Ties That Bind Us

by Nicole Knight

  “Let me prove you wrong.”

  She sighed heavily, her resolve breaking just enough to give me a window of opportunity.

  “I want to take you out tomorrow,” I said

  “Nick, I—” She began to protest but I wasn’t going to give her the opportunity.

  I kissed her before she could say another word. My tongue glided across her lips and I felt her moan into the kiss as I softly bit her bottom lip. My fingers twined in her hair, pulling her closer to me, and I had to stop myself from letting this go any further. If we had sex tonight, it would only exacerbate things, but I wanted to reignite at least a portion of the flame we’d both felt that first night.

  “Let me make this up to you. We completely started out on the wrong foot and I, at the very least, owe you a proper date.”

  “Fine,” she agreed somewhat reluctantly. “Just one date. That’s it, and I want you to keep your hands and your lips to yourself.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I can’t think straight when you touch me and I need to be able to sort this shit out,” she said exasperatedly.

  “Deal,” I conceded, already plotting ways to get her to change that stance. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  I began to walk away with my hands in my pockets. “Oh, and Ava?”

  “Hmm?” She arched her eyebrow at me.

  “It isn’t polite for women to say shit.” I smirked, and continued back to the restaurant, knowing I was antagonizing her. I wasn’t quite that old fashioned, but I enjoyed getting a rise out of her and seeing her true colors show through.

  She let out a sharp laugh. “Sounds like you haven’t been hanging around the right kind of women.” And with that, she slammed the car door.

  I was going to have my hands full with this one, but I was looking forward to every second of it.

  Chapter 8

  Ava

  When I left the restaurant, I must have blacked out. Somehow I made it back to my house in one piece, but I didn’t remember actually driving there. It was like I was moving in some sort of trance, just trying to go through the motions, surviving. As soon as I walked in the door, I made a beeline for my room. The last thing I wanted to do was run into one of my siblings and have to talk, because I wasn’t sure I could face anyone right now without breaking down. Did they all know about this? My mother? Vince? What about my sisters? Was I the only one in the dark about my fate to be some kind of treaty bride? This was bullshit.

  It was only a few weeks ago my dad told me that as long as I got my act together, he wouldn’t do something like this. I had been busting my ass ever since then proving to him that I could do it. That I could grow up, ditch the late nights and partying, and settle down. That I could be useful to him, that I could be the perfect daughter that he wanted me to be. And now here I was, worse off than I probably would have been if I had continued partying.

  And of all people, it had to be Nick. How had I not realized who Nick was? He’d had a gun strapped to his ankle the night we had sex, for goodness’ sake. Why hadn’t I thought that was strange? Probably because I’d been completely blinded by that devilish smile and the way my body felt in his hands. Even now as I sat in my own fury, the memory was creeping into my mind and trying to distort my feelings

  Had he known who I was that first night? He said he hadn’t, but I couldn’t exactly take the word of a guy like that, someone fluent in lying and deceit. He was about to be a Mafia Don, and me, his wife. This was a complete disaster.

  For most women, a wedding and marriage were exciting things. It was the start of a new chapter in your life—one you’d spend with a man you were head over heels for. You’d start a life together, build a family, and be nauseatingly happy and in love. My idea of marriage had been distorted from the beginning, but I had never imagined it would come with these circumstances. That I’d be twenty-three, not even out of school, and promised to marry as part of a business deal. As hard as I had been trying to prove myself to my father, he still saw me as just a pawn; another woman in his life he didn’t mind walking over to get to his eventual goal. What would even happen when this was done? Would Nick take over his family? Our family? Was it even worth it to finish school if I was made to be some sort of housewife? My mind spun like I was standing at the edge of a cliff trying to balance on one foot. I felt like my world, and every possibility of what my future could be, was crumbling underneath me.

