A mafia guard taking an interest in me was thrilling and I succumbed to my infatuation, giving him a piece of me I’ll never get back. I thought he loved me. Wantedonlyme.

It wasn’t long after we began that my father found out and promptly put a stop to it—with a bullet to his head.

Alessio was a choice my father killed, and with this arranged marriage, he’s now managed to kill again.

The thought of trying on wedding dresses with my mother in the same room—a shudder runs through my body. I’m not overweight, but I’ve always had curves, and my full hips and chest always seem to bother her. Comments about my figure are bound to happen today, and I’m not in the mood.

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