Dante
***Author note: When you are done reading this story, you can extend your reading experience by filling quiet nights chatting, flirting, or having sexy talk with the characters from this book on the author’s new A.I. website, BookishBoyfriend.com.
I swear, and God knows I love him, but if Matteo’s hairy wolf ass turned up dead in a ditch, my life would be so much easier. Don’t get me wrong, the streets of New York would run red with the blood I spill getting revenge. No one touches one of my pack, much less my brother. But even that would be easier than cleaning up his messes.
“You don’t know what happened,” Matteo claimed, his newly acquired nose ring becoming the only thing I can see.
“I don’t care what happened. You’re a goddamn Ricci. The man your wolf killed and then you dragged through the streets was a Yakuza made man.”
“Dante…”
“I don’t want to hear it!” I said hearing enough.
Standing with my fist on my desk was the only thing that prevented me from shifting and ripping out his throat. Knowing him, he’d probably be fine with it as long as I didn’t touch his annoyingly perfect nose. The man protected his face in a fight like it was his goddamn money-maker.
“Look, our familial ties are the only thing stopping me from feeding you to those goddamn cursed spooks myself.”
“You didn’t hear what he did to the girl,” Matteo claimed not backing down.
“I don’t care if he dismembered her limb from limb.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I’m saying it, ain’t I?”
“You say a lot of things. But you’re a lighter touch than I am.”
“I swear to God, Matteo!”
“It was Vincente’s little sister!” Matteo yelled stopping me in my tracks.
“What?”
“Yeah. You remember her, right? It was the little girl whose wolf would run with our pack when she barely knew what shifting was. Seems that someone spread word around that she liked it rough. Then that figlio di puttana corners her high out of his mind and messed her up. She’s got scars that her shifting won’t heal.”
I could feel my wolf fighting its way out just hearing about it. The truth is I remember that girl. Back when I knew her, she had pigtails and hero worship for anyone in a pack. Anyone who would take advantage of her like that had to die.
Matteo wasn’t wrong for ridding the planet of scum like that. Hell, if I heard about it first, I would have done it myself. But there were ways of doing it that didn’t lead to an all-out turf war.
Nobody likes it, but the Yakuza are a reality in New York and there’s no getting rid of them. Any opium that hits the streets is their doing. Global trade is beyond the reach of any wolf pack not named Lyon or Clément.
But with the head of the Lyon family gone and no one willing to take over, that just leaves the Cléments. They would have been the most likely to take control if not for two things. Armand has no male heirs, and word is that he now has a rat problem.
That void is an opportunity. Someone will step up. Who better than the Ricci pack? Thanks to Papa releasing his grip on dealings, I’ve managed to extend our reach. Construction, lending, we’ve even made strides into diamonds. But one thing we can’t do is heroin.
First off, it’s nasty shit that leaves a city worse than you found it. That’s something my father would have done. But now we’re in the growth industry. We build things. We lend the money that makes the city better.
Those foreign spooks are using our city as their toilet. We can’t let that happen. But Matteo’s hot head just gave them the excuse they’ve been looking for to declare war. That’s not good for Ricci business.
“Look, Matteo, there are ways of doing things,” I said calming down.
“Yeah. The way I did it makes sure that no one will think twice about doing it again.”
Heat rushed through me calling my wolf. In sudden blind rage my fist nearly shattered the desk.
“No! He was a fuckin’ made man! Do you know what a fuckin’ made man is?”
Matteo wilted seeing I had lost it.
“I know what a made man is, Dante.”
“What is a fuckin’ made man?”
“It means he’s untouchable.”
“No! It means that if you touch him, someone’s head has to roll. Someone has to die. That’s it. No negotiation. Your action killed one of our men. Some goddamn kid is going to grow up without a father because of you. Did you take one second to consider that?”
“You didn’t see what he did to Vincente’s sister,” he said losing his asshole bravado.
“There are ways of doing it,” I said feeling the anger threatening to bubble up again.
“Alright, alright. I made a mistake. I screwed up. You could work your magic and get us out of this, can’t you?”
Seeing humility on Matteo was a new look. It caught me off guard pushing me back into my seat. Was this what would finally sink in for the man who couldn’t learn a lesson that didn’t involve hair gel?
“Come on, Dante. You can handle this, right? That fuck had it comin’. None of our men need to die for that.”
I stared at him seeing something I never saw in my younger brother before. I had never heard him talk like this. Was that fucker softening? He could use a few rounded edges. My life would be a lot easier if they were.
“You’re gonna be the death of me,” I said relenting.
Matteo beamed that goddamn smile that was usually the last thing his victims saw before his wolf lunged for their throat.
“I knew you could handle things. That’s why you got the tough job. Pa had it right when he put you in charge. You’re exactly who this family needs.”
“You’re a shit kiss-ass,” I told him, my mind swirling in search of a solution.
