Sweet Temptation

sure I wanted another woman in my life. What I wanted was irrelevant, though. Every aspect of my life was dictated by ironclad rules and traditions.
“The children need a mother, and you need someone who’ll take care of you,” Father said.
“Gaia never took care of him,” Mia muttered. She, too, hadn’t forgiven my late wife.
“Not here, not today,” I clipped. She snapped her mouth shut.
“I suppose you already have someone in mind for Cassio,” my eldest sister Ilaria told Father with a roll of her eyes.
“Every Captain and Underboss with a daughter of marrying age will already have contacted Dad,” Mia said quietly.
Father hadn’t talked to me about it yet, because he knew I wouldn’t have listened. However, Mia was likely right. I was a hot commodity—the only unmarried Underboss in the Famiglia.
Luca and his wife Aria came over. I gave my family a sign to be silent. Luca shook my hand again, and Aria smiled at my children. “If you need to step back from your duties for a while, let me know,” Luca said.
“No,” I said immediately. If I gave up my position now, I’d never get it back. Philadelphia was my city, and I would rule over it.
Luca inclined his head. “I know it’s not a good day to discuss matters, but my uncle Felix approached me.”
Father nodded, as if he knew what Luca was going to say. “It’s a reasonable idea.”
I motioned for them to follow me outside into the garden. “What is it?”
“If I didn’t know of the circumstances of your wife’s death, I wouldn’t have broached the subject today. It’s disrespectful.” Luca only knew what I’d told him.
Father shook his head. “We can’t wait the expected year. My grandchildren need a mother.”
“What is it you have to discuss?” I asked Luca, tired of my father and him knowing what was going on and leaving me in the dark.
“My uncle Felix has a daughter who isn’t promised. She could become your wife. A union between Philadelphia and Baltimore would solidify your power, Cassio,” Luca said.
Felix Rizzo ruled as Underboss over Baltimore. He’d gained the position by marrying one of Luca’s aunts—not because he was good at the job—but he was a tolerable man. I didn’t remember his daughter.
“Why isn’t she married yet?” As the daughter of a high-ranking Made Man, she would have been promised to someone in the Famiglia for years… unless something was wrong with her.
Luca and Father exchanged a look which raised my alarms. “She was promised to the son of a Captain, but he got killed during a Bratva attack last year.”
Quickly recognizing my troubled expression, Father added, “She didn’t know him. She only met him once when she was twelve.”
There was more.
“You could marry her in early November. That way the wedding wouldn’t be too close to Gaia’s funeral.”
“Why November?”
“That’s when she turns eighteen,” Luca said.
I stared at him and my father. Had they lost their minds? “The girl is almost fourteen years younger than me!”
“Given your circumstances, she’s the best option, Cassio,” Father said imploringly. “All the other available daughters of high-ranking Made Men are even younger, and I doubt you’d be willing to marry a widow, given your past experiences.”
My expression became hard. “Today isn’t the right time to discuss this.”
Luca inclined his head. “Don’t wait too long. Felix wants to find a match for Giulia as quickly as possible.”
I gave a terse nod then returned inside. Mother was trying to calm Simona who’d started crying, and Mia was on her way out of the living room with Daniele in mid-tantrum. I needed a wife. However, today I didn’t have the mental capability to make that kind of decision.
Faro handed me a martini before he sank down in the armchair across from mine in my office. “You look like shit, Cassio.”
I gave him a tight smile. “Another sleepless night.”
Taking a sip from his drink, he gave me a disapproving look. “Say yes to Rizzo. You need a wife. You could have one in less than four months. He desperately wants you in his family, saving his sorry ass, or else he wouldn’t have waited all these weeks for you to make up your mind. I’m sure he could have found another husband for his daughter by now.”
I drank half of my martini in one sip. “Almost fourteen years between us. You realize I’ll be waiting for that girl to turn eighteen.”
“Then you’ll have to marry a widow. Do you really want a woman who’s hung up on another man after the thing with Gaia?” he asked quietly.
I grimaced. Most of these days I tried to forget Gaia, and even Daniele had stopped asking for his mother, realizing she wouldn’t be coming back. He’d become awfully quiet ever since, never saying a single word.
“No,” I said harshly. “No widow.” Not only did I not want to risk a repeat performance, but all the widows on the market had kids and I didn’t want my children to have to share her attention. They needed all the care and love they could get. They were suffering, and no matter how much I tried, I wasn’t the person who could give them what they needed.
“For Heaven’s sake, call Rizzo. What’s the problem? The girl will be of age soon.”
I gave him a look.
“Other men would kill for a chance to have a sexy young girl in their bed once more, yet you play woe-is-me when one is offered to you on a silver platter.”
“If we weren’t childhood friends, I would have relieved you of one of your fingers for that tone,” I said.
“Good thing we’re friends, then,” Faro said, raising his glass.
After yet another night full of screaming, I called Felix in the morning.
“Hello, Felix. It’s Cassio.”
“Cassio, what a pleasure. I assume you’ve come to a decision regarding a bond with my daughter?”
“I’d like to marry her.” That wasn’t exactly the truth. She was the only option to save my sanity. “I can’t wait long. You