Bloody City: Temptations

Chapter Three

"I spare your brother because I would have reacted harsher then he did. If a thirty year old was to marry my sister who was eight years younger I would also challenge him on if she was good enough for him. Though if he said no I'd probably have him disappear,".

Aria shuttered at my words and I felt my self loathing grow. I had only succeeded in scaring her more. But her next words surprised me.

"I'll marry you if you ask me to," she spoke in such a soft voice and with a gentleness that I lacked as a person.

"You're going to have to repeat yourself Arianna," I say merely to confirm what I'd already heard to please my ego like the narcissist I was.

"If you view me as worthy for peace of our Familias, to resist conflict, and ask me to I will marry you. But I expect to be treated with respect, I know how some men treat their wives and mistresses," Aria says her voice taking on an assertive nature I both hadn't suspected but found incredibly intriguing.

"You have no need to fear my treatment of you Aria. All of my men know that I disapprove of cruelty and mistreatment towards women. It carries a death sentence in my territory," I say hoping my words reassured her.

"Is that why two men carried out a carpet as we walked through the house, with a box on top of it?" she asks, "or was that just someone who had displeased you".

Confirming either would speak to my vicious nature but both were true. Romeo deserved painful suffering he'd endured as he bled to death.

"He had dishonored the Underboss of La Spezia's underaged daughter, I wanted his head removed in my home before being sent away to be buried, her father wanted his head. Like I said I am a killer," I say walking around the desk slowly giving Aria a chance to step away from me. She didn't though, she'd remained still even as I took her petite hand in my large one.

"As long as none of my family have similar fates I am not against being yours," Aria said looking up at me her lips parting and I wanted nothing more then to pin her to the desk and kiss her but it wasn't right, it would be a spit in the face of her family's honour.

"You and your family are safe, I cannot promise that reason may not come up but I can promise that I wish none of you harm as we stand. I may be a monster but I'm not unfair," I say realizing I was getting to sentimental, I was trusting her too much, and trusting people too easy was a weakness, one I could afford to fall victim too.

Letting go of her hand I felt my mask go back up even if her face fell.

"Go to the living room, your parents will be there I will talk to them now," I say taking a step away from her and returning to my spot behind the desk as she exhaled sharply.

Arianna then wordlessly left my office and I watched her leave admiring her figure as she did.

Fuck, what was I a teenage boy.

Walking over to my collection of glasses and bottles I poured myself a drink and downed the inch of liquid to ease myself as best as I could, before making another and carrying it to my desk and set it down.

Sitting down I thought about Aria's face. She was so pure and the fact that she was the definition of piety didn't help my conscience. There were so many ways that this marriage could cause problems and difficulties but I knew that for the sake of peace even if it were temporary I would be willing to marry. Aria was the opposite of me and would force me to be a man that I wasn't, she'd become unhappy with who I was but I owed it to the Familia to attempt to follow this tradition.