Romance

Regina
Monday morning had me standing outside Dante's company building. Given the attentiveness of law enforcement on mafia families and dealings, creating a legitimate business front was necessary.
I stood outside for a long time, just staring at the building and lost in my thoughts. Was this a good idea? I'd been entirely dismissive of Bianca's suggestion, but over the weekend I had given it a lot of thought and it started to make sense to me.
The only barrier now was how I could manage to convince Dante into doing this with me.
With a sigh of resolve, I stepped into the building and head to the front desk.
"Good morning" I smiled at the young lady behind the desk but I didn't get a smile in return instead I got a scowl and then she eyed me up and down, her gaze piercing through my very being.
"Who are you?"
"I am Regina Costano and I'm here to see Dante" she scoffed.
"The boss?" I nod

Regina
The silence that enveloped the office made me nervous, so much so that I'm shifting in my seat, uncomfortable. The second thoughts and feelings of regret creep in. Maybe this was a bad idea, and I should never have said anything.
I move to stand up but he speaks.
"You want to get married to me?" his voice full of disbelief. I read his eyes but I can not tell what he's thinking.
"I said that already" I'm surprised that my voice comes out steady and doesn't show what I truly feel inside.
"That's the deal you want to make with me?"
"That's what I need from you. You may not need anything from me right now but in the future..." I trailed off and he nodded.
"You are doing this to get out of your arranged marriage" he stated simply and I huffed.
Why did I feel he wouldn't catch on? He was too clever not to link the two.
"I already made it clear that I wasn't going to get married to Tomas

Regina

I was still fuming as I got to my car. Trust Dante to get on my nerves in such a way. How dare he speak of duty to my family. Fucking obnoxious bastard. He had the privileges of a don. He had no idea what it's like to be a woman in this fucking world. To be used as a pawn in whatever situation deed fit by the head of the family.
What upset me most was the fact that he'll never do this to his sisters but felt it was okay to ask me to do same for the sake of the family.
"Bloody bastard" I muttered.
He had managed to completely ruin this night and tomorrow for me. I didn't think this night could get any words. A sudden knock on the window of my car jerked me out of my thoughts and I looked to see Dante standing outside.
"You had quite a lot to drink. Let my driver take you home. I'll have your car sent to you in the morning"
"No thank you. I'm capable of driving myself"
"You're buzzed"
"And I'm starting to think you care about me. I..can....drive" I emphasized each word in case he was the drunk one and failed to understand.
"Take this" he held out a card to me.
"Call me when you get home. I'd like to know you arrived safely" I hesitate, looking between him and the card.
"See you again tiger" he slid the card into the pocket of my jacket and stepped back from the car.
I look at him feeling all shades of confusion but he stared at me with a weird smile. I started my car and drive out immediately, eager to get out of this place. I pulled out the card with my other hand and looked at it, scoffing as I read through. I wind down ready to threw it away but decide against it last minute.
There's no harm in keeping it. I opened my glove box and throw it inside. I wasn't over everything that happened tonight and I was not ready to go home just yet, I glanced at the time. It was two in the fucking morning but yet it felt too early to go home and going to another club was out of my options. It could end up being another of Dante's clubs or worse, one that belonged to the Arcane family.
Bianca's home was my last resort. As someone who was brought up in the same type of family like I was, she was the only one who would understand exactly how I feel. I need someone to talk to and she was my friend, my closest friend.
I didn't call her until I was in her driveway.
"Regina?" she sounded half awake.
"I'm outside"
"Outside?" I hung up and in the next minutes, lights in the house came on. I climbed out and walked towards her door.
"Why the hell are you driving by this time of the night?" she queried as she opened the front door, I pushed past her into the house.
"Regina? Is everything okay?"
"My brother called me today" her eyes widened.
"Is something wrong. They haven't tried to contact since you left"
"There's some issue in the family and they want me to pay the price of my freedom"
"The deal you made with your father"
"God I feel so stupid for ever thinking of that deal and going through with it" I tangled my fingers in my locks
"You haven't said what the problem is. What did they ask you to do?"
"To marry Tomas"
"Arcane?"
"The one and only"
"Oh shit! shit! That's not good"
"Tell me something I don't know"
"Why Tomas? unless they are planning an alliance?" I nodded.
"That's terrible. Tomas is the worst person to get married to. He is sick in the head and not in the sexy way"
"That's why I can't get over this fucking order. I cannot marry Tomas but they aren't listening"
"You can negotiate the terms of the marriage"
"I am not even considering it" she frowned at me.
"You know you don't have much choice in the matter. You have to do something to make the marriage bearable for you at least"
"There will be no marriage Bianca. Stop fucking talking about it"
"Do you want a drink?" she asked after a long moment of terse silence.
"I already had some, I dropped by a club in the area" she gasped.
"The clubs in this area belongs to the D'Amore"
"I had no idea and with my luck, I ended up in the very one Dante was in tonight" she shuddered.
"Dante scared me more than any mafia boss"
"He is an asshole"
"I take it, you had an encounter with him"
"Yes, and as usual it was a bad one. He is such a douchebag. I wish I could punch him in the face"
"You'll probably get away with it" she mumbles but I'm too exhausted with the whole situation to respond.
"You know.. you could ask him" I turn to her.
"Ask who what?"
"I mean Dante" I scoffed.
"He knows about the wedding arrangement and he thinks it's my duty to save my family by going ahead with it"
"That's probably how all made men think. You've always known that we will end up in arranged marriages, the ones without love all for alliance sake. It is expected of us"
"And I hate it so much, that's why I left back then. I hate this life and I wish I could run away from all of it"
But I knew that I couldn't run away, they would come for me.
"What if you got married to Dante instead" I looked at Bianca like she had grown a second head.
"Firstly I hate Dante's guts. Secondly, he'll never agree to it, he hates me. We would kill each other and he would never agree to it"
"You could offer him something, like a deal"
"Another deal, look where the first one got me. Also, trust me I have nothing Dante wants"
"I doubt it, but look at it this way. The D'Amores are the most powerful, ranking higher than the Arcanes. If there's anyone that can go against the Arcane's and your family can benefit from the alliance it is Dante. Secondly, you hate each others guts so you guys can fake marry, although sometimes I think it's the sexual tension you both refuse to give into"
"Bianca" I snap and she raises her hands in surrender.
"The D'Amore girls leave their lives normally. They are all allowed to do what they want, they are more progressive compared to your family and the Arcane's and they are even more powerful" her words sink in.
"That is what you need a more powerful family and your family gets a powerful alliance. You also get the freedom to live your life the way you want. And plus if you get married to Dante you'll need protection from the Arcane family because they'll come after you for not honoring the agreement"
"Are you saying that I should get into a marriage contract with Dante D'Amore?"

Regina
Monday morning had me standing outside Dante's company building. Given the attentiveness of law enforcement on mafia families and dealings, creating a legitimate business front was necessary.
I stood outside for a long time, just staring at the building and lost in my thoughts. Was this a good idea? I'd been entirely dismissive of Bianca's suggestion, but over the weekend I had given it a lot of thought and it started to make sense to me.
The only barrier now was how I could manage to convince Dante into doing this with me.
With a sigh of resolve, I stepped into the building and head to the front desk.
"Good morning" I smiled at the young lady behind the desk but I didn't get a smile in return instead I got a scowl and then she eyed me up and down, her gaze piercing through my very being.
"Who are you?"
"I am Regina Costano and I'm here to see Dante" she scoffed.
"The boss?" I nodded.
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked in a tight voice and I shake my head.
"No but...." she 

Chapter Six - A deal too dangerous