JAY JAY POV
Oh dear god.
I stared at the three men in front of me, completely convinced that whatever sanity this household had left had officially walked out the front door.
“For fuck’s sake, stop this madness!” I yelled at Dad, my voice bouncing off the high ceiling.
“Are you even hearing yourself right now?”
“Jay Jay, we don’t have a choice,” Aries said, stepping forward with his hands raised like he was trying to negotiate with a bomb that had five seconds left on the timer.
“Don’t pull this crap on me, Aries!” I snapped, rounding on him.
“I am not going to destroy my entire life because of your bad decisions!”
“Jay, listen to us, please,” Percy pleaded.
The soft, desperate tone coming from Percy felt like a slap in the face.
My chest tightened, and hot tears burned the corners of my eyes.
“Oh, you are in on this too? Great,” I said, my voice cracking before I could stop it.
Percy took a step toward me, reaching a hand out like he wanted to wipe the tears away, but my brain was spinning out of control.
I stumbled backward, putting distance between us.
“I don’t understand why you’re not understanding this,” Papa said, pinching the bridge of his nose in sheer frustration.
That did it.
The remaining drop of my patience vanished into thin air.
“Don’t you dare get frustrated with me!” I yelled right back at him.
“Because if anyone here has the right to be upset, to get mad, and to be completely furious, it is me! Not you!”
“This is for your own good, Jay,” Papa said, his voice dropping into that heavy, authoritative tone he used when an execution order was final.
“Wow. Truly incredible,” I spat out, letting all the venom and sarcasm I had flood every single syllable.
“And how, exactly, is forcing me into a marriage with the one man on this planet I hate for my own good?”
“He can protect you,” Aries cut in, answering for Dad with cold, hard logic.
“Our enemies are growing fast, and—”
“Exactly! Your enemies are growing!” I interrupted him, throwing my arms up.
“Those are your enemies, your mess, and your bloody underground problems! Why do I have to be the sacrificial lamb for all that crap?”
“Jay, talk like an adult here,” Papa said, his tone turning dangerously low.
“Everyone in this room knows the mafia business is in our blood.”
I let out a harsh, bitter breath.
“I won’t be marrying Mark Keifer Watson,” I said flatly, turning on my heel to walk out.
“Jay Jay, please. If you don’t do this, you could die,” Percy said, his voice raw with pure panic.
“Maybe I’d rather die,” I threw back at him over my shoulder, taking another step toward the hall.
“It was Jeana’s wish for you to marry Serina’s son,” Papa said.
The entire living room went completely silent.
My feet froze against the floor.
I spun back around to face him, my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
Aries looked like he had just taken a punch to the gut, and Percy’s mouth was slightly open in stunned disbelief.
Neither of them had known.
“Wow. Are you seriously lying to me now?” I asked Papa, the words burning on my tongue.
“You’re stooping low enough to use Mom’s ghost as leverage?”
“Why would I use your mother’s name just to marry you off to someone?” Papa shot back, his eyes steady, unyielding, and infuriatingly serious.
A lump the size of a fist formed in my throat.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t argue, and couldn’t stand looking at the three of them for another second.
“Do whatever you wish,” I choked out, biting back the tears threatening to spill down my face.
I stormed past them, sprinted up the stairs straight into my bedroom, and slammed the heavy oak door shut hard enough to shake the entire house.
PERCY POV
I stared at Dad the second Jay Jay’s bedroom door slammed upstairs.
“Why did you lie to her?” I asked him, the anger rising in my throat before I could stop it.
I want my sister to live, obviously.
I would burn the entire city to the ground before letting anyone lay a hand on her, but not at the cost of crushing her spirit.
I understood where Dad and Aries were coming from.
They wanted her breathing and safe behind the heaviest armor possible, but using Mom’s memory felt dirty.
“What else do you want me to do?” Papa shot back, his jaw tight.
Aries stepped over and shut the double doors to the study, making sure the soundproof glass sealed us in so Jay Jay wouldn’t hear a single word from upstairs.
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to bring some sense into the room.
“Maybe we shouldn’t force her into this,” I started.
“What good is keeping her alive if she spends every day miserable?”
“We are doing this for her survival and her future,” Papa said, not budging an inch.
“And do you honestly think Keifer is capable of making her happy?” I asked both of them.
The room went thick with tension.
I already knew the answer.
The problem with Keifer Watson isn’t just that he is lethal; it is that he is completely, terrifyingly obsessed with my little sister.
When a man like that fixes his gaze on someone, that kind of obsession doesn’t protect gently.
It consumes.
“I believe in Keifer,” Aries said calmly.
“He made her smile once. He can make her love him again.”
“It’s still dead wrong to lie to her,” I snapped, glaring at Aries.
“What happens when she finds out we made up Mom’s dying wish? I’d rather take on a cartel alone than face Jay Jay when she realizes we played her.”
“Then we make sure she never finds out,” Papa said, his eyes drilling into mine.
“Which means you need to keep your damn mouth shut, Percy.”
“I know how to keep my mouth shut,” I shot back, offended.
“Forget about that, everyone knows you run on impulse,” Aries cut in, waving a hand dismissively.
“We have bigger fires to put out. The Hanamichi clan is already moving, and they’re going to cause serious problems.”
My knuckles twitched.
“I can take care of Yuri right now,” I muttered.
That arrogant asshole has been breathing our air for far too long.
“The Hanamichis came forward with another arrangement,” Papa said, exhaling heavily.
“Same deal as before?” I asked, suddenly bored by the predictability of it.
Papa nodded, rubbing his temples like the headache had been brewing for hours.
A dry, bitter laugh escaped my chest.
“It’s honestly hilarious that they think they stand a chance against the Marianos. Especially when it comes to touching Jay Jay.”
“As for now, we don’t tell anyone,” Dad said, leaning heavily against the mahogany desk.
“Everyone will find out at the hundredth anniversary celebration next week.”
I gave a short nod.
Announcing an arranged marriage at the biggest syndicate gathering of the century was going to ignite chaos, but that was a problem for next week.
Just as Aries and I turned to leave the study, Dad cleared his throat.
“Check on Jay Jay,” he said quietly, the hard edge dropping from his voice for just a second.
“Yeah, I’m on it,” I replied.
I took the stairs down toward the kitchen.
It was already past eight o’clock, and I knew for a fact she hadn’t touched a single bite since she got home from the firm.
My sister might be stubborn enough to hold a grudge forever, but starving herself wasn’t going to help anyone.
I grabbed a tray, loaded it up with food, and headed back upstairs to her room.
I stood outside her door and gave the wood two steady knocks.
“Go away,” her muffled voice came through immediately.
I could hear the thick, choked crack in her throat.
She had been crying hard.
My chest tightened with that familiar protective guilt.
I knocked again, firmer this time.
“You know I won’t go away until you unlock this door,” I said, leaning my forehead against the frame.
“Then keep waiting,” she threw back, raw and defiant.
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So the first few chapters might be boring but trust me it would get interesting!