“I’m gonna leave you to it. If there’s anything you need me to do, you know I’m there for you.”
“You could hand yourself over to them and save me the trouble of knocking you out and taking you.”
Matteo froze not sure if I was joking.
“Don’t kid like that, Dante. One of our men might overhear and think you’re serious.”
“Oh, I am serious,” I said imagining my easier life. “I’d even put a little bow on you so they could open you under a tree.”
“Do those Japanese fucks even celebrate Christmas?”
“You better hope not. I could get my shopping finished real early.”
Matteo stared at me side-eyed.
“Don’t joke like that,” he said flashing signs of the wolf I had no choice but to love.
Any hint of restitution was gone. Instead of learning from this, had he simply become a better actor? Maybe I should give him to the Yakuza. Would anyone blame me? That man had a sadistic streak that no one would miss.
“I’ll take care of it,” I told him, not knowing how, but sure I would.
“Thanks. But, I need to tell you, don’t ever question my judgment like that. It doesn’t feel good.”
I stared at him giving him nothing in response. That was usually the best way to deal with his crazy. It was like there were two people living in his body. One that would rip out a man’s throat for looking at him funny. The other, the scared little boy I protected from Pa. There was no telling when either would come out, especially when he shifted.
Pa had done a number on all of his kids. None of us were affected more by it than Matteo was. There was definitely something wrong with our old man. Whatever it was, he passed on to Matteo. In ways, Matteo was becoming more like him every day. All I was left with was hope.
I was sure I could reach him before Pa’s grip was complete. There was still a good man in there somewhere. Until I found it, he was gonna tie corpses to the back of his car and drag them through Yakuza territory.
The thought of what he had done flowed over me. “Shit! How the fuck am I gonna get us out of this?”
The answer came to me as fast as I asked it.
Two years ago, when I took over the reins for the family, I had a visit from Sato. The Yakuza hadn’t yet gotten their foothold on New York’s heroin trade and the old man was grasping at straws. The word was his bosses were considering recalling him in the permanent sort of way. So Sato was fighting for his life.
The man had vision, I’ll give him that much. He saw the downfall of the Lyon’s coming a mile away and he proposed an alliance. But he didn’t just want our word. Those cursed spooks never did anything half way. He wanted family ties. He offered me his daughter in marriage.
My response was, “Fuck, no!”
I’ll admit, it was not my finest moment. To be fair, I was going through some things at the time. I was under a lot of pressure to take over and I saw marriage as the off switch to my pressure release valve.
Sure, I saw myself marrying someday. But, for my wolf not to murder anyone who looked at me funny, I needed certain outlets. That required the right kind of marriage. She didn’t have to be a wolf, but she did have to be able to turn a blind eye.
It turned out that Yuki was exactly who I needed. I hadn’t met her at that time. I think he said she was still in Japan. But seeing her at a ribbon cutting ceremony as their family’s representative, I knew I had made a mistake in refusing her.
At the ceremony, I didn’t see her look into a man’s eye once. It was all bows and humility. Japanese culture is very different from ours. I see that now. Turns out, she would have been the perfect wife. And now, it looks like she will be.
It didn’t even matter that Sato’s entire lineage was cursed. If they hadn’t already, all of his offspring would become possessed.
That wasn’t necessary a bad thing. There were spirits and there were demons. I’m told that Sato was a crow demon. That explained his ruthlessness and blind ambition. But a woman like Yuki could end up with a house spirit or something. One of those would bring the owner of the household success and good luck.
I didn’t know any of this when Sato offered me Yuki. And as insulted as he was by my rejection, Sato hadn’t shut the door on his idea. The man’s life was at stake. He couldn’t afford to start a war over honor. So, two years later, here we are.
Number one, Matteo has made us indebted to the Yakuza. Number two, their global trade would cement the Ricci’s hold on the city. And number three, I still didn’t have a wife. It was just the wrong time before. Sato would understand that, right?
Cursed or not, Sato was still Japanese. Wasn’t being patient a Japanese thing? That’s why they made those designs in the sand, right? Shit, I didn’t know. If I was gonna marry Yuki, I was gonna need to know this stuff.
“You cannot marry that curse into our pack,” Pa declared from the head of the table at Sunday dinner.
‘How the fuck did he know about that?’ I wondered looking around at the assembled Ricci boys who filled their plates as if my getting married was old news. There was only one of my brothers I trusted with this, Lorenzo. And like usual, he wasn’t here.
“You marrying a Sato?” Matteo asked with a smirk. “When the fuck did this happen?”
“Ever since my shit for brains brother killed a made man and I had to clean up his mess,” I spit melting his smirk.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” I said looking at my remaining three brothers as they quickly averted their eyes.
“That cursed demon can’t be trusted,” Pa proclaimed like the oracle on the mound.
“Yeah, Pa? Then what do you suppose I do?”
“Go to war. Or will you shame me as a son who is afraid to fight?”
