Chapter 13: Over my dead body.
Uncle Lorenzo looks at Olivia.
For the first time since we walked into this room, he doesn’t look like the Don, he looks like an uncle.
Tired and almost regretful.
"There isn’t an easy way to say this."
Olivia’s brows pull together.
Uncle Lorenzo exhales slowly and leans back in his chair.
"If there were another way..."
His eyes briefly drop to the table before returning to Olivia.
"...I’d take it."
Lorenzo’s jaw tightens.
"But there isn’t....Not one that doesn’t end with more blood."
Olivia’s face loses some of its confusion.
"Uncle, what are you talking about?"
She gives a nervous little laugh.
"And why am ww even here?"
Lorenzo doesn’t answer immediately.
Olivia sits straighter.
"Uncle?"
His eyes settle on her.
"You’re going to marry Lysander Sanchez."
Everything stops. For a second, I don’t understand the sentence, i hear the words, i understand every individual word.
But together?They make no fucking sense.
Olivia doesn’t move as her face slowly drains of color.
"What?"
Lorenzo’s voice remains steady.
"You will marry Lysander. The marriage will seal the agreement between our families and bring the war to an end."
Silence.....Complete, suffocating silence.
I stare at him, att Olivia, then at Lysander.
Lysander hasn’t moved an inch, he’s sitting there like someone just announced tomorrow’s weather.
My sister blinks several times.
"You’re..."
Her voice cracks.
"You’re joking."
Olivia’s eyes search Uncle Lorenzo’s face.
Waiting, begging for some indication that this is some sick test.
A prank....Anything.
But Lorenzo simply looks at her.
"No."
Her lips part.
"What?"
"You heard me."
She shakes her head.
"No."
Her voice is quieter this time and almost teary.
"No, Uncle."
Hearing her close to tears snaps me back from the trance I’m in. I push my chair backward so quickly it scrapes violently against the floor. I don’t even realize I’m standing until my palm slams against the table.
"What the fuck did you just say?"
Lorenzo’s eyes snap toward me.
"Nerissa."
"No."
I point toward Olivia.
"You’re marrying her off to a Sanchez?!"
My voice rises.
"One of the fucking Sanchez?"
"Nerissa."
"No!"
I don’t care, I can’t care. I look at Olivia, she’s sitting there frozen.
Her hands are clenched tightly in her lap, she looks terrified and something inside me snaps.
I move around the table and position myself directly in front of her.
She’s taller than me, older than me and she doesn’t need me to protect her but she’s my sister.
And that’s enough.
I spread my arms slightly, nt that my body could actually stop anyone in this room.
But they would have to go through me first.
"You can’t do this."
Lorenzo’s expression hardens.
"It’s already decided."
"Then fuckjng un-decide it uncle. "
His eyes narrow.
"Watch your tone and language."
"Fuck my tone."
"Nerissa!."
Cassian’s voice carries a warning.
I whip my head toward him.
"Cas, do something!"
He looks at me, I see that he wants to.
God, he wants to but he can’t... because this isn’t a family discussion.
It’s a decision made by the Don nd everyone in this room knows what that means.
His jaw clenches.
"Nerissa..."
"Don’t."
I shake my head.
"Don’t tell me there’s nothing you can do."
He looks away.
That hurts more than I expected.
I turn back toward Lorenzo.
"You can’t force her to marry someone she doesn’t want."
"I can nd I will."
My hands curl into fists.
"She’s your niece!."
"And you’re both Lucianos, surely you know you have responsibilities to this family that is more than shopping and whatever shit you girls do."
His voice hardens.
I laugh bitterly.
"Responsibilities?"
I gesture around the room.
"Is that what we’re calling this now?"
Lorenzo’s gaze sharpens.
"The war between our families has cost us hundreds of lives."
"And you think sacrificing Olivia fixes that?"
"It prevents more deaths."
"You don’t know that."
"I know exactly what happens if this agreement fails."
He looks toward the Sanchez brothers.
"They know it too."
My gaze follows his to Lysander nd my anger turns toward him.
He looks almost bored and my eyes narrow.
"You."
His gaze finally settles on me.
Those eyes....those damn eyes.
Four years disappear in an instant. Rain, blood, his body pressed against mine as I dragged him toward my car, his voice telling me to leave him and now he’s here, sitting across from me, trying to marry my sister.
I step toward him.
"You’re okay with this?"
His expression doesn’t change.
"It’s an arrangement. It doesn’t matter if I’m okay with it or not."
I almost laugh.
"An arrangement?"
My voice trembles with disbelief.
"That’s what you’re calling it?"
Lysander’s eyes remain fixed on mine.
"It ends the war."
"It ruins her life!."
"That’s not my intention."
I scoff.
"Intentions don’t mean shit when you don’t give someone a choice."
His jaw tightens nd for the first time, I see a flicker of irritation.
Good.
At least he’s human.
I take another step toward him.
"I think you’ll find yourself, Lysander, with a knife in your throat if you come anywhere fucking near my sister."
The room goes dead silent.
Cassian closes his eyes briefly, Olivia whispers my name trying to rein me in.
"Rissa..."
Lorenzo’s expression turns murderous.
"Nerissa."
I don’t look at him, my eyes remain on Lysander.
He doesn’t flinch, he simply studies me. Almost thoughtfully.
Then his gaze flickers toward Olivia nd for the briefest moment, something changes in his expression.
Something I can’t identify, then his attention returns to me.
"You misunderstand."
"I don’t give a shit."
"I think you’ll find....."
"I think you’ll find you should shut the fuck up."
"Nerissa!"
Lorenzo’s voice cracks through the room.
"Enough!."
I turn toward him.
"No."
His eyes widen slightly.
"No?"
I point toward Olivia.
"You just told her she’s marrying a man from the family we’ve spent our entire lives fighting. A family we hate and a family that hates us right back. They will take her away from us, how will she cope then?."
I can feel my voice breaking.
"You didn’t ask her."
I look at Olivia, her eyes are glossy and she looks completely lost.
That sight nearly breaks me.
I turn back to Lorenzo.
"Please uncle."
