Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Philadelphia without mercy as you expect me to do, but even I have certain lines
I’m not willing to cross, and I won’t force myself on a girl.”
“She’s of age and nobody says you have to use force,” Luca repeated and I
lost my shit.
I crashed the glass down on the table. “That she is, but I’d still feel like I was
manhandling her. You can’t honestly believe she will come willingly into my
bed. Perhaps she will submit because she knows it’s her only option, but that’s
not willing. I have a daughter, Luca, and I wouldn’t want her to be with a man
thirteen years her senior.”
Luca regarded me for a long time, maybe considering putting a bullet in my
head. He didn’t tolerate defiance. “You will present sheets after your wedding
night, Cassio.” I opened my mouth to refuse him again. “No discussion. How
you create bloody sheets is up to you.”
I sat back, wary. “What is it you are suggesting?”
“I’m not suggesting anything,” Luca said. “I’m only telling you that I want
to see bloody sheets, and I and everyone else will take them as proof of your
wife’s honor and your ruthlessness as is expected.”
Maybe I was wrong, but I was fairly certain Luca was suggesting I fake the
bloody sheets. I took another sip of my scotch, wondering if Luca had
experience faking blood stains. I had been at the presentation of the sheets after
his wedding night with Aria, but even as I tried, I couldn’t imagine Luca sparing
anyone. I had seen him ripping out a man’s tongue for disrespecting Aria and
had been there when he’d crushed his uncle’s throat. Maybe he was testing me.
Maybe he was suggesting something like that so he could see if I was too weak
to bed my wife. Growing up in our world, I’d learned to see the warning signs. If
I failed a test given by my Capo, the end result was inevitable. I’d be removed
from my position in the only acceptable way—by death. While I didn’t fear
dying, I loathed the idea of what that would mean for Daniele and Simona.
They’d cruelly lost their mother. If I, too, abandoned them, it would cause
horrible trauma to my kids.
Showing any kind of weakness in this situation would be fatal. I would not
risk my children’s health nor my position as Underboss.
I took a sip. “I’ll do what you ask of me, Luca, like my father and I have
always done.”
Luca inclined his head, but the tension lingered between us. I’d have to
watch my back until I’d proven myself again.