  I covered my face with my hands, trembling as I sat on the edge of my bed. My only option was to run. I had to leave, get out of here and as far from all of this as possible. Far away from my family, from Nick, from the Mafia. I needed to start fresh somewhere, where who I was and the things I had done didn’t matter.

  I grabbed a bag from my closet and started tossing random things in. I had no idea what I would need, but I wanted nothing to tie me to this life. A few tops, a pair of jeans; I was sure I could buy a new wardrobe wherever I ended up.

  There was a soft knock on the door that I recognized distinctly as my mother’s. When I didn’t answer, she opened the door anyway. I wiped a few errant tears off of my cheek quickly, and turned to face her.

  “Aren’t you a little old to be running away from home?” She gave me a sympathetic smile, gesturing to my suitcase. Could you even call it running away from home when you were in your twenties?

  “I’m just getting rid of some things,” I lied, knowing how fickle that sounded. We both knew what I was actually doing.

  “Your father told me about Gio Caponelli’s offer.” She sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her, testing the waters.

  “It wasn’t an offer.” I sat down next to her. “You have the right to decline an offer.”

  “Sweetheart, I know you’re upset, but marrying into the Caponelli family could be a wonderful thing. I’ve heard great things about Nick and—”

  “It doesn’t matter if you’ve heard great things about him, Mom. It doesn’t change the fact that everything about this is wrong, and so is the fact that he’s willing to go along with it. He’s an arrogant jerk.”

  “Ava, you’ve known him all of five minutes. Give the boy a chance,” she scolded, not aware that I knew him a little better than I wanted to admit. Calling him an arrogant jerk was giving him a chance. What I really thought of him was going to require some colorful language I couldn’t break out in front of my mother.

  As far as I was concerned, he’d been playing games with me all along. He had to have known the truth, what was coming for both of us, and instead of being up front, he’d hidden it from me. He’d lied and washed his hands of the entire thing, playing like he was a victim as well. He’d done nothing to prove me wrong.

  “What could Dad possibly be thinking, Mom? This entire thing is absurd. He promised that if I got myself together he wouldn’t do something like this.” I shook my head, recalling our conversation from just a few weeks ago. He had threatened an arranged marriage, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought he would do it, especially since I was doing everything he asked and then some.

  “Ava, your father is doing what he thinks is best for you, for all of us. This isn’t some kind of punishment, I wish you would stop seeing it that way. Your marriage to Nick will help this entire family. You’ve always talked about wanting to contribute to your father’s business, he’s finally giving you that chance.”

  “Mom, I wanted to contribute by helping Dad with legal stuff, not act as some sort of human sacrifice.”

  “I know it feels like that, but it’s not true, sweetheart. Your dad loves you and he thinks this is what’s best.” Her words were shallow, but I knew she didn’t have much choice in this either.

  “None of that matters,” I blurted. “I don’t care about finding someone with a good job or a lot of money who can take care of me. I’m so tired of hearing that. I want to marry someone who loves me. Who chose me.”

  Someon
e who can give me a life far away from all of this.

  “Honey, just because this is an arranged marriage doesn’t mean love can’t be involved. Keep an open mind, Ava. Life with Nick Caponelli will be much different than it is around here, but that’s not always a bad thing.”

  I fought the urge to scoff. Living in a cardboard box on the streets would be better than life around here right about now. At least then I’d be free.

  “Your father has known the Caponellis for a long time, and I truly believe Nick is a great match for you. If you open yourself up to this, you might be surprised by the good that can come from it,” she said gently.

  She stood up, then bent down quickly to kiss my forehead. “If you try this, and it is as terrible as you think it’s going to be, I will talk to your father and we will figure something else out.”

  I perked up at the option; she was the only one in the world who could change my father’s mind. It didn’t happen often, but it wasn’t out of the question, and it was my only hope. She continued, “But you have to promise that you will do your best to work this out. And unpack your damn bag. You’re an adult, Ava, you can’t run from every problem you face.”