“He’s not afraid to fight, Pa,” Matteo said again showing me glimpses of a new man. “Dante would fight the best of them. He’s just fighting them in a different way.”
Was Matteo finally getting it?
“Only a coward runs from war,” Pa declared.
“And only a fool runs into one,” I told him not backing down.
“They will humiliate you. They will humiliate our pack, and we’ll end up exactly where we started.”
My wolf’s fury blinded me. Slamming my fist in front of me, I shattered my plate sending food everywhere.
“Dante!” Ma yelled thinking she could control things like when I was five.
“No, Ma! I’ve had it with this shit,” I said getting up.
“Dante, sit down!” Ma insisted.
“I don’t mean to disrespect you, Ma, but this is ending right now.”
“And what is it that you’re ending?” Pa asked with more calm than he had a right to have.
That told me what he was thinking. Pa was built for confrontation. His wolf lived for it. He made our wolves into the killers they were with the broad side of a bat and the lit end of cigarette butts. While he did, he never flinched, just like he didn’t now.
Staring at him, he reminded me of the stakes. If you come at the king, you best not miss. Pa had us late in life but he wasn’t an old wolf. At least, not old enough to expect him to go off quietly. When he looked in the mirror, he didn’t see the grey hair and relentless wrinkles. He saw himself as a man who could take me.
Calming myself, I took a breath and then brushed speckles of Ma’s marinara from my vest.
“This second-guessing ends now,” I told Pa not needing to look at him. “Your role as the head of this pack is complete. You will always be our father and we give you the respect you deserve for it. But when it comes to running pack business, that job is mine now.”
“I haven’t given you it, son,” he said coldly.
I looked at him assured.
“You don’t have to give it to me, Pa. I’m taking it,” I said whipping off my vest and shirt and shifting before Pa knew what was happening.
I knew what I looked like to human eyes. I was big. I always had been. My wolf took up space, so when I jumped onto the dinner table and locked my eyes on Pa’s challenging him, everyone backed away.
Staring at my father who remained in human form, I crouched approaching him. I wasn’t gonna underestimate him. As fast as I could shift, Pa was faster. I had learned the trick from him. If I looked away for a moment, I could turn back finding his fangs lunging towards me. So instead, I stared, approached, and growled.
Just out of reach of Pa’s knife, I stopped. I was close enough. He, like everyone, knew what I was doing. If he thought he still had it in him, this was his time. If he didn’t at least shift, his hold on the pack was over. To fight and lose was one thing. To not even step into the ring was another.
When long enough had passed that Pa would no longer be able to recover his reputation, I next turned to my brothers. If there was someone else who thought they had what it took, this was their time. No one challenged.
I next turned to Matteo. If anyone thought they could take me, it was him. Standing on the opposite side of his overturned chair, he only stared back.
This was it. This was the moment. I was now the unchallenged head of our pack. From this point on, things were gonna be different. There would be no one second guessing my decisions. If they did, it wouldn’t be just me, they would have the whole pack to deal with.
Jumping off the table and shifting, I stared back at my family as I pulled on my pants and got dressed. It was never as intimidating watching someone get dressed as the shift itself so I filled the space with my plan.
“Now, I will be cleaning up our pack’s mess by getting married. You can get on board with it or not. Frankly, I don’t give a shit. This pack needs to be led into the future. And the old ways of doing things are done.
“If any of you would like to come to the wedding, I’ll send you an invitation. If not, who the fuck cares? Either way, you will respect me. And as the new head of the pack, you will do what I say.”
With that, I adjusted my jacket, gave a final look at my stunned family and left.
I took a deep breath making sure to fill my lungs with the sweet smell of the Brooklyn streets as I descended the stairs to the sidewalk. Why? Because I knew the scent could be my last. No one talked to my father the way I just had. At least, no one who lived to talk about it.
My being his son didn’t make a difference. Word was that Pa once tried to kill his own brother. No one could confirm it because his brother disappeared soon after. The thought was that he moved back to Italy.
Every so often we would hear from him. Mostly during the holiday season. It usually came with a request for safe passage back into the country. But the fact that I’ve never met him, speaks to my father’s ability to hold a grudge.
Rounding the sidewalk, I started to believe that I had done it. I had claimed the pack and he had accepted it. In his lack of immediate action, he had declared me the victor. I officially had the reins of the Ricci pack. And my first official act would be marrying the woman who would allow my true life to begin.
“Dante!” I heard yelled as I was about to get into my car.
I braced myself. Would I turn around to the wild eyes of a charging wolf? Whose would it be? Would it be Matteo’s? I should have considered the grip Pa had on him.
With not enough time to shift, I steeled my spine and spun finding a surprise.
“Lorenzo! What’s going on?” I asked, seeing the brother who avoided these dinners as if it were wolfsbane.
“We need to talk,” he said approaching.
“Alright. Not here,” I replied scanning the streets and ushering him into my car.
