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*Three days later*

𝐓𝐡𝐞 entirety of the previous few days were spent being interrogated by my entire family and dealing with their questions. I was also put on bed rest which I tried to refuse multiple times, but my sister especially would not take no for an answer. I am healing well and the pain has reduced dramatically.

Today, the Cortez family is having dinner with my family to strictly talk business. I'm not really sure what the 'business' is but I assume it has to do with the Mexican's as they are still on our radar, according to my mother.

I am awoken by a thunderous banging on my door. It's 6am and the guards are off duty for a little while so I rush to the door to see who it is. I fiddle around with the lock and quickly swing the door open.

"It's fucking 6am wh-"

I'm taken aback when I perceive that the early visitor is Marco.

"Little early for dinner, don't you think?" I joke. Marco shoves me aside, ignoring my comment, and enters my home.

"I want you to marry me, Lana." He proposes. I freeze and wait for him to start laughing or something but his face remains still.

"Marry you? No way." I reply, crossing my arms.

I look at him in disbelief, but his expression still remains dead serious. "Are you high?" I question. He rolls his eyes and stands a few inches before me. "Marry me and I'll protect you. You don't have to actually like me. Think of it as like a business deal." He explains as I look at him eagerly.

"I guess that makes sense." I agree with Marco's strange proposal and stroll further into my mansion. "Sure it does. We'll get engaged, then, once our families are untied, we'll call it off and be on our way."

"I still need to think about this" I say, trying to process what is happening. He nods and we both sit down at a table, opposite from each other. "If we are doing this, we are doing this on MY terms" I demand, pulling out a notepad and tossing it to Marco. "We need set rules"

"Let me guess, no sex?" He asks, picking up a pen and tapping it on the paper. "Actually, sex is the last thing on my mind right now" I reply.

"You're still so innocent, Lana. We'll see how you feel a few days into this."

I open my mouth to retort but am cut off by Marco's phone ringing. He drops the pen on the paper and groans before standing up to take the call. He disappears outside for a few minutes and quickly returns back.

"What was that about?" I ask in curiosity. Marco ignores my question and tosses the notepad to me. I look at him in confusion until he finally sits down again. "Write your own rules, I have to go. I'll see you at dinner, sweetheart." He announces before heading towards the door.

He gives me a final lingering look before opening the front door and seeing himself out.

***

*11 hours later*

It is currently 7pm and dinner begins at 8 O'clock sharp. I have exactly one hour to be ready, but I know I will probably be late. I rummage through my heroical closet and decide on wearing a short black dress with a small slit in the right leg with a leather jacket. I have paired this with a pair of delicate gold hoop earrings and minimal makeup.

Once I am ready, I carefully put on a pair of delicate Saint Laurent heels and spray some Hypnotic Poison by Dior. Once I hear the front door open, I gather myself and head downstairs.

I stand at the door with my mother and sister to welcome the guests. Attending today is Marco, his sister (Amelia), his cousin (Valerie), his mother (Vera) and his younger brother (Edward) Once they have all arrived, my mother leads them into the dining room. Marco, however, does not follow the others. Instead, he pulls me aside.

"We need to talk." He announces.

"Why?" I inquire, leaning back against the wall. The rough bricks prick me through the thin material of my dress and I welcome the pain. "Come with me and I'll explain." He demands as I pull away from the wall.

My eyes meet with his and I nod, leading him upstairs into my bedroom. When we reach the top of the staircase, he somehow recognises exactly what room mine is and steps inside.

"I remembered your room more... Interesting" He announces. "Im surprised you remember, considering you have only been here once." I snap as I pick up an old photo frame from my bedside table. It is a picture of me and Tanya from our childhood.

"Yeah, your dad made sure of that. He didn't like me, did he?" Marco replies, snatching the photo from me and examining it. "Not in the slightest." I verbalise. He sighs, long and loud. "Smart man. I'm glad you didn't inherit his good instincts" Marco teases.

"I wish I did. It would've given me some good sense to stay the hell away from you" I say before rolling my eyes with a smile. He shakes his head and traces his finger along the photo frame.

"Why would you when you enjoy playing cat and mouse as much as I do?" He answers back, finally placing the photo back down and turning his attention to me. "Stop being delusional and tell me what you wanted to talk about." I snap.

"I'm announcing our engagement tonight." He informs. I look at him, unsure whether to challenge him on this or not. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I just got home, what will they think?" I question uncertainly. "Yes. Now is the perfect time. You will be safe under my protection and it will bring our families closer together." He explains and I nod in agreement. "Okay. Fine. But I don't need your protection, I can protect myself just fine." I snap.

"Oh yeah? And how did that work out for you last time?" Marco asks as he crosses his arms. He tries to hide his smirk and I roll my eyes at his amusement.

I wander out of the room, making sure to 'accidentally' bump into him on the way out. He follows me downstairs and we rejoin with the others. As we reach the bottom of the stairs, there is a loud, continuous thumping on the door. After nearly tearing the door off its hinges, it opens to reveal my cousin James standing before it. We haven't seen each other in five years.

"Look who finally returned home!" He shouts before pulling me into a tight embrace. I am so happy to see James again, me and him have always has a close bond. "I've missed you so much." I smile, pulling away from the hug and escorting him into the dining hall.

"Not more than I've missed you. So, are you back for good?" He questions, giving me a look filled with curiosity. "Yes, let's catch up soon." I say, taking a seat at the table with the rest of my family. Marco sits beside me and James sits opposite me next to his brother, Harvey.

Dinner looks delicious. Pasta with chunks of ricotta cheese, toasted pine nuts, roasted cauliflower, cumin, and olive oil for the main and almost an endless supply of champagne to wash it all down.

"Now that that's out of the way, and everyone is seated, we need to talk." Nico announces, his tone stiff and surly. Everyone turns their attention to Nico, waiting for him to keep going. "Like I said before, your Uncle Tony is missing. We don't know if he's still alive." He says coldly.

"And I should care?" I ask between bites of pasta. Nico widens his eyes at my cold tone and I flinch with pain when Marco kicks me from under the table. Nico puts his glass down hard and savagely cuts into a piece of cauliflower with the edge of his fork. "He's still your Uncle and the head of our family." Nico expresses. Marco digs his nails into my thigh as if to tell me to keep my mouth shut.

"You were right earlier. In his absence, you should be Don. However-"

"However what?" Marco interrupts, digging his nails deeper into my skin. A thrill goes over me at how angry and possessive he sounds. "Do not interrupt me, Marco" Nico growls, voice cracked and raw. "Be nice to my fiancé, Nico." I speak with my fists balled tightly.

The room falls silent and almost everyone raises their heads to look at me. I feel a flush creep up my neck.

"Fiance?" Francesca calls out. "Shit. Yeah, we're engaged." I explain. "Well, I think we can all say we didn't expect that one coming." James says, searching around the room to check for everyones reactions. I do the same, landing my eyes where he lands his. "After all, you did-" I death stare James to shut him up and he luckily takes the hint, raising his hands to rest his case.

"We will tell you all about it later, everyone. Go on, Nic." Nico smiles at me as a thank you and takes a long sip of his beer. "Being the don of this great family carries a huge responsibility. I wonder if it wouldn't be better for someone else to take the reigns, at least until you're ready."

"And who would that be?" I ask, hiding the irritation on my face behind my wine glass.

"Me." Nico announces.

What?

-------------------------------------------------------- Nico's pissing me off and I'm the one writing it.

I might just drown him in a dishwasher or something idk we will see...

Hehehe happy reading❤️