Claimed By The Enemy

**DANTE**

Lucia's bakery opened at six AM. I made sure Alessandro was awake at five. Dark circles under his eyes, hands shaking as he tied his shoes.

"Coffee?" he asked quietly.

"No time. We're late already."

"You said six."

"I changed my mind. Move faster." I headed for the door. "And Alessandro? Lucia doesn't know about the marriage yet. I'm telling her today. With you there."

His face went pale but he followed me out.

The drive took twenty minutes. Making him walk yesterday had been excessive, but he'd questioned me in front of Tommy. I couldn't have that.

"Lucia knew my whole family. Watched my sisters grow up." I pulled up outside the bakery. "And you've been sending her money for years. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

His jaw tightened. "I was trying to help."

"You were trying to ease your guilt. There's a difference."

The bakery smelled like bread and cinnamon. Lucia looked up when we entered and froze.

"Dante." Her voice was careful.

"This is Alessandro Santoro. I think you've been receiving payments from him." I kept my grip on his arm. "I'm marrying him. In three months. Strategic alliance between the families."

Lucia stared at me. "You're what?"

"Marrying him. Marco arranged it. Legal binding, permanent peace."

"You're marrying the son of the man who killed your family." She came around the counter, eyes blazing. "Your mother would be ashamed."

"My mother's dead. She doesn't get a vote." I released Alessandro's arm. "He's been sending you money for five years. He wasn't even there when it happened. His brother beat him unconscious when he tried to leave."

"So he's weak. That doesn't make him innocent."

"He's my problem now." I looked at Alessandro. "I wanted you to meet him before the wedding. You're the only family I have left."

Lucia studied Alessandro. "Why'd you send the money?"

"Because I couldn't fix what happened. But I could help with what came after." His voice was steady. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't matter."

"You're right. It doesn't." She turned to me. "You trust him?"

"No. But I'm using him. There's a difference."

Alessandro flinched. Lucia noticed.

"He knows you're using him?"

"He knows everything. That I hate him, that this is a strategy, that the marriage means nothing." I smiled. "He agreed anyway. Didn't you, Alessandro?"

"Yes."

"The wedding's in three months. You're invited."

"The money you sent helped more people than you know," Lucia said to Alessandro. "I figured out who was sending it two years ago. Been watching you since then. You go to Dr. Elena for panic attacks. Your brother broke your ribs last year."

"How do you know all that?"

"Elena and I are friends." Lucia looked at me. "He's more broken than you think."

"I'm aware."

"I'll come to the wedding. Someone needs to make sure you don't kill each other." She caught my arm. "Your mother married into this life. She hated it. Don't become the thing she was trying to protect you from."

I pulled away. "Too late for that."

Outside, Alessandro leaned against the car. "That went well."

"She didn't shoot you." I unlocked the doors. "Get in. We're meeting Father Giuseppe next."

"I was almost a priest," Alessandro said as we drove.

That stopped me. "What?"

"Before Florence. I was studying theology. I thought I could escape the family by taking vows. My father sent Nico to bring me home."

I processed this. Alessandro had almost been a priest.

"Why'd you give it up?"

"My father said the family needed me more than God did. I tried to go back once, but Father Giuseppe told me I wasn't suited for it anymore. That I'd seen too much, done too much."

"Done too much? What did you do?"

He looked at me, something dark in his eyes. "What do you think? I'm a Santoro."

"Tell me."

"I've killed people. Three of them. My father made me pull the trigger to prove my loyalty." His hands shook. "I threw up after each one. But I did it because the alternative was Nico doing worse to me."

"And you paint the fire because of guilt."

"I paint it because it's the only thing I see when I close my eyes. Your family, my victims, everyone I couldn't save. It all burns together." He looked at me. "Guilt is the only thing keeping me human. Without it, I'd be just like Nico."

We pulled up outside the church. I sat there for a moment.

"The three people you killed. Did they deserve it?"

"Yes. They were criminals, traitors. But that doesn't make it right that I was the one who killed them."

Father Giuseppe was arranging flowers. He turned when we entered.

"Dante. I heard about the marriage." He studied Alessandro. "You're Vittorio's youngest. I heard your confession once. You told me you wanted to die."

Alessandro didn't deny it. "I still do sometimes."

"And you're marrying Dante anyway."

"I'm doing what my family requires."

Giuseppe looked at me. "You're marrying him for revenge?"

"I'm marrying him because Marco ordered it. The revenge is just a bonus."

"I'm doing the ceremony because backing out would start a war. But I'm not blessing this union. I can't bless something built on hate." Giuseppe's expression was sad. "Your family would've wanted you to be happy. Not just alive."

I left without answering. In the car, Alessandro spoke.

"Do you ever think about what they'd want? Your family?"

"Every day."

"And this is what they'd want? You destroying yourself to destroy me?"

I started the car. "They'd want justice. This is the closest I can get."

"Justice and revenge aren't the same thing."

"In my world, they are."

We drove back in silence. Marco was waiting.

"Vittorio collapsed this morning. He's in the hospital. Might not make it through the week."

Alessandro's phone rang. Nico's name on the screen.

"Answer it," I ordered. "Put it on speaker."

Nico's voice came through, urgent and angry. "Alessandro, get back here now. Father's dying and he's asking for you. If you're not here in an hour, I'm coming to get you myself."

I grabbed the phone. "He's not going anywhere without me."

"Who the hell is this?"

"Dante Moretti. Your brother's fiancé. If Vittorio wants to see him, we both come. Or neither of us do."

The line went silent. Then Nico laughed, cold and mean.

"Bring him then. But Dante? When our father dies, this alliance dies with him. And I'm coming for you first."