As soon as Gael reached the airport and t with his father, he asked him what the eting would be about. However, his father was tight-lipped and told him not to worry about it—that it was just all formality regarding their supposed agreent.
Gael didn't like being kept in the dark. The last ti that his father told him about a eting at the last minute was a few years ago, and he ended up getting stabbed on the side after a war broke out in Australia.
Back then, he was supposed to be receiving goods from a one-ti transaction with a Russian mob—The Yanovichs—but it ended up badly while Daniel Cho and his team were there, waiting for their chance to intercept Yanovich's n. The simple transaction ended up in a three-team gunfight. Police were coming, and they had to separate, then Gael got knifed on the side as he tried getting away.
At that ti, Gael and Daniel were still enemies after he kidnapped his ex, Becca, who happened to be with Samantha during their vacation—that occurred about two years before the Yanovich crossfire. He didn't plan to hurt the won as he intended just to have a conversation with Becca since she ran away after witnessing him shooting a traitor—also after he had to keep her in his house in Italy for her own safety. She was of course scared and enraged after seeing him put a bullet between the traitor's eyes. Soone who wasn't thinking straight could be dangerous to herself and to his family.
She was a witness to a cri, and he didn't like loose ends, but he cared enough for her not to harm her. Gael couldn't risk her telling what she knew about his family. That night of him 'kidnapping' the won, Daniel ca for his wife. In the end, everyone walked away, and they had stayed far away from each other's radar.
Fate, as they had it, Gael and Daniel, along with Lucas and Sean, ended up working together later for the safety of Daniel's family after the Yanovich incident. They weren't on the sa side at first, but eventually, they tead up and took down Yanovich. They ca to respect each other and ended up being close friends—brothers even. They went to war together to kill Yanovich and his n, after all.
Despite gaining friendship over what happened, Gael still got in trouble and could've lost his life during that war with the Yanovichs. Therefore, his father not being upfront with him about the eting with the Morellis made him anxious. He just hoped they would get ho unscathed.
A few hours later, they arrived at the agreed venue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a neutral ground between each of their territories. They t in a restaurant's private room, sharing a table with Don Mario and Lauretta for lunch. Gael found it distasteful to be eating with them, acting like they were one big family. But he kept his cool, not wanting to give the Morellis a reason to turn this eting into a fight.
Lauretta kept giving him smiles the entire ti, serving and offering him food like a dutiful fiancée. He declined politely every ti to avoid pissing off the Morellis. She was probably Don Mario's favorite granddaughter, and he couldn't possibly disrespect her in front of him.
When Gael declined, Don Mario laughed heartily as if he was amused and said, "You young ones… Don't be shy. You'll soon be married. You should get as much practice as you need."
"Grandpa!" Lauretta had the audacity to flush like she was embarrassed—like this whole thing was so sort of a romantic arranged marriage.
Gael stopped himself from rolling his eyes and kept his face neutral. Don Mario's friendliness wouldn't fool him. That's superficial. The old man had a dark heart who wouldn't hesitate to kill even their blood relatives if they wronged him.
His father, Alessandro, smiled, playing along with Don Mario's antics. He didn't like this setting as much as Gael did. However, Alessandro was relaxed, his aura light and welcoming—one thing that he was great at—fooling the other when what he really wanted was to rip Don Mario's head off.
They hadn't talked about anything serious yet. Don Mario liked pleasantries and taking his ti. And Gael guessed that his father wanted to keep this eting as flawless as possible.
When they finished their al, the servers cleared out the table and served espressos to each of them. Then Don Mario and Alessandro signaled their n to leave the room, leaving only six at the table, including Don Mario's right-hand man.
"As agreed." Alessandro nodded to his consigliere. Fabiano reached into his briefcase, pulling out two white folders and then placing them at the center of the table.
Gael drew his brows together, unsure of what the contents of those folders were. He looked at his father, but the latter kept his face straight, waiting for Don Mario to check the folders.
Don Mario skimd through the docunts and then nodded, smiling as he tossed the folder back to the table. "Very well. Laurie, sign the papers."
Gael watched as Lauretta signed the papers, and then, without second thoughts, she picked up a sharp letter opener from the side and nicked her thumb. Blood oozed out of it, and she stamped her thumbprint next to her signatures. Then she slid them towards him, a haughty smile ghosting her face as she wiped her cut with a napkin. "Your turn, Dear."
"What is this?" He turned to his father. Alessandro hadn't answered yet, but Gael's heart was already thundering in his chest.
"An agreent and a prenuptial contract," Alessandro curtly responded, his tone calm and final as he gave Gael a stern look.
The fuck? What agreent? What contract? Gael's jaw tightened as his gaze flitted towards the paper. His blood was boiling, and he wanted to snap at his father for blindsiding him like this—but still, he kept his reaction contained. However, the tick on the vein on his forehead couldn't be controlled.
Reaching for the papers, Gael scanned through them quickly and sure enough, it was a contract and a prenuptial agreent. If he signed the papers—and his father expected him to sign the fucking papers—then his and Lauretta's wedding would take place on the 2nd of February, two weeks after Gabby's and Mariano's which would be on the 19th—this Saturday.
These weren't just any contracts. The prenup agreent was a standard one while the other was an agreent to finalize the wedding. The mafias honor contracts just like any. He might as well be saying "I do" right now if he signed them.
"Is there a problem?" Don Mario questioned, his voice laced with darkness though his expression remained blank.
"Nothing at all," Alessandro answered. "My son just wants to be thorough. He's always been ticulous."
"Ah… An admirable trait for a businessman. You're in good hands, Laurie." Don Mario patted Lauretta's hand, and she smiled at him sweetly.
"Son?" Alessandro gave Gael a look and handed him a fountain pen.
Fuck. He wanted to haul his father out of the room to talk to him and demand what the hell was going on and why he was forcing him to sign. He never agreed to any of this, and his father didn't ntion anything about it either. Following the order from the council to have the arranged marriage between the warring families was different from actually signing this agreent—not to ntion, in blood. There were no contracts from the council. Signing this would make everything final.
But with the look on his father's eyes—though Alessandro wasn't telling him anything else—Gael was compelled to follow orders. Reluctantly, though he didn't show it, he affixed his signature above his na, nicked his thumb, and stamped his blood on the papers. He had just sliced his finger, but the ache was in his chest from the betrayal he just experienced.
Gael wanted to believe his father didn't actually just handed him over to the enemies and hoped he had a solid plan—or they were fucked.
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