Married To My Sister's Arranged Fiance

Three

Xavier

The city looked like a collection of glass toys from the top floor of the DeRico headquarters. I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, a glass of neat bourbon in my hand. People called this an empire. To me, it was just a machine. A machine that required constant oiling with blood, money, and fear to keep running.

My father, Roberto, sat behind the heavy desk. He was looking over the final drafts of the Vanoss merger. He looked satisfied. My father only looked satisfied when he was winning.

"The Vanoss family is old school," Roberto said, his voice like gravel. "They have the docks. They have the distribution lines we need. But they are getting soft. Christian is too focused on legacy and not enough on the new markets."

I didn't turn around. "Soft or not, they are still the only ones who can block our expansion into the northern territories. An alliance is cleaner than a war."

"Exactly," Roberto agreed. "And that is why you will marry the eldest daughter. Elena. She is the crown jewel of their family. By taking her, we take a piece of their soul. It anchors the contract in a way lawyers can’t."

I took a sip of the bourbon. It burned on the way down, but I barely felt it. I felt very little these days. Marriage was just another contract. Another duty. I had spent my life being groomed for this. Every move I made was for the DeRico name

.

"I’ve seen her file," I said calmly. "She’s pretty. Delicate. The kind of woman who will stay in the house and look good at galas."

"She’s a Vanoss," my father warned. "Don't underestimate the blood. But yes, she is the traditional choice. Christian has kept her on a short leash."

I thought about the woman I had seen in the surveillance photos. Elena was beautiful in a soft, fragile way. She looked like a girl who would break if you gripped her too tight. I preferred women who knew the game. Women like Rita.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the office door opened. Rita Donalds walked in without knocking. She was wearing a red dress that left very little to the imagination. She was the daughter of one of our biggest associates. She was fun, she was dangerous, and she was currently under the impression that she had a claim on me.

"Roberto," Rita said with a charming smile toward my father before turning her eyes to me. "Xavier. I heard the news. Is it true? Are we really playing house with the Vanoss family?"

My father stood up, gathering his papers. "Business, Rita. Just business. I’ll leave you two."

He walked out, closing the door behind him. Rita immediately crossed the room and slid her arms around my neck. She smelled like expensive perfume and ambition.

"Elena Vanoss?" Rita whispered, her lips brushing my jaw. "She’s a bore, Xavier. She’s a little doll who spends her time at tea parties. You’ll be bored within a week."

"It’s not about entertainment, Rita," I said, my voice cold as I unwrapped her arms from my neck. I didn't push her away,

but I didn't pull her closer either. "It’s about the docks. It’s about the empire."

"I could give you more than docks," she teased, her eyes flashing with a mix of jealousy and desire. "You know I’m the one who actually understands you. We’re the same."

I looked at her. Rita was predictable. She wanted power, and she thought I was the fastest way to get it. She was a plaything—a distraction I used to vent the pressure of my life. But she would never be a wife.

"The decision is made," I said. "Go home, Rita."

"You’ll come back to me," she smirked, heading for the door. "Once you realize that 'Queen Elena' is made of glass, you’ll want someone who can handle the heat."

She left, and I was alone with the silence again.

I grabbed my coat. I didn't feel like staying in the office. I felt a strange restlessness in my chest. I decided to take a drive. I wanted to see the Vanoss estate for myself. Not the photos, not the reports—I wanted to see the cage Christian Vanoss had built for his daughters.

I drove my black sedan through the rain, heading toward the outskirts of the city where the old money lived. The Vanoss estate was massive, surrounded by high stone walls and iron gates. It looked like a fortress from another century.

I pulled over at the end of the long driveway, keeping my lights off. I looked up at the darkened windows. I wondered which one belonged to Elena. I wondered if she was crying or if she was already practicing her "I do."

Then, I saw a movement on one of the balconies.

A figure stepped out into the rain. It was a woman. At first, I thought it was Elena, but the silhouette was different. This woman stood taller, her shoulders back, even in the cold. She didn't look like a girl waiting to be rescued. She looked like a sentinel guarding a gate.

She was looking down toward the driveway. I sat perfectly still in the dark. For a split second, I felt like she was looking directly at me. It was impossible, of course. My windows were tinted, and the rain was heavy. But I felt a strange prickle on the back of my neck.

I checked the files in my mind. Elena had a sister. Kayla. The younger one. The one the reports said was "quiet" and "unassuming."

I watched the woman on the balcony for a long time. She didn't move. She just stood there, letting the rain soak into her, staring out at the world as if she were planning a war of her own.

There was a fire in that posture. A quiet, dangerous energy that I hadn't seen in any of the photos of Elena.

I shifted the car into gear and slowly drove away.

"Interesting," I muttered to myself.

My phone buzzed in the cup holder. It was a text from my brother, Angelo.

The contract is finalized. Meeting at the Vanoss house in three days. Bring your best suit, brother. You’re getting a wife.

I ignored the text. My mind was still on that balcony.

The alliance was supposed to be simple. I would take the girl, we would merge the businesses, and the DeRico name would grow. I didn't care about love. I didn't care about companionship. I cared about control.

But as I drove back toward the city, I felt a shift in the air. This wasn't going to be the boring transaction I had expected. There was a secret behind those stone walls. I could feel it.

And if there was one thing I enjoyed more than power, it was breaking a secret open to see what was hiding inside.

I pulled back into my own driveway and walked into my empty, modern house. It was cold, clean, and silent. Just the way I liked it. I went to my bedroom and tossed my keys on the dresser.

Tomorrow, the preparations would begin in earnest. Tailors, security briefings, legal transfers. I was the heir to the DeRico empire, and in two weeks, I would be a married man.

I closed my eyes, but I didn't see Elena’s soft face. I saw the shadow of the woman on the balcony.

The "DeRico Heir" was supposed to be untouchable. I had spent years building walls that no one could climb. I didn't let people in, and I didn't let feelings out. It was the only way to survive in this life.

But for the first time in years, I felt a flicker of something new. It wasn't love. It was curiosity. It was a hunter catching the first scent of a new kind of prey

The next morning, my father called me back into his office. He looked pale, his hand gripping a new set of surveillance photos.

"Xavier," he said, his voice tight. "We have a problem. One of our scouts spotted a Vanoss vehicle at a private clinic in the city. A clinic known for... sensitive feminine matters. If Christian is trying to hide something about his daughter’s health before this wedding, the deal is off."

"Which daughter?" I asked, my heart cooling to a sharp edge.

"We don't know yet," Roberto growled. "But if Elena Vanoss is damaged goods, I’ll burn that estate to the ground."