Broken Saint by E.M. Gayle

15

Nova

Istepped off the elevator and hesitated in the hallway. The day had been one of the longest this week, and every one of my muscles ached. And these ridiculous heels were not helping. Bending over, I unfastened the straps and removed the three-inch heels. I normally took a ridiculous amount of pride in how easily I got around in these things. It had taken months to get used to them and lots of time in the gym for my feet and legs to adjust.

I hooked them on my fingers and headed in the direction of my suite. I needed a glass of wine and a hot bath. Maybe even a book. Although I was so tired, I wasn't sure even a great story could keep me awake. I'd decided at the last minute to include some of the sketches I completed the other night in the upcoming show. Which meant a mad dash to make the new designs in time.

My stomach growled as I reached for the card that gave me entry into my temporary home. When was the last time I'd eaten? I remembered the late-night dinner with Rock, but everything after that was a blur. God, I hoped there were leftovers from that in my fridge because otherwise I'd have to wait for room service. I closed the door behind me and slid the extra locks in place.

At my request, Gabe had beefed up my private space security when I'd moved in, and for the most part, that made me feel a little bit safer.

"About time you showed up."

I screamed at the disembodied voice coming from the dark recess of my living room. The blinds were closed and no lights were on so I couldn't see a thing.

"Jesus Christ, Nova. Is that necessary?"

"Is it necessary for you to break into my apartment and scare the hell out of me, Ronin?" I deadpanned.

The light next to one of the plush club chairs clicked on and the light fell perfectly across his face and shoulders. The man was so darkly beautiful it almost hurt to look at him. Even the light seemed to caress him. "I thought you'd be used to finding strange men in your suite late at night by now."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked still clutching my shoes to my chest. The only man who ever came here was Rock, and I didn't see how Ronin could possibly know that. Rock Reed took great pains to make sure he wasn't seen.

"Exactly what you think."

Of course. He was going to make me play games about any information he may or may not have. Too bad I was too tired to bite. He could take his games and go play them somewhere else.

"What do you want?" I finally asked, dropping my bag and shoes on the table before heading to the wine cabinet to retrieve the red wine I'd been dreaming about since I left my studio.

Ronin's grin crossed his face, nice and slow, as if he wanted to savor the moment before he struck with whatever he planned to say next. Sadly, I was too exhausted to brace for it.

"I came to talk about our wedding."

"There's not going to be a wedding." I froze as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

"Excuse me?"

At least his smug grin had disappeared. I didn't like the feeling I got when he used that look of superiority on me. It made me defensive, and apparently, reckless.

"I'm sorry. That came out wrong." I tried to backpedal, even though Ronin was not the kind of man to just let this go.  "It has been a really long day, and I'm not thinking straight."

Ronin rose from the chair like a fallen dark angel. His perfectly fitted black suit, black tie, black shoes drew my eye from the floor to the top of his head. If I didn't already have someone in my life, I might have considered this marriage arrangement. Well, maybe. I wasn't sure I was cut out to play mafia wife. Being away from my family for five years had given me perspective. And I had a feeling Ronin was more like the scary devil hiding in plain sight than an angel. To be married to him would not be an easy thing.

"Somehow I doubt that was a Freudian slip." He paced in my direction and I forced myself not to back away from him. If nothing else, I had to stand my ground or there would be no hope of negotiation. Cowards never got anywhere with men like him.

"Maybe not. But I am exhausted. Tonight is probably not the best for this discussion."

"I beg to differ. Maybe you are ready to be honest. You can play the game, and you actually do it well, but something tells me there is more going on with you than you let on. I have a signed, lucrative contract from your father that doesn't activate until we are married. Are you telling me that contract is worth less than the paper it is written on?"

I shook my head. How had I gotten myself into this quicksand, so quickly? This shouldn't have happened. But it did, so I was going to have to follow through. "I'm sure it's quite valuable. But is this really what you want? To marry me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Clearly, he was going to make me spell it out. "You don't strike me as the kind of man who is ready to settle down."

"You don't know me, Nova. Don't presume to know my mind."

"You're right, I don't. And you don't know me. That's exactly my point. This arbitrary and outdated method of marrying the families together is absurd. It may create a truce or even a temporary alliance, but more often than not it's simply smoke and mirrors. It's all bullshit."

