Ambrosia (Nectar Trilogy, Book 2) (32 page)

I stared at him. Words won’t form on my lips.

He narrowed his gaze at me, “No need to be rude.”

I shook my head, “I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Thank you.  For the congrats.”

He nodded, “Dario, get a bottle of water for Athena.” Angry hot blond guy nodded and left the room.

“So, I take it your father filled you in? Why don’t you tell me what he said to you, ah? He used to have an unfortunate habit of leaving out important facts. Maybe he still does.”

Boy, did I know that.

Blond guy, Dario, returned with a bottle of water and handed it to me, then left the office.

“Umm thanks,” I took a sip, “I haven’t seen much of my father in years. He turned up today at my high school graduation and then told me I had to be a marker for a few days so he could get money together to clear up a gambling debt?”

Thomas Ferrano laughed, “Interesting spin.”

My heart plummeted. Spin? If that wasn’t the truth, what was?

“Isn’t that the truth?” I asked, starting to tremble.

“Not exactly. Your father owes me a rather large debt, one I’m not sure he can ever actually repay.” He looked at me expectantly.

“Why am I here, then?”

“Let’s say you’ve been drafted.” he smirked.

Huh?

“My son Tommy needs to get married. He hasn’t found Miss Perfect yet. Your father owes me a great deal. I’ve agreed to consider writing off the debt if my son decides you’re Miss Perfect.”

I started to laugh, “Am I being punk’d?”

“Excuse me?” he asked and I knew, then, that he was serious.

“I don’t understand…” The room began to slowly turn.  I was white-knuckled, gripping the arms of the chair I sat in.

“Simple, really. As of now you are property of the Ferrano family.”

If my chin wasn’t touching the floor right now, it must be awfully close. Had I been transported back to the dark ages? I didn’t know what to say. I was totally and utterly gob smacked.

“So, I’ve arranged for you to be transported to Tommy’s home. There you two can get acquainted and go from there, see if this is an amicable arrangement for him.”

For him? For him?

“What?” I can’t fathom this, “No.”

Don’t I have to agree to this? I don’t agree to this. He raised his index finger and his eyes narrowed. He took on a much more menacing look, “Listen carefully. This meeting, the one between you and my son, if it doesn’t go well it won’t bode well for your father and it may not bode well for you, either.  We have many options available for where you could go. I think you’d prefer ending up with my son over the alternatives. We’re a wealthy and powerful family so you could be in a much worse position, believe me. I’d advise you to cooperate. You’re in an enviable position, Athena. I’ll be seeing you soon. Tommy’s brother will drive you. Dario!”

Enviable? Was this man whacked in the head?

The door opened and Dario popped his head in.

“Take Athena to your brother. Athena, don’t be difficult. I wouldn’t advise it. It was nice to see you again. You’ve grown up to be a lovely girl. An almost dead ringer for your mother.” He gave me a big smile.  My blood ran cold.

My mother?  This man knew my mother? See me again? When had he seen me before? This man was scary. The brother was scary. Their thugs or whatever they were --- really scary. Was I in the middle of the fricking dark ages or what? An arranged marriage to a mafia kingpin’s son to save my father’s life? This was nuts! If I was asleep I wanted to wake up right now!

Dario led me back out to the SUV and two of the other guys got in, too. One had apparently opted out of this leg of the drive.  They thought they needed muscle to get me from point A to point B, evidently. Were they afraid I’d try to run? I didn’t know what the heck I was dealing with here so no, I wasn’t about to run now before sussing things out. I didn’t want to end up dead. I didn’t want Dad to end up dead.  Did Dad really sell me out like this?  I mean, he was a lousy father, for sure, but did he really sell me to the mafia in exchange for payment of his old gambling debts? Not a marker. Not temporarily.  Sold, like chattel. Married off. No way. He was capable of a lot but this? Surely not. This was North America and the 21
st
century. This kind of stuff didn’t happen.

I combed through my memory. The name Ferrano rang bells. Was he known in the city as a mafia guy? Where had I heard his name from? I stayed somewhat up to speed on current events and his name and face was familiar but I couldn’t place it. 

What might’ve been about ten minutes later the SUV was pulling up in front of another set of gates.  The drive had been quiet, more sports, I figured out was soccer, on the radio and no talking other than a “Woo” and a “Yes!” in unison from angry driver, err Dario and burly # two (number one had opted out) on what must’ve been a goal… it’d all been white noise to me due to my state of mind.

“Wait here,” Dario told me after getting past the gate and then he walked into the house alone. Me and the muscle sat in awkward silence.

My purse started ringing my ringtone for Ruby, Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake.

“Hand it over,” Burly #2 said gruffly and I knew he meant business.

I took my cell phone out and handed it to him.

Tommy

Dare was inside my doorway, “I come bearing gifts. I deliver your bride,” he gave a gallant bow and then snickered at me.  I’d just gotten here and had known they were going to be along soon.