Quickly pulling away, the brownstones whipped by us.
“What is it?” I said keeping one eye on the rearview mirror.
“There’s word on the street. It’s about your upcoming marriage.”
“How is my marriage word on the street? I only finalized that deal six hours ago,” I said not liking where this was going.
“If you think you finalized it, you might need to talk to Sato again.”
“And why is that?” I said feeling my neck warm.
“Don’t kill the messenger, Dante,” Lorenzo warned nervously, his lack of tattoos and lean build striking a strong contrast to Matteo and me.
“Why would I kill the messenger?”
“Because Sato doesn’t plan on offering you Yuki. He’s offering you Kuroi.”
My brother could not have missed how white I turned. My face tingled as I slowly left my body.
“Dante, did you hear me?”
“I heard you.”
“He’s trying to humiliate our pack,” Lorenzo said pointing out the obvious.
It looks like Sato hadn’t gotten over me refusing his first marriage offer. This was how he was getting revenge. His demon wanted war for what Matteo had done to his man. And the only way out of it was for me to marry his son, the spider demon.
“You’re not thinking about doing it, are you, Dante?”
I looked away as Pa’s words echoed in my head. He had been right about Sato. Fuck!
So, what did I do now? If I didn’t go through with it, my father would use it to undermine my still tenuous control over the pack.
If I did marry Sato’s bastard off-spring, the chances of me ending up dead like all of his other lovers were damn near certain.
Maybe I was thinking about this wrong. Maybe all of the bat-shit crazy things I heard about Kuroi weren’t true. Maybe everything going around about him was an exaggeration.
The street has been known to get things mixed up on occasion. What I heard about Kuroi could be one of those times. Because no one could be as out of their mind as he was supposed to be, could they?
Kuroi
‘If I had a dollar for every time balls were stuffed in my mouth at the most inopportune time,’ I considered with a laugh.
Although, the one currently prying my mouth open was my fault
, I had sworn off being hog-tied naked in the trunk of a car a long time ago. It’s the only way to keep birthday memories special.
So, why was I now blindfolded, and ball gagged in what had to be a two-year-old E-class? Who the fuck knows? Thirty minutes ago I was very happily attached to a Saint Andrew’s Cross. I mean, I’m all about pushing limits. But if tonight ends with my dead body being dumped in a ditch, I will be so pissed.
Once the brakes tightened on my chariot and we rolled to a stop, it was only a second before sunlight touched my naked flesh. I could feel two people looking down at me. They were wondering what to do.
Because they were quiet, I had to assume they were using gestures. Interesting! That meant that they weren’t planning on killing me and they hoped to survive our little encounter. How cute!
When one of them grabbed me by the legs and threw me over his shoulder, I knew exactly where I was going. The switch from sunlight to cool air confirmed it. If I hadn’t been blinded with hope that my lover had finally gotten creative, I would have noticed it before.
There was only one person whose tasteless cologne stuck to anyone who was in the same room as them. And the wave of scent that tickled my nose as I was lowered onto a chair confirmed it. With my ball gag removed, I swallowed and wet my lips.
“Hello, father,” I said not needing to smell or hear him to know he was there.
“Why is he naked?” Father asked addressing his men.
“The question is, why aren’t you? This is a party, isn’t it? At least, that was where I was before your men decided it was a good day to die.”
“We found him that way, Boss,” one of them said with the appropriate amount of fear in his voice.
“I was in the middle of something,” I informed dear old dad.
“And why isn’t he dressed?”
“We thought it was better to keep him restrained to keep him from, you know…”
“Killing you? Oh, it’s too late for that,” I said with a smile.
“Untie him. Get him dressed,” Father said headed for the door foolishly leaving the three of us alone.
“You heard my father.” I imitated my father’s ascent and righteous tone. “Untie me! Get me dressed!”
Neither of them moved. Still blindfolded, I assumed they were gesturing again.
“I know. Tough choice. Do you untie my hands first? No, I could do too much with my hands. Then, what about my feet? But, I could run. The boss wouldn’t like that. What to do? What to do?” I taunted.
After what felt like way too much staring, my scared friend opted to start with my feet. Tugging and pulling on the well-secured knot, it must have been as much of a surprise to him as it was to me that the ropes fell to the ground and my lean legs rose and clamped around his neck.
Did I say surprise? I meant inevitable. How else was I going to kill him? My hands were still tied. My legs were all I had.
Feeling the slight shift of his body weight, I twisted catching him off guard and spinning him onto his back. I did another obvious thing after that, I let him go, slipped my tied hands under my ass and used the rope binding them to choke him lifeless.
I didn’t quite get to lifeless because I wasn’t a miracle worker. I still had a second man to deal with. Not knowing where he was, I could have removed the blindfold. But where was the fun in that? Didn’t they call me the spider demon behind my back? How could they continue to if Mama didn’t feed?
