His Chosen Bride (Bellini Series -Book 1)

Leonardo Gold didn’t flinch at the sound of the gunshot. Blood sprayed across the concrete floor, but his eyes stayed cold. Calculated. He watched the man crumple in a heap at his feet—another traitor silenced. Another message sent. “Get his body out of my sight,” he muttered to his men. He wiped his hand on a silk handkerchief as his men moved swiftly around him. He heard his phone buzzing before he reached the elevator. Marco, his consigliere, held it out with a raised brow. “ It's Giovanni Bellini.” Leonardo paused. “Speak.” “We want peace,” Don Giovanni Bellini said, without preamble. “I’m willing to offer my daughter to you as your bride.” Leonardo raised an eyebrow, amused more than intrigued. He knew Giovanni was selfish but didn't think he would go as far as sacrificing his daughter to stop a war. “I don’t need peace, Giovanni. I’m already winning this war and you know it.” The man chuckled, though it lacked warmth. He was afraid and Leonardo could smell it from the phone. “She’s quiet. Obedient. Pretty. She won’t get in your way.” A muscle ticked in Leonardo’s jaw. His mother had once been called the same—quiet and obedient. She had died a prisoner in her own home. He stepped into the elevator, his voice low. “And what does she want?” “She doesn’t get to want anything.” Leonardo’s jaw tightened. He pressed the call button. “Send me her name.” He didn’t care for fragile women. But something about Riccardo’s desperation tugged at his curiosity. And Leonardo Gold always followed his curiosity. Even if it meant taking a stranger as his bride.