Chapter 3 Messier II

Who could have sent her that message? Evelyn was now more confused than before. She was battling the idea of marrying a beast, and now he's cursed? Why does she seem to have a cruel fate?

Before now, her life has been controlled. Everyone tells her what to do, which has always made her sad. She can't make any decisions. She receives instructions from her father and Uncle Dimitri and does whatever they want. She was told her mother had passed away when she was little, but after hearing a discussion she wasn't meant to hear from her Nephews, she knew she was being lied to about the death of her mother. She was going to find out whatever it was they did to her.

Getting married had always been her hope of escaping her father's world. She hoped to find love, get married, and escape. She wanted to get away from the killings, drugs, smuggling, and most importantly, Evelyn craved a peaceful life, where she won't have to live in fear of who blasts the house with gunshots next.

Now that hope, too, had just been shattered. She wasn't even allowed to choose love. Instead, she still has to follow her father's and Dimitri's orders by marrying a beast.

She sat slowly on the bed, looking blankly into space, when her phone rang. Good. Someone finally called to explain the chaos in her life.

"Who?" She questioned, still looking blankly through the windows and not bothering to check the caller ID.

"I want to inform you that your father knows about this. He consented to your marriage to Luca Romano," Dimitri's weak voice came in.

"Someone should have at least informed me before now. Why do I have to hear it from him?"

"It was a last-minute decision. Moreover, your father is in a coma right now, fighting for his life. And Roman's blood now runs in his veins. So trust us and do as we say."

"He's a beast, Uncle," Evelyn tried her luck to convince Dimitri otherwise.

"He's not. You assumed it." He countered blankly. Evelyn kept quiet, but she knew what she saw. She saw him transform right before her eyes. But since her fate has been planned, what other choice does she have?

She could tell from Dimitri's voice that he was injured from the outbreak. Now there's no one to talk to or run to. She could only wait and anticipate her fate in the beast's house.

*********

Luca exited Evelyn's room to meet her angry father, who was shooting into the air. He leaned against the wall and sighed in relief. He had thought Petrov's men had found them again.

"Boss, any orders?"One of his men, hovering close by, asked.

Luca shook his head. "Not yet. We wait for orders from Dad. But that would be when he's calm. For now, could you make arrangements to clean my mansion? The one at the far end of the Estate. My bride comes home tonight."

The man stepped back and nodded. "Taken, boss. I'll get right to it."

His father barks commands while pacing the hallway with a phone to his ear. Luca knew what would happen next: retaliation, a meeting behind closed doors, and revenge. But he was unable to consider all of that at the moment.

Evelyn was all he could think about. He's feeling a strange pull to her, which stirs confusion in him. Evelyn is human; he is a wolf and a cursed one. Is it possible he's being mated to a human? No! It can't be. He erased the thought immediately.

Are you wondering how a human bore a wolf? Luca's father, Romano, had an affair with a woman named Viviana years ago; he never knew she was a wolf until she transformed one day in a battle with a rival Mafia gang and defended him. As fate would have it, their only son turned out to be a wolf because Viviana was also a witch and was a powerful one.

At first, Romano was ok with her ruling beside him as his Queen. She was useful just as Luca is to him now. All Mafia gangs around them feared her because of her ability to transform and win battles. But one day, Romano discovers a secret he has never told anyone about her. When Viviana discovered Romano had caught her, she fled, and no one had seen her. Though Romano later heard that she died in a ghastly motor accident, which he never believed to date.

"Petrov and his men managed to get away," Romano's voice drifted Luca away from his thoughts. "We lay low until our men are on their feet again, and then strike when he least expects."

"Sure, Dad," he responded with a strong revolve, his eyes almost spilling fire.

"The deal between us and the Stone continues. Make sure Dimitri's niece is yours before sunset tomorrow. We can't make any mistakes on the incoming weapons. I'll check up on Vincent now."

"Copy Dad," Luca replied.

He wiped his face again, worried about too many things. He hates the fact that they are somehow at the mercy of the Stones, even when Vincent is in the hospital, lying lifeless and fighting for his life. The Romanos and the Stones were once close; they watched each other's backs and ran deals together since they dealt with firearm smuggling.

Vincent Stone was the most powerful Mafia Don in New York's history. He had connections home and abroad, and no one could match him until Romano emerged. Don Romano, Luca's father, once ruled in the slums of Paris, though he wasn't from there. He double-crossed a powerful gang from the heart of Paris, nearly costing him his life, and then he had to relocate to avoid being caught. New York was his father's land. That's why he opted to return home.

Being a boss on his own, who built his gang from the scratch after he returned to New York, he found it difficult at first to bow to Vincent Stone. But when he realized Vincent runs the whole city, he has no choice. He pledged his alliance and learnt from him before a deal caused their separation for the second time. Now he's back. This time he needs Vincent more, but The Stones had been betrayed too many times by him and this time they want a solid alliance. It could only happen through blood.

However, both families knew that the deal they believed they had struck that evening in the Stones' Mansion was about to get messier.