Beyond the Don’s Reach
597 Views · Ongoing · Hachimitsu
The night I graduated from college, Bianca Moretti asked what I was going to do next. My Mafia family had only recently brought their biological daughter home.
I didn't get a chance to answer. The four men I'd grown up with answered first, each taking his turn.
They all had paperwork showing that they were moving to California.
Then Dante Romano, the future head of one of Chicago's most powerful crime families, slid my research agreement across the table.
“Come along, Lexi. We'll get settled in California, and then I'll marry you.”
I'd been in love with him for years. I put my name on the agreement.
Two weeks later, I walked into the Moretti estate's study and found a different group chat projected on the wall.
[Has Alexandra signed yet?]
[She has. Four made-up job offers, and she's ready to leave Chicago.]
[With her gone, Bianca can take her rightful place.]
[Dante drew the short straw. He's stuck pretending he wants to marry her until she's out of here.]
Not one of them had intended to move.
I'd thought about leaving the family when Bianca first returned. All four had assured me that her arrival wouldn't change anything between us.
I'd taken their word for it.
They didn't know my professor had offered me a place on a classified federal weapons project. During its closed research phase, personal contact with the outside world would be suspended.
I would be out of Chicago in forty-eight hours.
They'd gone to so much trouble to clear a place for Bianca.
I was about to give them exactly what they wanted.
I didn't get a chance to answer. The four men I'd grown up with answered first, each taking his turn.
They all had paperwork showing that they were moving to California.
Then Dante Romano, the future head of one of Chicago's most powerful crime families, slid my research agreement across the table.
“Come along, Lexi. We'll get settled in California, and then I'll marry you.”
I'd been in love with him for years. I put my name on the agreement.
Two weeks later, I walked into the Moretti estate's study and found a different group chat projected on the wall.
[Has Alexandra signed yet?]
[She has. Four made-up job offers, and she's ready to leave Chicago.]
[With her gone, Bianca can take her rightful place.]
[Dante drew the short straw. He's stuck pretending he wants to marry her until she's out of here.]
Not one of them had intended to move.
I'd thought about leaving the family when Bianca first returned. All four had assured me that her arrival wouldn't change anything between us.
I'd taken their word for it.
They didn't know my professor had offered me a place on a classified federal weapons project. During its closed research phase, personal contact with the outside world would be suspended.
I would be out of Chicago in forty-eight hours.
They'd gone to so much trouble to clear a place for Bianca.
I was about to give them exactly what they wanted.


















































