"You... Y-you what?" I stutter.

"I know Roman is your father." Matteo says cautiously.

My hands fly onto my mouth and I bite back the cry's of emotion that want to spill from me. I don't know what I'm meant to be feeling. I'm feeling everything at once. How could I have been so blind, so terribly foolish and naïve?

"How long?" I whisper.

"Since just before Japan."

I gasp as I find myself stumbling backwards. That was almost two months ago. For two months he's known who I am, who my family is. He's known I am the daughter of the former Italian mafia don... And yet he's kept me, unafraid of the consequences if my father were to find me.

When my father is to find me.

"Mia, I'm sorry... But you didn't need to know I knew. It wasn't--"

"And Harry... How do you know him? Why do I not know I have a fucking brother?" I scream, suddenly filled with the most rage that I've ever experienced in my life.

A whole part of me has been hidden, a sibling I never knew I had. I always thought I was an only child, but I'm not alone, not anymore.

"What did my sister say to you, Mia?" Matteo asks again.

"Why does it fucking matter what she said?" I yell.

Matteo takes intimidating strides towards me, and I think he's about to pounce like a predator on prey, but instead he stops and takes a step back. His face is contort with so many emotions, but it slowly morphs into something softer. "Please. What did she tell you?"

"She asked me if I was going to the funeral... If I was willing to sacrifice myself for Alice. She said that Harry wants to meet me... But I don't understand. Tell me what that means Matteo." I command.

He sighs and runs his hands through his hair for the millionth time. I swear I even see some strands come out.

"Your brother is not a good person Mia, you don't want to meet him." He breaths.

"Of course I do!" I scoff. "He's my brother!"

"You may be related by blood, but trust me when I say that won't matter to him."

"Stop speaking in cryptic riddles and tell me everything straight." I grit. "Katerina told me that if I don't go to the funeral, that they will kill Alice. Were you just going to keep me here and let her die?"

"No! I was going to do everything in my power to find her and bring her back safe to New York. You weren't meant to find out."

"Well I did, and now that I know, you will be taking me to the funeral." I state and watch as Matteo's face hardens.

"No. I am not taking you to that funeral."

"Yes, you are."

"Do you even fucking understand what they are going to do to you if you go? Don't you understand that they will kill you? Mia, your brother is the very man who has made the multiple attempts on your life!" He shouts, frustrated.

I scrunch my face in confusion. What?

"That's right... Your brother; Harry has been the one threatening you. He is the one who took your friend Alice, and he is the one who is going to kill you, if you go to that funeral."

"But why?" I ask. "Why does he want to kill me? I haven't done anything--I haven't even met him." I whisper the last few words.

"Because he wants what you were entitled to from birth."

"But I gave that up! I'm not inheriting the Italian mafia, someone else is!"

I look into Matteo's dark eyes, and notice a flicker of something within them "Yes, I am."

What the hell.

"You... You're the one my father handed the Italian mafia to?"

"No--Well, yes. He handed it to my father and when he is to retire, I am the one who will take over."

This is too much.

I was kidnapped by the very person my father trusted enough to take over his very own empire.

Suddenly I feel very sick, and all the contents of my stomach begin to rise up my throat. I scramble towards the closest bathroom and luckily make it in time, to puke out my insides into the bowl.

I sob quietly as I throw up repeatedly.

Why did this have to happen to me, of all people?

I was content in college, I was happy.

Now I'm the captive of the next Italian mafia boss, while my best friend is in the clutches of my brother who wants to kill me for reasons that are unknown to me.

Once I'm heaving no more, I flush the toilet and make my way to the sink and rinse my mouth out with water, washing my hands.

"Are you alright?" Matteo asks hesitantly as he steps into the bathroom.

I don't answer and instead push my way past him and head back to the lounge room. I take a seat on the couch and place my head in my hands. A splitting pain runs through my skull and my throat hurts like hell.

I feel the couch dip slightly and look to see Matteo seated a metre away from me.

"I'm going to fix this for you Mia. You will get the life you deserve. I promise."

I let out a weak laugh. "Okay."

Matteo can't make everything better. No one can. My life is forever changed and I'm scared that this change will be the death of those around me, including myself. Alice is in danger, and if I don't go to the funeral, then she is going to die, because of my brother.

I want my Mum. I want her to tell me that everything is going to be alright. And I want Dad. I want him to protect me from the big bad world.

But as fate has it, I'm stuck with me, so I will just have to fix this shot myself. Starting with going to this funeral.

"You are going to take me to that funeral." I say, not looking at Matteo.