  “I promise,” I agreed, still hating the idea of this but willing to hold up my end of the deal. I’d never be able to leave my family behind, and I needed to find a more mature way to deal with the Nick situation.

  My mom’s compromise made me feel like at least someone was on my side. I was certain that marrying Nick would be just as awful as I thought, but I would humor her and at least talk to him. There was so much unknown about the situation, and if I was going to go through with this, I refused to be left in the dark.

  “Good night, sweetheart. Try to get some sleep.” She gave me another sympathetic smile and closed my bedroom door.

  I took a deep breath, lying back on my bed and staring at the ceiling. Visions of my first night with Nick fluttered through my mind. The way he held me against the shower wall, sending me reeling through orgasm after orgasm as hot water pounded against both of our bodies. The way I’d woken up with my legs tangled in his like we’d been holding on to each other for dear life the night before. The silly smirk he had on his face as he flicked his tongue against the whipped cream on his sundae. That night, he had been carefree and wild, no responsibilities and no one to answer to. That was the way I wanted him. Seeing him in a different environment tonight had been a shock. He wasn’t all that different himself, but my feelings toward him had changed drastically. Maybe I was just being stubborn and closed off, not allowing Nick the chance he deserved.

  When I woke up the next morning, I was hoping to find that this had all been some kind of nightmare. A sinking feeling formed in my stomach when I realized it wasn’t. I was being forced to marry Nick Caponelli. It didn’t feel quite as debilitating as it had last night, but it still wasn’t sitting well with me.

  I threw the covers off and rolled over to grab my phone. It was nearly eleven o’clock—I was going to need to rush to make it to my afternoon class on time. Columbia was over an hour from my house, and I needed to shower and make myself presentable.

  I made my way downstairs. I had slept through breakfast but I could grab something quickly. I could hear Bella and Vince in the kitchen. I wasn’t ready to deal with them yet, but it didn’t sound like I had a choice.

  “Come on, just for a few hours,” Vince was whining as I came around the corner.

  Bella rolled her eyes, ignoring his comment.

  “Well, good morning, sleeping beauty.” She smiled, welcoming me as relief from whatever conversation she and Vince were having.

  “We thought you were dead.” Vince feigned shock.

  “Good morning to you too,” I growled, slouching onto the bar stool next to Bella.

  “Maybe Ava can do it for you,” Bella suggested.

  “Do what?” I hadn’t even been awake for fifteen minutes and I was already being roped into doing something.

  Vince’s expression changed and he put on his best face of flattery. “Avs, can you take Sophia to the mall this afternoon? She’s losing her mind because none of her clothes fit and shopping really isn’t my thing.”

  Of course he was trying to pawn his pregnant wife off on someone again. She had been at her wits’ end with him the last few weeks, with the pregnancy hormones flaring, and he was spending quite a bit of time here to stay out of firing range.

  “As thrilling as that sounds, I can’t. I have class,” I said, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl and peeling it. “Why don’t you call Angie? She loves that kind of thing.”

  “Because Angie is already on my back about this. She thinks I need to man up and take care of Soph.” Vince groaned like everyone was plotting against him somehow.

  “I kind of agree with Angie on this one. She’s your wife. Remember all that in sickness and in health shit you promised?” Bella chimed in.

  Vince threw his arms up in exasperation. “You guys don’t get it. She threw a curling iron at me this morning. A fucking curling iron, which was hot. She is going to murder me in my sleep one of these days.”

  “Speaking of crime . . .” Something outside the kitchen window caught Bella’s attention. “Is that a Caponelli at the front door?”

  “What?!” Vince and I shrieked at the same time.

  What the hell was he doing here? Hadn’t we talked about dinner? It wasn’t even lunchtime. How was I going to explain this to Bella and Vince? I had no idea if they knew anything about our arranged marriage yet.