His eyes narrowed and his face darkened. I didn't know if he was pissed or bored. Either way, I got the impression he was about to explode.

"You make a lot of baseless assumptions about family business for someone who knows nothing about the actual business."

"Why is that? Because I'm a girl? You cannot be so naive as to think that because you exclude us, we actually allow you to keep all the secrets. I guarantee you, there isn't a female in the family who doesn't know what the hell is going on." By the time I finished, I was practically yelling. I was so tired and out of sorts, I'd completely lost control.

"Well, thanks for the tirade," he smirked. "But my comment didn't mean shit about your gender. I was referring to your five-year exile. If you haven't been part of the family, then you don't know shit about the business, which is fine, because you shouldn't."

"My father told you that?"

"No, he did not. But I did my research before coming here. While information about Catherine may be scarce, Nova is an open book. However, when I put the two of you together, I get a complete picture. You left on your eighteenth birthday and haven't been back since. Which, in our world, is unusual. I don't even see any evidence you've been living under family protection, which pisses me off, by the way. So, tell me. Why were you exiled on what should have been your most important birthday? I mean, I would have expected him to have a husband contract already in place. Someone high-level even. To ban you makes no sense. Unless you did something really wrong."

I took a moment to catch my breath and let his words sink in. I don't know why I didn't expect him to know more about me than I wanted. If nothing else, my father would have told him I wasn't a virgin. Virgins were used for the high-level negotiations.

"You just assume I did something terrible, instead of the other way around."

He shrugged. "All I know is, it's information your father left out of the negotiations, and I want to know why. Hiding information is not usually a sign of good faith."

I sighed. "This wasn't how I imagined spending my evening. Talking about my father was the farthest thing from my mind."

"Why? What happened between you two?"

I put my shoes on the table and dropped into one of the nearby chairs. I truly couldn't stand for a minute longer. I hated thinking about that night. All I could see and feel when I did was the cold as ice rage I'd seen on his face when I lied to him about my virginity. That he hadn't exploded still surprised me. I believed my mother's presence saved me.

"My father did arrange for me to marry as soon as I turned eighteen. He was going to send me to Italy to marry one of the Rossis." I doubted I needed to explain to Ronin who they were. Romeo Rossi and his family were considered the most powerful family in Italy and most of the United States. They had a strong presence here in Vegas, as well. "When he explained my obligation, moments before my birthday party was to begin, I panicked. Honestly, I was terrified. So, I told him I wasn't a virgin."

Ronin whistled. "I bet he didn't take that well. If he'd already negotiated with your future husband for an eighteen-year-old bride then I'm certain your virginity had been part of the bargain."

I nodded. "Yes, it's the whole reason I told him.”

"You lied, didn't you?"

As if he'd read my mind, Ronin asked one of the questions I still did not want to answer. That had been my secret alone, all these years, and one I'd planned to never divulge. If my father discovered I'd lied all those years ago, what would he do? I'd gotten away that night with just an exile as punishment. But if he ever learned that I lied my way out of his arrangement? That could blow up in my face and I'd have a lot bigger problems than the man standing in front of me.

"That's not important. It's ancient history. What's important is the current arrangement and what we're going to do about it."

"Your non-answer is a fucking answer. You lied. And we aren't going to do anything about this arrangement. It's a done deal."

He was spewing words as if they were venom. It was almost enough to make me back down and retreat. But there wasn't a lot of time to regroup and start over, so I was just going to have to go for it anyway.

"What if there was a better deal? One worth a hell of a lot more money and probably more enticing than whatever bullshit my father cooked up."

His eyebrows shot up and I could read the disbelief between the lines. That was to be expected. What I wanted to do wasn't going to be easy.

"What exactly are you saying? You want to buy out your father's contract with us?"

I nodded, clasping my fingers together to keep my nervous fidgeting down to a minimum. I was about to lay my cards on the table, and this was it. The only shot I would get to get out of this.

"I have something my father wants. Badly. He's got Romeo Rossi up his ass to find it. But he won't. Not unless I want him to."

"What is it?" Ronin finally looked truly interested in something I had to say. Although that didn't mean I could trust him quite yet. We needed our own little negotiation before I would reveal any details.

"Something that could get us both killed."