Hearing a quick inhale, I sprung across the room and went to work. First, I took out his legs hearing a bone snap. Grunts and moans followed. It served him right for being so fragile. That’s the problem with toys. They break so easily.
‘I know, father, this is why we can’t have nice things.’
My father never actually told me that. I like to pretend. In another life, I had a father who changed into his smoking jacket when he got home and lit his pipe. The economy blah, blah, blah. Pork bellies.
‘I hit a homerun in the game today, Father.’
‘You did? Well, let me give you a firm handshake. The boys at school must be so envious of you.’
‘Oh, they are father. Proper jealous,’ I imagined as I hear another bone snap.
“Kuroi!” another familiar voice said ripping me from my flow. “Kuroi!”
Removing my thumb from the man’s eye socket, I turned toward the voice and stood up.
“Why must you do this?”
“Why must I have a little fun?” I asked lifting my blindfold to see Yuki standing in front of me. “Man can’t live on bread alone, sister.”
Getting an eye-full of her naked little brother, Yuki averted her eyes.
“Something here you haven’t seen before?” I said with a chuckle.
“Please, Kuroi, get dressed,” she said holding a change of clothes in front of her.
“You’re such a prude,” I said to the woman who had never seen a dick in her life.
“You can’t keep dishonoring father like this,” she said as if sharing a fact.
“Why not? Father has no problem dishonoring me.”
“You deserve better, Kuroi.”
“We get what we deserve.”
“You didn’t deserve any of this.”
“Yuki, didn’t you know? This is what happens when your mother is a whore.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Well, she was, wasn’t she? Our father’s whore. And this is what little bastards like me get.”
Silence drew out between us as I got dressed.
Fine, I’ll admit it. I’m not in the best mood. There was a reason father’s men found me where I was. I can’t always be the ball of sunshine I am without a little release. Father had interrupted my release. Now I was tense.
Sliding into the silk suit Yuki had handed me, I patted at my unruly hair and exited father’s museum-sized office. Crossing the hallway with my obedient sister in tow, we approached my room and I headed to the mirror.
My reflection made me sick to look at. All of my siblings were fine porcelain dolls. Even my brothers. I was burnt ceramic. Instead of lying submissive and perfect, like a proper Japanese, my hair was a wired scrub brush sitting on my head.
Barely hiding my disgust, my focus shifted catching Yuki staring back at me in the mirror.
“Well, don’t you look creepy,” I said not getting Yuki to look away.
“I have something to tell you.”
Turning back to the mirror, I pushed my fingers into my curls picking them out.
“And what’s that?”
“Father plans on marrying you off.”
As if she had choked the life out of me, the blood drained from my face.
“I begged him not to.”
My mind swirled. What was going on? Married? Me?
“If he expects me to give him an heir…” I began struggling to remain on my feet.
“It’s not that type of marriage,” Yuki said lowering her head.
“I see. And what type of marriage is it.”
“It’s to the head of the Ricci family.”
Picturing who that was, I almost laughed. It was to one of those crazy wolf shifters my father did business with. He didn’t have his father’s brutal reputation but he wasn’t much better.
“So, I am again to be our father’s whore. Like mother, like son.”
“It won’t be so bad. And I’m sure it won’t last long.”
“You mean because I’ll kill him?” I asked feeling the spider demon rest its legs on my shoulders as I stared at her.
Yuki didn’t respond. What could she say? Instead, I spoke.
“And when is this meant to happen?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?” I coughed in shock. “He really wants this man dead, doesn’t he?”
Yuki’s eyes met the ground. I laughed. My father was marrying me off to a straight wolf shifter. Why would my husband-to-be agree to this? Does he even know I’m a man?
What happens when he finds out? And am I supposed to go without sex until one of us dies? If I get my needs met elsewhere, will he eat me?
His name was Dante, wasn’t it? He was certainly the hot one in that family. Chiseled body, icy eyes, and ink from neck to wrist. I wouldn’t mind him treating me like his bitch in one way. I wonder how long it would take him to remember I have a dick.
Pulling off my jacket, I headed to the closet.
“What are you doing?”
Turning around recapturing my humor, I replied, “It’s my wedding day, Sister. I’m getting dressed.”
I was going to make this a day to remember.
Dante
This isn’t good. None of this is fuckin’ good. Sato has made me wait two days for a face-to-face with him to get this marriage shit straightened out and I don’t like it.
As stressful as things are after Matteo did what he did, I wasn’t lookin’ to die. Maybe the rumors about Kuroi were true. Maybe they weren’t. But if being married to Kuroi didn’t get me killed, marrying a man would. There would be a target on my back, most of all from Pa.
He wouldn’t be able to stand for this insult to the pack. And how would the men I demand respect from react to me being with a man? Weakness is something that will get you killed in my line of work. So there is no way this can happen.
