[COMPLETED] Her Family Arranged Her Sister's Marriage to Chicago's Most Feared Mafia Boss—But He Asked for the Daughter They Ignored

"Would you like to come with me?"

Aleksander's question remained in the silence long after he spoke.

Tessa looked at the sixty-two guests, then at her mother. Margaret's fingers were rigid around her champagne glass. Charles stood beside her, already wearing the expression he used when something expensive had gone wrong.

Vivienne's diamond necklace glittered against her champagne-colored gown.

"Tessa," Margaret said, "sit down."

For twenty-seven years, that tone had usually ended a conversation.

This time, Tessa stayed standing.

"I'd like to hear what he has to say."

Aleksander made no move to touch her. He merely stepped aside, leaving a clear path toward the library beyond the dining room.

Charles moved between them. "Whatever you need to say to my daughter, Mr. Orlov, concerns this family."

"Then perhaps your family should begin by allowing her to answer for herself."

The reply was quiet. It carried farther than Charles's objection.

Tessa walked past her father's shoulder. Her faded beige dress brushed against the carved dining chairs. She was conscious of every guest watching, but when she reached the doorway, Aleksander did not put a guiding hand on her back. He followed a step behind.

At the table, the small black velvet box remained closed.

The library doors settled shut behind them.

For the first time that evening, Tessa could hear herself breathe.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said.

"Asked your permission?"

"Made everyone stare at me."

Aleksander considered her words. The black compass tattoo on the left side of his neck appeared above his open collar when he turned toward the lamplight.

"You're right. I should have understood what that would cost you."

She had expected a justification. The apology left her momentarily uncertain.

"Are you asking me to marry you instead?"

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

Tessa's face warmed, partly from embarrassment, partly from relief.

"Then why me?"

"Because I wanted to speak with someone who wasn't performing for me. I watched you help an older waiter whose knee was hurting. I watched you take on work that wasn't yours. And I heard your mother address you as though you were an inconvenience."

"Mr. Harris has worked here longer than I can remember."

"That doesn't explain why you were the only one who stopped."

Tessa glanced toward the closed doors.

"My sister didn't know what our father intended tonight. Not all of it."

"Neither did I," Aleksander said.

He explained that Charles had approached him about an investment in the estate and several family holdings. The discussion had gradually turned into assurances about Vivienne and a marriage that would supposedly stabilize the Ellsworth name.

Aleksander had agreed to attend a dinner and hear the proposal. He had not promised an engagement.

"I came prepared to consider what your father called a family agreement," he said. "I realized during dinner that no one had asked whether the people in that agreement actually wanted it."

"Vivienne wanted to impress you."

"Impressing someone and choosing to marry him are different things."

Tessa studied him. People in Chicago spoke of Aleksander Orlov as a man whose businesses were only the visible part of his power. Yet here he was asking questions her family had never considered important.

"And the box?" she asked.

"An engagement ring. I brought it because I thought we might have an honest conversation afterward. It will remain unopened."

The words made the scale of his refusal clearer. This wasn't a theatrical offer transferred from one sister to the other. Whatever he'd intended, he'd stopped it.

"You could have said no privately."

"Your father chose to make an announcement before we'd agreed to anything. I should have stopped him sooner."

Tessa noticed how carefully he separated his responsibility from Charles's.

"Why tell me about the investment?"

"Because there is something your father hasn't explained. His company sent mine financial statements showing an extension on the estate mortgage. The extension was described as certain. My lawyers couldn't confirm it."

"Our house is mortgaged," Tessa said. "I know that much."

"The creditors may have more authority over it than your father is admitting."

Her stomach tightened. The chandeliers and flowers outside suddenly seemed less like celebration than a wall concealing damage.

"Do you plan to buy the estate?"

"Not through a marriage. Not through you. If any business proposal survives tonight, it will be reviewed separately and openly."

Tessa folded her hands so he wouldn't see them shake.

"And what do you want from me?"

"Nothing you don't decide to offer. Not an answer about marriage. Not your family's gratitude."

They stood quietly for a moment.

Then voices rose outside the library.

"She has no idea how much is at stake," Charles said, loud enough to carry through the wood.

Tessa closed her eyes briefly.

"He isn't wrong about the stakes," she said. "Just about who has to pay for them."

Aleksander opened the door when she nodded. They returned together, but not arm in arm.

Most guests had begun to leave. Charles was waiting beside the dining table. Vivienne stood apart from Margaret, touching the necklace at her throat as if it suddenly weighed too much.

The velvet box was still where Aleksander had placed it. He picked it up and slipped it into his jacket without opening it.

"I want to see the mortgage papers," Tessa told her father.

Charles blinked. "This isn't your concern."

"You said the evening was meant to save the family. That includes me, doesn't it?"

"Your mother and I have managed these matters."

"Then it shouldn't be difficult to show me."

Margaret took a step forward. "Not in front of our guests."

"There are hardly any guests left."

Charles's face hardened. He led them into his study, where a thin stack of documents lay beneath a leather blotter. He took out a page marked PERSONAL GUARANTEE and held it so Tessa could read.

"It's only a temporary arrangement," he said. "An extension while I finalize funding."

Two names were printed near the bottom.

Charles Ellsworth.

Tessa Ellsworth.

There was a signature beside hers.

Tessa stared at it.

She had never seen this page. She had never agreed to guarantee a loan. And although the signature resembled her handwriting, it wasn't hers.

"Dad," she said, "who signed my name?"

Charles said nothing.

On the other side of the desk, Aleksander's expression changed. The man who had rejected a marriage agreement before an entire ballroom now looked at a much smaller document with considerably less patience.

Tessa placed the page flat on the desk.

"I'm asking you a question."

Her father looked toward the door, where Margaret stood listening.