I can feel him tense on the couch. "I told you-"

"You will take me to that fucking funeral Matteo or so help me, I will never forgive you." I spit. "I can forgive all the terrible shit you have done to me, I can pretend that I'm okay with it, when I'm not, but this... This is unforgivable."

I clench my fists, waiting for his response. I don't know what to do if he says no. I have no other plans and what's to say he even cares if I don't forgive him?

After a few moments of agonising silence, I finally hear Matteo take a breath.

"Fine." He grits. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. Relief crashes over me instantly, though it doesn't last long. "You can go to that funeral, under one condition."

Of course.

I bite my lip in anticipation of that one condition.

"You marry me, willingly."

What?

After everything that just happened, after everything we just discussed, he still wants to marry me? What the fuck is wrong with him?

Does he seriously think I will willingly marry him?

But I have no choice. If I don't agree, then he's not going to take me to that funeral, and then I will not be able to save Alice. And what does it matter anyway, if my brother is planning on killing me in exchange for her.

Marriage is just a signature on paper. A legal formality. It doesn't have to mean anything.

There is no love in this relationship, at least not on my side.

I will never in a million year love this man, yet here I am, about to agree to this stupid condition.

"Okay." I sigh. "I'll marry you."

Matteo's face doesn't seem to lighten as I thought it would, instead his expression still remains sombre and he looks rather unimpressed. Maybe he didn't want me to say yes, maybe he was hoping I would just say no.

"Can I talk to my father?" I speak in nothing but the most quiet whisper.

The question is sudden and random and slipped from my mouth without even a second thought. If Matteo really does feel guilty about everything he has done, maybe he would give me just this one thing.

No one else would've been able to notice his face go one shade paler than normal, or the subtle shift in his posture, but I did. Something is wrong.

"I'm sorry." He mutters, and he swiftly stands from his seat.

I look up at him with confusion written all over my face. "Why not?" I ask.

He looks away from me. "You just can't."

And with that, he walks away from me, leaving me with too many questions and not enough answers.

My phone rings, pulling me from the mounds of contracts I've been looking over for the past hour.

It was in an attempt to forget about everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours, and thankfully I've managed to engross myself in it... Until now.

I pick up my phone and look at the contact number.

Unknown.

I take in a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

I wouldn't be surprised if Harry had come up with some other plan to get Mia in his grasp quicker. I'm sure Katerina told him all about what happened, and I'm sure he's finding it absolutely hilarious.

When I get my hands on that man, I will make sure to give him a slow and painful death.

"Hello?" I answer.

I can hear rough breathing on the other end of the line, and a sharp intake of breath.

"Matteo?" Dante's hoarse voice breathes into the phone.

"Holy--Dante... How--Are you alright?" I ask, suddenly much more alert than I was seconds ago.

My men and Sebastian who I had left behind in Osaka to watch over Dante had been giving me updates on how he's been progressing over the past month. Why hadn't they told me he was awake?

"It... Mia didn't..." He slurs, trying to collect his thoughts. "She didn't shoot me... She saved me." He whispers.

I shut my eyes and furrow my brows. Fuck.

Of course she was the one who saved him, how could I have even thought otherwise? I knew that something was off when she couldn't even shoot me. Even when I gave her the chance, even when I taunted and teased her. Even after I called her a murderer.

I had said all those terrible things to her, and she didn't do any of it. Why didn't she deny what I was saying?

There truly isn't a single bad bone in her.

I love her.

I realise that now. I love her so much, and I'm willing to do anything to prove that to her. I will love her until my dying breath, even when I know she doesn't love me back. I will love her until the end.

I don't realise the silence between Dante and I until it's interrupted by the sound of multiple gunshots ringing out on his end.

"Dante?" I yell frantically into the phone, but I can hear nothing but the firing of guns, men shouting and the patter of hurried footsteps.

"Dante, fucking answer me, that is an order!" I yell.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Just silence.

"Matteo Giovanni." An unfamiliar voice speaks into the phone.

"Who the fuck are you?" I growl. "What have you done, what did you-"

"Ah ah ah." The person interrupts me and I feel fire erupt within me. I grip the phone so hard that I swear I could crush it in my hands. "Don't worry... You're precious right hand man isn't dead. Though I can't say the same for the rest of your men."

I slam my fist against my desk. "What the fuck do you want?" I growl.

I hear a faint chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Harry thought you might need some extra motivation to bring Mia along to the funeral."

"Fuck. You." I grit.

I can't lose Dante, but I can't lose Mia either.

I can't win this anymore. I thought I was in control, but now I have nothing. I have no one.

"Oh, and Harry sends his regards."

With that the line cuts dead.

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