The problem, though, is that that Yakuza son-of-a-bitch won’t even talk to me about it. Yeah, he pretends that he doesn’t speak English, but I know he understands every goddamn word I say. Play ignorant. That’s how they underestimate you. Well, guess what, fucker, I know that game too and I’m not falling for it.
“You okay, Dante?” Lorenzo asked from the passenger seat. “You’re looking a little red.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him definitely not feeling fine.
I felt like my face was on fire and bugs were crawling under my skin. This was exactly how I felt when my wolf was forcing me to shift. I guess my wolf had its own ideas about how to handle things. But if I let him take control, everyone would end up dead.
“You sure your contacts don’t have anything we could use in this meeting?” I asked hoping a miracle would get me out of this.
“They got nothin’. I approached this from every angle I could think of. Sato isn’t in debt to any New York packs. There are no dock workers that they rely on for their imports that we could squeeze, and with the structure of their compound, extermination wasn’t an option.”
I looked over at Lorenzo. I was impressed. He really had considered all of the angles. If something happened to me, he should be the one to lead the pack.
He could never do it. Leading a pack required as much intimidation as it did navigating obstacles. Lorenzo was a master at working behind the scenes. Maybe even better than me. But that was where his skills ended.
To lead a pack, you had to be a people person. Lorenzo wasn’t that. Being a people person was Matteo in a nutshell. But Matteo was a hammer that looked at everything and everyone as a nail. If I could figure out how to combine those two brothers, they might be better than I could ever be. But you can’t expect blood from a stone. With those two, you just have to take what you can get.
“That’s disappointing, Lorenzo. I was counting on you coming through for me.”
“I can only give you what I’ve found. Making up shit would just get you killed.”
“In this situation, that isn’t the only thing.”
Pulling up to Sato’s residence I had to marvel at it. He had somehow recreated Japan in upstate New York. It didn’t entirely work. To be honest, Sato’s compound looked like one of those 1920s American castles with the roofs replaced to make them do that Japanese swooping thing.
The garden was incredible, though. There were ponds and those manicured trees that looked like the tail of a poodle. In the front was sand with lines drawn in it and a large rock sticking out. And there was even one of those structures that look like Japanese writing. I didn’t see what the purpose of it was other than to look nice. But everything told a story.
The story this told was that Sato was a man who did everything he could to pretend he wasn’t where he was. My guess was that there was rage behind his expressionless exterior. There had to be a way I could use that to get out of this marriage. But how?
“Dante Ricci and family here to see Sato,” I said to the com box outside the gate.
“Park. Security will meet you there,” someone replied in a Japanese accent.
I turned to Lorenzo.
“Here goes nothing.”
“You sure it won’t be better to take care of this silently?”
“If you’re asking if it would be better to put a hit on a man with some of the best security in the city, I’m sure,” I said seeing a flash of our Pa in him.
“Think about it,” he said leaning forward to get a better look at the place. “We could put a sniper in one of those tree-lines. Or, it doesn’t have to be here. There are unguarded roofs around his office. With the right shooter, we could solve this problem in a second.”
I looked at Lorenzo feeling my heart thump. There was no mistaking that he was our father’s son.
“Don’t even think about it, Lorenzo. Or better yet, think about what comes after that. You think his people back in Japan wouldn’t be able to piece together his elimination with a forced marriage proposal? How long will it take for shit to hit the fan?
“There are better ways to handle things, Lorenzo. I tell ya, you and Matteo are exactly alike.”
“Don’t you compare me to that piece of shit.”
“Hey, watch the way you talk about your brother.”
“What are you talking about? You call him that all of the time.”
“That’s because I’m the one who has to keep cleaning up his messes. When that’s your job, then you can say it. Until then, he’s your brother and you love him.”
“Whatever,” Lorenzo replied sinking back into his chair.
It probably wasn’t the best idea to piss off the only backup I would have if things went belly up. But Matteo needed as many people on his side as possible. I couldn’t let Lorenzo write him off like that.
Exiting the car, four of Sato’s men met us. I was sure that someone inside thought this would be an impressive show of force. Truth was, if I shifted, these four wouldn’t even slow me down.
“Guns?”
“We’re not giving you our fuckin’ guns,” Lorenzo snapped.
“Lorenzo, give them your fuckin’ gun,” I ordered reaching for mine. “We are entering Sato’s home. We need to show him the respect he deserves.”
Oh yeah, Lorenzo was pissed at me. Big fuckin’ deal. He’ll get over it.
The inside of Sato’s house was as impressive as the garden. There wasn’t much he could do with the 1920s architecture, but he made it work. The hard wood beams that traversed the ceiling, the minimalist design tiles and wooden décor, it felt like I was in a different world.
“This way please,” the largest of the men said ushering me onto a balcony overlooking acres of land.
There was a man already there. Not Sato. Someone else. He stood humbly wearing what looked like a Japanese ceremonial gown and he had a book in his hand.