  The doorbell rang and all three of us stayed frozen in the kitchen. I had a fleeting thought of running up to my room and locking myself in, but I knew that wouldn’t do me much good. Sooner or later, I was going to have to face all of this. I had to have done something in my past life to deserve this kind of karma. This had to be some kind of sick joke, the entire thing.

  “Are any of you going to get the door or are you just going to stand in there like a bunch of baboons all morning?” my mother yelled from somewhere down the hallway.

  “I’ll get it.” I sucked in a sharp breath. Perhaps I could intercept him and I wouldn’t have to explain any of this just yet.

  When I opened the front door, Nick was standing with his back to me. He had on a pair of jeans and a tight T-shirt that showed off his rippled muscles. He turned at the sound of the door opening and splashed a huge grin on his face when he saw me.

  “Hey!” he said excitedly, his lips turned up into a goofy smile. It was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile myself.

  “Hi,” I stammered, caught off guard by him yet again. “How did you know where I live?”

  Nick chuckled in amusement. “I did a little research. A perk of the job, I guess.”

  Right. He was a future Mafia Don after all. He probably had a majority of the city’s personal information in the palm of his hand.

  “I talked to the security guard at the front, he said your dad put me on the list. Sorry, I would have called but I don’t have your phone number yet.”

  “Are you here to see my dad?”

  “Uh, no.” Nick smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m here to pick you up. Our date, remember?”

  “Aren’t you a little early for a dinner date?”

  “I didn’t specify dinner when I said I’d be picking you up. Come on, I’ve got something I want to show you.” He nodded at the car.

  “Nick, I can’t,” I protested. “I have class.”

  “So? You don’t want to be a lawyer anyway, what would one afternoon hurt?”

  Nick had a point. Sitting in class this afternoon was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn’t necessarily want to spend it with Nick either. I’d rather spend it figuring out a way to run away from all of this and live on some tiny island somewhere, but since that wasn’t an option, I found myself considering Nick’s offer.

  Nick softened, reaching out to grasp my hand. I let him take it, his t
ouch sending chills throughout my body. “I’m just asking for an afternoon. I want to get to know you better. Don’t you think we should do that if we’re going to be married?”

  I considered his words carefully. I was at a crossroads here. I could either give this whole thing a genuine chance and get to know Nick, or I could continue to try to prolong the inevitable. Was there any use fighting this? He was right, we were going to be married whether I liked it or not. Did I want to marry a virtual stranger? My resistance certainly wasn’t going to change the situation, so I could at least make it enjoyable for myself.

  “No touching, no kissing.” Nick grinned, holding his hand up in a fake salute. “I promise.”

  I laughed as he pulled his hand from mine. “From this point forward.”

  There was a teasing edge to his voice. He could never keep his hands to himself around me; visions of his surprise attack in the lobby of the restaurant replayed in my mind. There had been something so erotic about it. The thrill of getting caught at any minute, his fingers digging into the tender flesh. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before and looking at him in front of me now just left me aching for more. I was nearly consumed by the memory.

  Nick cleared his throat, drawing me back to reality.

  “Sorry.” I straightened up, conceding to his offer. “Sure, I’ll go with you. But I can’t be back late. My father won’t be happy with you if I’m out all day and night,” I teased.

  Nick scoffed. “I think if he knows you’re with me, he won’t care if I ever bring you home.”

  I bit my tongue to fight off the sting of Nick’s words.

  “Shit, Ava, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” Nick shoved his hand through his hair, completely distraught.

  “It’s fine.” I stiffened, knowing full well he was right. If my father was really all that concerned with me he wouldn’t be doing this in the first place. “Why don’t you come inside while I get ready?”

  “Great.” Nick smiled widely. He was letting me take the lead, which was refreshing. Because of my father’s old-school values, it was unusual for women in my world to be given so much say. My father always controlled my life, but Nick made me feel like I had some control of it myself—like we could go at whatever speed I wanted, like this might actually be okay.