I rolled my eyes, “Fucking Pop.”

He laughed, leaning against the wall, “She’s a looker, bro. He did good.”

“Don’t look at my bride.” I pointed at him, a little smirk on my face. I punched his shoulder playfully, “And just you wait. I’m sure he’s lining up someone for you to marry next.”

“Since you’ll be head of the family, I think that means you get to pick, doesn’t it?”

I threw my head back and let out an evil laugh, “Oh yeah. And just you wait!”

“I’ll go get her,” He told me, grinning. He knew I’d have his back. Truth be told, he couldn’t wait for Pop to head out to pasture.  Dare and I had plans for taking the family business to the next level together. We were half-brothers and five years apart but we’d grown up together and were alike in many ways. He was the only other person I’d 100% trust to have my back. I didn’t even trust my father 100%. 

I didn’t think he’d set out to do harm to me intentionally but I knew that we were all pawns, to a degree, and that his idea of having my back and Dare’s idea of the same would diverge.

“Put her in my bedroom and lock the door.” I said and wiggled my eyebrows. Then I walked into my office to tie up a few loose ends before the big reveal. I didn’t know much about her yet but from what I did know so far, I guessed that she wouldn’t have taken the news of today lightly. I was anticipating, even hoping for some resistance and looking fucking forward to it.

Tia

The guy with my phone gave it to Dario when he came back to the SUV.

“Let’s go,” Dario said to me with a chin lift.

Michael Clarke Duncan lookalike guy let me out and I had to walk around the back of the truck to meet up with Dario. I couldn’t run. The gate was shut. Would I run, though, if it wasn’t? Thomas Ferrano threatened me, pretty much saying Dad was a goner if I didn’t cooperate, and maybe me, too. But what was going to happen to me here?

I followed Dario into the big house, feeling a little shaky and a lot queasy.  I couldn’t help but notice the architectural details of the place because it was the sort of house I’d always dreamt of living in. It looked like a pretty hacienda, had an orange terra cotta roof, white parging with archways. There were loads of flowers everywhere. Climbing vines, overflowing baskets, covering the ground, everywhere. 

Inside the front door was a foyer that opened to a staircase directly to my left and a long hallway under an arch to my right. This was the kind of house Mom and I used to talk about having, a hacienda and beautiful gardens. It was her dream to live in a house like this and it’d become my dream, too.  I shivered at the thought of my Mom, unable to fathom all this.

“Follow me,” Dario led the way up the stairs, down a long hall with several closed doors to a set of double doors, and then opened them both and walked in. I followed inside.

“Bag?” He motioned.

I hesitated.

“I’ll give your bag and phone to Tommy. He’ll decide when you can have them back.”

I was trembling. I couldn’t help it. I was in a big master suite with a king-sized bed, about to be left for someone who thought they had a claim on me. I was supposed to be at a party celebrating the end of my childhood and the beginning of life as an adult.   An adult with choices, a future, independence.

This was not that. This was something else. This something else was bad. Very bad. He nodded politely, reached over to the bedside table and picked up a cordless phone, and then he left with it. I let out a big breath, as if I’d been holding it in for hours.  I had to keep my cool somehow. If I had a freak out, there was no telling what would happen to me. If I kept my coo, I could suss everything out and then make a calculated decision about what to do.

I surveyed the room. It was nice, luxurious, even. Soft dove gray walls, big dark wood furniture, lots of leather, exposed beam ceilings with ceiling fans. The room was decorated in gray and black. It didn’t really match the hacienda theme outside and I wouldn’t say it was my taste, really, but it was nice. There was a big difference from this room to the kind of room I was used to.  The small room I’d shared with Bethany with our two twin loft beds with desks underneath and drawers for stairs was small but we’d made it our own. Here was a room I was expected to share with a man. I cringed, looking at the bed, fearing what I’d be expected to do. I knew nothing about this Tommy. All I knew was that I was in a pickle of a situation and I didn’t know how I’d get myself out.

Rose, Cal, and everyone must’ve been worried about me right now. Or had my Dad made up an excuse? They’d probably report me missing if they didn’t hear from me in a few hours. They knew how stoked I was about this party.  Rose had made me my favorite artichoke and spinach dip as well as mozzarella sticks plus a plethora of appetizers that the other girls had requested.  There was a huge cake for us, two thirds vanilla and a third chocolate because me and Mia preferred vanilla and Beth preferred chocolate. Cal had suggested three separate cakes or cupcakes with icing slathered all over to hold them all together but we were all so close we wanted the same cake.  Rose had said she had our photos put on in icing. I never saw my cake. A tear slid down my cheek. Then I heard the doorknob turn and I dashed it away and held the others back. I put my lips together and stood still, back straight, took a deep breath, and waited.

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