The Mafia's Stolen Bride

Chapter 6

Ryker POV

“What the hell have you done?” my grandfather roared as I entered his study.

I took a deep breath to ready myself against the inevitable war, schooling my face to be as nonchalant as it possibly could be.

“What do you mean, Grandfather?” I smiled, casually taking a seat on my favourite leather armchair.

The old man’s face turned blood red and his eyes narrowed as he slapped the newspaper he had been reading on the table. “You bloody well know what I’m talking about, boy! You got married!”

I sighed and sat forward in my chair.

“Oh, I’m sorry Grandfather. I didn’t realise that you had wanted an invite to Alexandra and my wedding.”

The deadpan words had barely left my mouth when a paperweight was hurled my way and I caught it with relative ease.

“Are you trying to give me a stroke?” the old man shouted. “You know very well that we had a deal with the Gambinos. You were meant to marry Rebecca Gambino, for f**k sake! Not some worthless b***h who's going to be feeding information about us to her bastard uncle, crippling us from inside our own home.”

It was as if ice cold water had been dumped over my head. There was no denying that the Valentos family and the Bennett family were enemies. But would Lexi really act as a spy for her family, even though they clearly had no love for her?

I couldn’t be sure.

“I don’t think she would do that, Grandfather,” I tried to defend my bride. “She has more character and loyalty than all of those Bennett bastards put together.”

“Loyalty?” he scoffed in response. “Loyalty to who, boy? The Bennett family are all a bunch of snakes, just waiting for you to let your guard down or be at your weakest before they bite you.”

My grandfather’s anger seemed to deflate and he slowly stood up, steadying himself on his desk. He had aged dramatically in the last year, becoming a frail shadow of the powerful man he had once been. The reality had been sobering, and it was hard for me to accept.

“My boy,” his voice trembled slightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know that you feel some sort of responsibility toward the girl, but you have to let that go. We have enough problems with the Bratva without adding another enemy to our list.”

I patted my grandfather’s hand affectionately.

“Ryker, I will be stepping down as Capo at the end of this year. You need to have a strong woman by your side when you rise up to lead our family. A weak woman would not suit the head of our familia. Divorce Alexandra and marry Rebecca Gambino.”

“No, I won’t divorce Lexi,” I snapped, bolting to my feet. “And I certainly won’t marry that nutcase!”

My grandfather’s face turned an ugly shade of red as he gripped my arm as hard as he could.

“You stubborn boy! You don’t realise what you have done. If Rebecca hears that you have already married? Ha! She’s had her eyes set on you since she hit puberty and she’s bound to turn this into a personal vendetta. You know her father gives her whatever her heart desires - even if it should be your head on a silver platter.”

I shook my head and pried the aged fingers from my arm before guiding the old man back to his desk chair.

“Grandfather, you want me to become Capo and yet you already do not trust my choices? Perhaps I should not be considered for the role,” I commented shrewdly.

“Bah! Who else would take over? You have been trained to take over the familia since the day you were old enough to hold a gun! You’re the youngest to have become a Made Man, for f**k sakes” he swore before sitting back in his chair. He watched me from under his bushy eyebrows for what seemed like an eternity before he continued in a calculating tone. “But I guess I can make a deal with you. If your Alexandra proves her loyalty to you and the Cosa Nostra before the end of the year, then I will consider accepting her.”

I felt the corners of my mouth twitch and I bit down on the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from smiling.

“But, if she does one thing that makes me think that she is going to betray us. Well…” he picked up the sheathed dagger from his desk and ran the covered blade against his neck.

There was no mistaking what he meant. If Lexi did one wrong thing, he was going to make sure she wouldn’t live to be able to boast to the bastard Bennett.

He didn’t wait for a response, dismissing me with a wave of his hand instead.

“Oh, and Ryker,” he called out as I neared the door. “I will give you the task of telling the Gambinos that there will no longer be a marital alliance between our two families.”

Great. I’d have to face Rebecca at some point, but I would have rather done so later rather than sooner. On the up side, my marriage to Lexi seemed somewhat accepted by the old man, and that in itself was a triumph.

I casually left the study with a smirk on my face that my grandfather was bound to interpret as me being smug about my victory. It wouldn’t do to let him see the turmoil which bubbled beneath the surface of my skin.

“f**k,” I whispered to myself the moment I was out of earshot of anyone.

Truth be told, I hadn’t thought the consequences through when I had learned that Lexi was getting married. I had only known that I couldn’t stomach the thought of anyone else laying their hands on her.

She was mine. Always had been, and always will be.

Whether she liked it or not.