Page 15 of Her Cruel One-Sided Love

Massimo

Just as any rulingfamily would have eyes and ears in every part of their kingdom, so it was as well with the Marchettis in every corner of Boston. There was nothing that went on that they did not - orcould not -know about, and the power they wielded was such that it now allowed Massimo to subject his future wife's day unfold without her knowledge and from the comfort and privacy of her office. Hisfamigliahad 24/7 access to every surveillance camera installed in their territory, and what he saw...he did not like at all.

Why the hell would this woman take a canoe to work, when his city had a perfectly functioning public transit system in place?

Some people might find humor in her actions, but such pecularities had no appeal to him at all. The woman who gave birth to him had been the queen of "eccentricities", and it was this side of hers that had made Massimo's life hell.

Sheila had delighted in shocking people with her utter lack of morals; it had almost been a matter of pride for her, even when it had caused her own son to be bullied and ridiculed by his peers.

Growing up, Massimo had deliberately shunned any woman who possessed the slightest resemblance to his mother. It was why Ynez, with her coolly refined demeanor and respectable career, had completely appealed to him. Her older sister, on the other hand...

Why the fuck did La Strega want this woman to be his bride?

Like everyone else, he had assumed that his grandmother would arrange marriages that were designed to strengthen theirfamiglia's hold on their city. Cesare's bride was an heiress from a neighboringfamigliawhile Sarica had been promised to his oldest brother Giancarlo to keep the peace between her ownfamigliaand theirs.

The Ossanis, however...

Ynez and Ysabel's family had always only ever existed in the lower rungs offamigliahierarchy, and a part of Massimo had long expected that a day would come whenLa Stregawould ask him to break things off with Ynez.

But what he did not see coming at all was for the older woman to choose Ynez's own sister to be his bride.

Massimo's mouth tightened in disapproval as he switched his attention back to the screen, which was now displaying real-time footage of Ysabel humoring a group of high school girls as they asked her intrusive questions about his relationship with Ynez.

Did she not realize how unbecoming her behavior was? Or was she so desperate for attention that she would willingly gossip about her own sister, as long as it meant she would become famous as well?

Massimo's gaze narrowed when he heard Ynez and Ysabel's stepaunt tease the latter about his looks.

'There is really something too irresistible about your sister's boyfriend, don't you think?'

He waited for her to say something distastefully salacious, but all Ysabel did was grin.'I don't think I'm supposed to say yes to that.'

A brooding expression darkened Massimo's gorgeous features as he considered her words, which could only be described as impeccably appropriate. The stories Ynez often shared about her sister had led him to imagine a woman who hadn't the slightest idea of what it meant to live a normal and decent life.

It almost made him consider the possibility that Ysabel had turned over a new leaf.

Almost.

But when he remembered how Sheila had repeatedly broken her promise to him about changing—-

Non essero stupido. Don't be stupid.

A cold mask had already settled over the chiseled edges of Massimo's handsome face when the door to his office suddenly opened, and his grandmother came in unannounced.

Potenziana forgot about the business deal she wished to discuss with her grandson upon seeing what was being played on the giant wall-mounted screen across Massimo's desk. "I have never pictured you to be a stalker,bambino."

"You wound me,nonna. Have you not heard of the saying,keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

The older woman's lips pursed. "You are not convinced I have made the right choice for you?"

"You are not satisfied that I am honoring my duty tofamiglia?"

Massimo's tone was mocking, but his dark gaze was cryptic, his thoughts entirely unreadable, and that had always been the case with this grandson of hers.

People often assumed it was Cesare, with his merciless and often violent way of dealing with his enemies, whom one should fear the most among her grandsons. But in truth, it was Massimo who deserved such a title, with his heart of stone effectively disguised under seductively deceptive layers of urbane charm.

While Massimo was not an evil man - not one of her grandchildren were, thank God - neither was Potenziana blind about his faults. Massimo took his honor very seriously, and she had long suspected it was because of this that he hadn't been able to shut Ynez out of his life, the moment it became clear to him that things between them were not working.

And as for the rest of the world that had yet to prove their loyalty—-

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