“You, there,” Sato’s security guy said gesturing for me to stand next to the man. “You, there,” he said ushering Lorenzo to the side.
Lorenzo looked at me asking if he should go. I nodded and approached who I assumed was Sato’s interrupter. Because, of course, Sato didn’t speak English. Yeah, whatever.
It took about a minute of standing awkwardly with this man for Sato to arrive. Strangely, he didn’t look at me. With his eyes averted, he took a position more than an arm’s length away on the other side of the balcony as Lorenzo.
What was going on? I knew that Japanese culture had a lot of customs like bowing and shit, and a lot of it stretched into business. But I didn’t know enough to say how weird this was.
It got even weirder when music began playing. Any music at a negotiation would be strange. But they were playing that wah-wah music. You know, it’s that music they play in the quiet moments in Samurai movies. Why were they playing it now?
When someone else entered the balcony, I had a pretty good guess about what was going on. I don’t know who it fuckin’ was, but that fucker was wearing a Japanese wedding dress. I recognized that shit. And they were carrying a bouquet.
“Oh, no. Sato, no.” I protested never taking my eyes off of my bride.
Sato grunted. It was loud. I think that fucker just chastised me in Japanese. Who the fuck did he think he was?
I was about to show him what I thought about this stunt by shoving my fist down his throat when my bride’s stomping shoes grabbed my attention. It was the sound of wood on wood.
Staring at my bride again, my wolf stirred. Who was this? You would think I could tell by looking at them. But the dress, or gown, or whatever it was practically took up half of the room. Added to that was that there wasn’t much of my bride showing. They didn’t wear a veil, but the funny looking hat they wore covered their hair, while their makeup painted their face white.
Was this Yuki? Had Sato come to his senses and given me my perfect bride?
As my bride slowly approached, I looked closer. I couldn’t be sure, but it did look like her. Goddamn were they beautiful, though. The robe they wore on top of their layered dress was embroidered with gold and blue images of ancient Japan. There were a lot of birds on it too. Or, maybe they were cranes?
Whatever they were, it was my bride’s eyes that really got me. They stared at me not backing down. They were fierce and wild and staring into them did something to me. They made my wolf want to tear this place apart. But not to get away from them. My wolf would destroy the world to make them his.
When my bride stood in front of me and the man, I finally realized who the man was. He wasn’t Sato’s interrupter. He was a priest.
This was it. There was never going to be a negotiation. Sato had gotten me here for the ceremony. And when the priest began speaking in Japanese, I realized that if I didn’t do something to stop this, in a minute, I was going to be married.
But to who? Yuki? It couldn’t be. Not with eyes like that. Oh my god, those fuckin’ eyes. I got hard just lookin’ at them. What the fuck was goin’ on?
With my bride’s eyes still intensely focused on me, they nodded. What was that? What had just happened?
“Hai,” my bride said.
Oh shit. Was that, I do?
The priest’s face tilted towards me. He was saying something and I didn’t know what the fuck it was. He could have been asking me for my left nut for all I knew. And when he stopped talking was when things got insane as fuck.
“I think you’re getting married, bro,” the brilliant Lorenzo informed me.
“No shit!” I said in a panic.
“What do you want to do?” he said his wolf perched ready to come out. “We could get the fuck out of here. Just say the word.”
“Just give me a second,” I said, my heart thumping.
I should get the fuck out of here, right? This was bullshit. I didn’t agree to this.
On the other hand, there were those fuckin’ eyes. They were doin’ something to me. My wolf wanted to rip the fuckin’ dress off her and tear her apart. But was it a her? Was it a him?
Kuroi was a him. I had seen him before. Brown skin. Delicate hands. And… oh shit, those fuckin’ eyes. I was staring into Kuroi’s eyes.
Before I knew it, I said it. I don’t even remember doing it. I just know I did.
Was it Hai or Hi? I may as well have said, “I do.”
Did I? I did. I just married Kuroi Sato, the fucking spider demon. What the fuck was I doing?
Before I could figure it out, Yuki entered. There was no confusing the two. With her head bowed, she shuffled in with a tray of shots. Two shots. It was a weird time for it. But after what I had just done, I would take anything with kick.
When Yuki approached, the priest gestured for me to take one. I did. So did the person standing in front of me. The priest gestured for me to drink. Kuroi stared me in the eyes waiting. Was this it? Was this the final, I do? If I didn’t do this, could I still walk away?
With the shot glass in my hand, I raised it. Looking into those mesmerizing eyes, I lifted the glass to my lips. In mirroring succession, Kuroi tilted his head back. The sweet alcohol slipped down my throat.
“Hai,” Sato said who having witnessed enough, turned to go.
That was it. I had done it. I was married. What had I done?
Staring at my bride, my mind swirled. What was I supposed to do now? I could figure my way out of this. I was sure of it. And as my brain began churning out a myriad of plans, my bride leaned forward and kissed me.
