By Virtue I Fall (Sins of the Fathers #3)(99)

“I could marry one of your daughters,” Leonas suggested with a shrug. “I bet you can spare one of them.”

Maximo Clark’s skin turned an even darker shade of red, which I hadn’t thought possible, but in his eyes, I could see he was considering it.

I didn’t listen to rumors very often but I knew one of the Clark twins had been involved in an unpleasant incident that had made some smaller waves in the press.

Maximo exchanged a look with his wife then Clifford, but the latter seemed less than enthused about the suggestion. Maximo, on the other hand, seemed relieved to have found a way to dispose of his scandalous offspring. “When would you suggest a wedding?”





“You really want to throw yourself in front of the bus for me? You were always against a bond with the Clarks and now you want to marry the bad Clark twin?”

Leonas smirked. “I was against it, am still against it, but the situation is different now. You’d have to play the politician’s wife, leaving our life behind in parts, but if I marry a Clark twin, she will have to bow to our way of living.”

“Charlotte doesn’t look as if she likes to bow to someone.”

Leonas had a dark smile on his face. “Depends on the rumors you listen to.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nobody will be happy with this bond.”

“Maybe Bad Clark will be glad to be rid of her family.”

“Her name’s Charlotte.”

I’d only exchanged a few meaningless pleasantries with Clifford’s sisters in the past, so I didn’t know them—except for the occasional pieces of gossip.

“I can’t distinguish them. They look pretty much the same and their names are almost clones of each other.”

They used to look identical but since Charlotte changed her style it was easy to tell them apart. “You can be a dick.”

“Today I’m the hero who saves the day.”

I shook my head. “Are you really sure about this? I doubt the Clarks will be very happy if another wedding bursts into flames because a Cavallaro decides, he doesn’t want the bond.”

“Sis, I have one advantage over you.”

I made a doubtful face.

“I’m not in love with someone else, and I won’t ever be. This heart is as cold as ice.”

“You are full of shit.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “But thanks for throwing yourself in front of the bus for me.”

Leonas shrugged. “For you and for the Outfit. It’s better if I’m the one caught in a bond with Outsiders. That way I can control how it goes.”

I shook my head with a smile. Leonas was already planning ahead, for when he had more of a say in the Outfit, though Dad had already given him more and more responsibilities. The conservatives were gaining momentum, especially among the young Made Men and Leonas had good standing among them. Many never wanted a bond with Outsiders, nothing that extended over bribing them, which was why many didn’t condemn me for choosing not to marry Clifford. It was like Leonas had said. I would have had to leave the Outfit in parts to become part of Clifford’s world. The same wouldn’t happen now that Leonas would marry Charlotte. She would have to submit to our world and rules, or be swallowed whole by it.





The sound of an engine carried into the living room where I sat with Bea, waiting for Santino to arrive.

Bea’s face lit up. “Is that Santino?”

I nodded, feeling overjoyed. I had only caught glimpses of him in the last two weeks since his release from the hospital. Mom and Dad had demanded we keep our distance while they handle the Clarks and the first waves of the scandal die down. It had been hard not to talk to him or see him, especially now that we no longer had to hide, at least from our families. The public was still unaware of our relationship, though that would probably change tonight. Dad too knew that nobody would believe it if we told them that Santino and I had found our love after the failed wedding, and luckily he wanted to handle the matter offensively.

I pushed to my feet, grinning, and hurried into the lobby. The bell rang and I was about to open the door when Dad’s voice rang out, “Let me.”

I turned. He strode toward me with a stern look.

“Dad, is this really necessary? Why couldn’t Santino come in through the guardhouse entrance and pick me up like he did in the past?”

“Because this time he doesn’t pick you up as your bodyguard. He’s here to pick you up for a date, and that requires him waiting at the door and greeting your parents.”

“You won’t send a chaperone along, right?”

Dad didn’t say anything as he walked past me.

“We spent three years alone in Paris,” I reminded him.

Dad opened the door and greeted Santino with a stern expression. Mom headed for us as well.

“Not you, too, Mom, please.”

She touched my shoulder as she passed. “We have certain rules, and even if you and Santino did a detour around them for a while, this’ll change now.”

I rolled my eyes. I was twenty-two, and had practically dated Santino three and a half years. It was too late to protect my virtue. And nobody in the Outfit would believe Santino and I had only just started seeing each other. They would put two and two together as soon as we appeared in public and link my broken engagement to Santino.