I wake up the next morning at ten am, exhausted.

Dinner went well. Dante and I had spent most of it quietly eating our food while my uncle and his father discussed terms. Our mothers didn't say much, but that wasn't strange. While the women in our families were powerful, they deferred to the men in public.

After dinner, Dante and I came back to my place. There had been no taming Dante's seemingly insatiable appetite last night. Now he lays there, snoring softly on my bed. He looks adorable, which was probably his intention. I could deal with waking up to this every morning...

I start up my coffee maker and hear a sound like a Nintendo game go off in my room. That's weird, I think. I don't even have a TV in there. I'm halfway back to the room when I hear Dante talking.

"Yes. Yes. I know. I'll be right in," he says, talking into what had to be a cell phone. He hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed just as I step in the doorway. Blue eyes look up at me. "Business. The word is out about combining our families.”

“Before you go, do you know anything about forced escorts on the north side of town?” I ask him.

He frowns and shakes his head. “My family isn't in the escorts. We dropped it a couple of years ago as it wasn't earning out. Why?”

Relief trickles through me that what happened to Sara doesn't have anything to do with Dante.

“A friend of mine had some trouble on the edge of our territories,” I tell him.

His frown deepens. “I'll make sure I look into it.”

"Do you want any coffee before you go?" I ask, already feeling a little domesticated by him. Next thing I know, I'll be baking cookies and pot roasts. It surprises me that I'm not dreading the idea.

He shakes his head. "No, I should get going as quickly as possible." He quickly throws his clothes on and smooths his hair. I watch him, soaking in his easy movements. He checks his pockets one last time to make sure he has everything before kissing my cheek. "See you later?"

I smile. "Count on it."

With that, he's gone, clearly in a hurry. The apartment is quiet without him. I lay back down on the bed, hoping to recover some energy before tackling the day.

I sit up with a start and quickly dial a number on my corded phone. I have to tell Ethan what happened last night before he tells Aunt Sophia.

"This is Ethan," a gruff voice I recognize answers at the second ring.

"It's Cara. I need to tell you about last night." I wait for a response, but he doesn't say anything so I just continue. "I met Dante the other day accidentally. He goes to the bar near my place. That's how he knew where to find me. He thought it was a joke that it was me there. That's why he was mad.”

It's a lie, but it has enough of the truth that it will stand strong.

“That's it?” Ethan asks. “No more problems?”

“Yup. No more problems.”

“Good.” The line goes dead as Ethan hangs up. The man is not one for small talk.

I flop back onto the bed, ready for a nap, but less than a minute later, my phone rings. No rest for the wicked.

"Hello?" I stifle a yawn as I answer.

"Cara." The woman on the other end of the line isn't asking a question.

"May I ask who's calling?" I'm suddenly awake. I don't like unknown callers.

"It doesn't matter. There's a taxi waiting outside for you. If you know what's good for you, you'll get in it immediately."

"Who is this?" I ask, now angry. I may not be in charge yet, but I don't take orders from just anyone.

There's a sigh on the other end of the line. "My name is Victoria. I'm Dante's mother."

It's a long taxi ride out to the countryside. I think of all the things I'd rather be doing than going to meet Dante's mother, and it's a long list. Taxes, jury duty, feeding live cobras...pretty much anything, really. The taxi driver seems to be clueless, trying to make small talk with me while I'm clearly upset.

I text Aunt Sophia, but I don't get a response.

I wore my pencil skirt and a smart blouse, not really dressing up but hoping that I don't come off as a total slob. The whole way there, I think about what she could say. It clearly won't be good, her tone made that clear. Still, what's the worst that she could do to me?

When the car turns into what must be the driveway at the biggest mansion I've ever seen, I know I've arrived. The whole place screams old money. As we pull to a stop, a butler opens the door to the taxi. "Right this way, Miss Savio," he says to me. To the taxi driver, he says, "Wait here."

He leads me through corridors that seem to flaunt wealth at every opportunity. I don't recognize any of the paintings or statues, but it's obvious that they're all expensive. My current job has let me have a taste of wealth, but the displays in this house make me look like a pauper. The butler leads me to a library of some sort, full of old books. "Mrs. Russo will meet you here."

From that point on, it becomes a waiting game. I know she's looking in on me, looking for any reaction and enjoying making me uncomfortable. I sit demurely on an embroidered couch, but I can't help but be impatient. I have things to do, and the last thing I want is to be here. I keep looking at my watch, realizing that she's probably enjoying watching me get frustrated at the lost time, but I can't help myself.

After twenty minutes pass, I let out a loud sigh. The voice in my head, always the voice of reason, says This is just a power game to her, and you don't have time for it. I don't need this, even if she is Dante's mother. I head for the door and open it, trying to remember how to get out of here. The butler looks at me in surprise from the hallway. "Mrs. Russo will be with you shortly, please return to the room."

"I have more important things to do than wait forever," I say sharply. He doesn't react and I realize that he probably gets attitude all day from the people who live in this house. He's a working man, just like me. I smile and immediately act sweeter. "Thank you for your hospitality, sir. Please let Mrs. Russo know that the next time we meet, it will be on my terms."

I start to slip past him, but stop. There's a painting on the wall, one of a man staring out at sea. It seems to paralyze me. I see myself there, commanding the very water of the ocean. I could be that powerful.

I'm about to leave when I hear footsteps behind me. "I thought you had important things to do," a woman's voice says.

I shrug without looking back. "I have time to admire art."

She stands next to me. I can smell her perfume before I see her, and it makes her smell old and rich. Her red dress is flattering, but again screams more money than taste. "Then you have time to talk to me, too."

"What do you want? Or did you just want me to see your expensive artwork?" I motion to the painting. The waves seem to move as the man commands them. Whatever she paid for that painting was worth it.

She grimaces and I get the feeling that this isn't a topic that she wants to talk about. "No. I asked you here to tell you that you cannot marry Dante."

I nearly laugh. “That's up to the families. I thought you wanted this marriage.”

“My husband wants this marriage,” she corrects me. “I know Dante. I want him to be happy. And that isn't with you. You marry him, and I'll make sure your life is miserable.”

I stare at her in disbelief. I don't really have many options here. I can marry Dante, be happy, but she'll make my life miserable or I can leave Dante, be sad, and my family will make my life miserable.

It's a pretty easy choice for me to make.

“You really should discuss this with my aunt and uncle,” I tell her. “You should probably talk to your husband about this as well.”

She grimaces as I call her bluff.

“I have. I'm trying to do what's best for my son,” she tells me. “He deserves someone better.”

I'm sure there's a certain someone that she wants instead. There's always power plays between families. She probably made a deal with another family and is now feeling the squeeze.

"I'll make sure you're invited to the wedding," I say, feeling powerful. I turn in what I hope is the direction out.

I can also destroy your life. Do you understand me?" I can feel her glittering with malice behind me. "I will destroy you."

I sigh loudly and dramatically. "Are we done here?"

She walks in front of me, her heels clicking on the floor as she faces me, giving me the first really good look of her face. She looks like someone who was once very pretty, and very high society. However, now she looks tired, like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. "Of course. You can expect another call from me very soon. I will find something on you."

I smile back. "I hope it'll be to congratulate Dante and I on our pending nuptials." I turn and walk toward the door before I can see her reaction, but I am sure it isn't happy.

Desperate people do desperate things. I wonder why she doesn't want what everyone else does.