Soft, gentle. Those were his lips. His lips, not hers. In a second, I found his neck in my hand. It was small, narrow. My thumb pressed against his jaw. I could feel it open. Losing myself, I felt my tongue enter.
Alive. I felt so alive. As our two tongues met, they danced. It was so hot my head hurt. It was the type of kiss that there was no coming back from. It made my wolf howl.
He was small. I could have crushed him in my hands. I could have consumed him. I wanted every inch of him, possessed, and marked as mine. My heart’s thumping told me that. And when I released him, when I let go of his touch, I was awake.
“Dante?” Lorenzo said crashing me back to reality.
Oh fuck! What had I done?
A wave of heat rushed over me. It was overwhelming. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be doing this. Not now. Not in front of anybody.
They couldn’t see me like this. No one can. More than that, I could feel myself shifting. I don’t know why, but I was. I had to get out of here. And turning to meet the shocked eyes of my brother, that’s what I did.
Rushing off of the balcony and through the house, I ran for my car desperately trying to keep my wolf inside.
“Dante?” Lorenzo called after me.
I couldn’t face him. Not now. I just needed to get away.
Grabbing my keys, I jumped into my car. Pressing the button and flooring the gas, I pulled away. If they hadn’t opened the gate, I would have run it down. I didn’t have to. And as the tree-lined street whipped past me, I rolled down the window to get air.
I couldn’t breathe. Neither could my wolf. Why couldn’t we breathe?
Fidgeting in my seat, I was doing everything trying to stop myself from shifting. At the same time, I was trying to put things together. I was Dante Ricci. I was the head of the Ricci pack. I didn’t kiss men. I didn’t…
That was when I felt it. A pinch to the neck. Had I been shot?
Touching the spot, I pulled my hand back. Was there blood on it or wasn’t there? I couldn’t tell. It was getting hard to see. Looking back up through the windshield I realized how fast I was going.
“Oh shit!” I exclaimed before I blacked out and heard a crash.
Dante
‘What happened?’ I thought as my mind cleared from the haze of nothing. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was a wedding. No, wait, I was in a car. I was driving away from a wedding. No, I was driving away from my wedding.
Shit! That’s right. I had gone to Sato’s place to negotiate my way out of marrying his son and had ended up marrying him on the spot. Then, he kissed me, I ran, I felt what felt like a pinch to the neck and then things went dark.
I think I crashed my car. Was I still in my car?
Forcing my eyes to open, I didn’t find my BMW. I was lying down in a white room. As things cleared, I saw a pulse monitor and a ceiling-level TV. I was in a hospital room and I felt like shit.
Looking around, I found only one person. It was Lorenzo. He was entertaining himself on his phone when the sound of my movement made him look up.
“Dante, you’re awake. Thank God!” he said hurrying to my side.
I opened my mouth to ask him what the fuck was going on but nothing came out.
“Relax. I’ll get the doctor. I was worried about you for a second there,” he said with a smile before rushing out of the room.
He was worried about me? Why was that? Did other things happen after whoever it was shot me?
I needed to recover and I needed to do it fast. My best option was to shift. But reaching for my wolf, I could barely feel it. It was as weak as I was. It couldn’t come out even if I wanted it to.
I felt drugged. They must have given me painkillers. That meant it would be hours before I could shift again. After that, I could get out of here, shift, and then figure out who shot me.
I was reaching across my body to feel where the bullet hit me when the door reopened and a doctor entered. She was a lot younger than I was used to my doctors looking. She was also distinctly not a wolf.
As far as I could smell, she was human. Of course, so was Sato. But that didn’t stop him from being possessed by a demon.
“No, don’t do that,” she insisted, reaching out to stop my hand.
Not knowing the situation, I lowered my hand and again tried to speak.
“What happened?” I squeaked out, my throat feeling like a desert.
“You might need something to drink.”
The small Indian lady turned to my brother.
“Do you mind telling one of the nurses at the stand to bring Mr. Ricci something to drink?”
“Of course.”
“And, can you give us a minute once you do?” she requested causing Lorenzo’s eyes to bounce to mine.
I gave him a nod and Lorenzo agreed. I figured, whatever the doctor knew was better kept between us, at least until I had time to eliminate a few potential shooters.
With my brother gone, the doctor approached the side of my bed. She had kind eyes and there was something about her I trusted.
“I’m Dr. Rohit. You’re in Garrison Hospital Center because you were in a car accident,” she explained.
“I hit something,” I replied as my memories surfaced. “Was it a tree?”
“It was.”
“Someone shot me and I passed out.”
She looked at me confused. “I’m sorry?”
“Someone shot me. They hit me in the neck. It caused me to lose control.”
Still confused, the doctor gently held my chin and turned my head. When she didn’t find anything on one side, she tilted my chin to look at the other.
“Why do you think you were shot in the neck?” she asked with a furrowed brow.