Page 13 of Corrupted Bride

“What’s the solution, Carmine?”

“Marriage. They want marriage.” Carmine runs a hand through his hair. “Trust me when I say I know how hard this can be, but Don Nardo and the Escalante are right. Blood is better than promises. A marriage can take a deal and turn it into a long-term project.” He gives me a meaningful look and his gaze cuts over to Nico briefly. “It doesn’t have to be you.”

I don’t even hesitate. “I won’t ask this of anyone else.”

Carmine sighs. “I thought you’d say that, but think it over.” He squeezes my arm roughly. “It’s not a small price to pay, but you don’t have to pay it. You’ve got siblings. That sister⁠—”

“No,” I say sharper than I should and shake Carmine off. “I’ll do it.”

“Bass, you can think about it,” Nico says but his voice is small and he’s pale, staring between us like we’re going to turn and shoot him in the head.

“There’s nothing to think about.” I glance over my shoulder, back toward the hill we’d been standing on. The light brushing over the grass doesn’t seem so beautiful now. “If anyone’s going to make a sacrifice for the family, it’s going to be me. And that’s final.”

“Bass, just because—” Nico starts, but I cut him off.

“End of discussion. Carmine, we should go inside. My mother’s eager to meet you and we’ve got dinner preparing.”

“Of course.” Carmine brushes his hands on his thighs. “You two want a moment to discuss things?”

“No need.” I give Nico a hard look. “Tell Don Nardo I’ll take the marriage myself. That’s how serious I am about this.”

“They’ll be pleased.” But Carmine doesn’t seem happy as he heads to the house again. Nico follows.

“That poor cartel girl,” my brother says, trying to lighten the mood. “She’s getting stuck with Bastiano.”

“They’ll manage. They always do.”

I let them get ahead, my chest a tense riot of emotion.

Fuck, I should’ve seen this coming. The cartels love mixing arrangements with their business deals. Carmine’s right, add in a marriage, and suddenly a contract means a lot more than some paper and some promises.

It’s a guarantee.

But there’s no way in hell I’d ever let one of my siblings suffer in my place. I would never, ever ask this of them, not if I weren’t willing to do it myself.

I look down at my hands and curl them into fists. I close my eyes a moment and smell blood and puke, flies buzzing, ringing in my ears as a woodshed door opens in my memory, the darkness beyond ominous, the quiet like a stab in my guts and my father going first, making some stupid joke before realizing⁠—

I push it away. I take a deep breath to calm myself.

Never fucking again.

This is the price, and I’ll pay it a thousand times over.

5

MARI

Afist pounds on the bathroom door. “Seriously, Mari, you’ve been in there for like five hours!”

“Give me another two minutes. I’m almost done.”

My younger brother Cruz groans. “I swear if you’ve used all the hot water, I’m gonna burn this place to the ground.”

I grin to myself. What a spoiled brat. He wanders off, leaving me alone in our shared bathroom. Lucky Javi, the oldest, he’s got his own en suite, while I have to share.

But it works out. Cruz is only fifteen, and while he gives me crap, we’re close as anything.

“All yours,” I say in a sing-song voice when I’m done. “How do I look?”