The Italian Don's Captive Bride

Chapter No. 12

Cassandra Petrova:-

"365 days? What type of f*****g game is this, Eliseo? What are you trying to do over here?" I bellowed as I read the contract placed in front of me on the polished antique table in his study office of Leone mansion in America.

"It's not the game. Let's say. It's a condition." Eliseo replies with a shrug as he leans back lazily against his chair behind the desk with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"What do you mean by condition?" I asked with a frown. "I don't see any kind of condition over here."

"You will, if you bother to read the full contract instead of just focusing on the word 365 days in front of you."

I ripped my eyes from the bold 365 days displayed on the contract and flipped through the rest of the pages so I could focus somewhere else. The jargon was thick, but Eliseo had made sure the real poison was bold, impossible to miss, and plainly stated.

Clause 6.2: During the course of the contract, the bride shall bear the Leone heir.

Clause 7.1: Violating this agreement's emotional, physical, and reproductive rules shall render all parties responsible instantaneously null and void (Clause 11.0).

I flipped the page.

Clause 11.0: In the event of breach of contract, Eliseo Leone may release confidential Petrov operations, alliances, and dealings with other underworld syndicates to enemy syndicates.

My blood ran cold.

My eyes were filled with fury, and I lifted them up to look. "You’re blackmailing me."

Eliseo didn’t flinch. He even sipped a slow mouthful of whiskey, and, in fact, looked almost pleased with himself. "Now you’re reading properly."

"The only thing you ask of me is that I marry you, live in your mansion, give you a child, and pretend to love you—or else you could burn my family to the ground. Wow, how f*****g generous of you, Don Eliseo."

"Not pretending, Cassandra," he said, rising from his chair and taking measured steps around the desk." Either you’ll fall for me or watch your father fall because of you. Your brothers hunted. Your empire dissolved. From every corner of the underworld, the Petrov name will be wiped."

I stepped back, hissing, "You bastard."

"I gave you a choice," he replied calmly. "I was crystal clear about it, and you agreed to it when you left Leone Palazzo with me and got into my car. So don’t play the victim right now. I’m just setting up words for what you’ve already accepted."

I clenched my fists, stared him, my heart pounding.

"Do you really think this makes you powerful?" I spat. "You think you have the upper hand with forcing me into your bed, your name, and your bloodline?"

He looked into my eyes, those eyes as cold as steel, and leaned in. "I don’t think it. I know it."

I checked the contract down again. My name was printed at the bottom. The pen beside it was like a loaded gun pointed at all of my bloodline. Eliseo turned away, his voice clipped, and said.

"You have 24 hours. If you don't sign it....I will sign your family's death sentence."

It was louder than any scream, that silence that followed. I was at the edge of war, yet I did not know whose side I was on. When I thought Eliseo was about to leave, he stopped by the door and spoke.

"The contract isn't as bad as you think, Cassandra," he began to speak and went on. "Unless you take the time to read the contract without your eyes filled with rage, you will see that I am offering you something that most people in our world will die begging for."

I didn’t respond. The chair's armrest was like the only thing I still had a grip on.

"You want to talk about conditions?" he continued. "The truth, Cassandra? As cruel as it is, this deal is the easiest way out you have. You walk free if you cannot love me at the end of 365 days. No chains. No threats. No war. Your freedom, clean and earned."

He rolled his head to the side a little, just enough for me to see the glint of his eyes.

"If you do, though," he said, "if you fall for me ... then you don't just become my wife. You become my queen. A Donna, and the most powerful Donna in the underworld. Feared. Respected. Untouchable. Men like Dominic will be nothing but pests, filthy crawling insects that you can stomp on."

His voice deepened, became something darker, something that prickled along my skin. "You will have the throne, the bloodline, and my name. And all the men who have ever insulted you, your soul, would beg for your forgiveness and bow at your feet."

He then opened the door, stepping out, but not before lobbing one last dagger over his shoulder.

"You might hate me now, Cassandra. But remember, the queens aren’t born. They’re forged."

The door shut, and I sat there for a few seconds, trembling as I held my fingers against the edge of the contract. I flicked my eyes back to Clause 6.2, the part where I had to have his heir—my heir—our heir. I couldn't even process it before my body acted on its own. I shoved the chair out from under me and stood, stomping out of the study, my heels ringing through the marble halls of the Leone mansion.

"Eliseo!" Seeing him before he turned down the corridor, I shouted. He didn’t react in surprise or startle. He turned around slowly, still wearing that same mask of calm amusement as he always did, infuriatingly beautiful.

"Yes, Diavoletta Mia?" he asked huskily with a smirk on his face. "You want to say something?"

"The baby. Our baby. What happens to it at the end of the contract if I don't fall in love with you? Will I still be his/her mother, or will I be discarded like trash?" I asked, breathing heavily.