His Mafia Prince
Chapter 124: Live Or Die

Chapter 124: Live Or Die

(MILES)

Arlo’s gaze sticks on me. He looks stricken. I can’t blame him for being shocked. I felt the same when Sasha told me of the plan too. I soon realized going on with Sasha’s crazy plan was the only way to keep Arlo alive. For whatever reasons beyond me, that has apparently become my life’s mission.

"There’s no way that’s happening. I’m not marrying you, Miles. You’re crazy."

"Trust me, I don’t want to marry you any more than you don’t want to marry me." I sigh. "But this feud between you and Sasha has to be settled somehow."

"And how is our marriage going to satisfy Sasha?" he squints at me.

"Because that’s not all he wants."

"I knew it. What else does that fucker want?"

I brace myself for what I know will be an explosive reaction. "He wants to absorb the Sovereign Ring syndicate under the Triple Triads."

I watch as a flush creeps on his young face. Rage slowly creeps into his eyes. "No way." He mutters. "No fucking way."

I shrug, holding his enraged gaze.

He curls his lips. "So, Sasha wasn’t satisfied humiliating my father, he wants to keep it going by humiliating me?"

"No, Arlo. This is his way of sparing your life while making you make up for the trouble you caused him. You know you have to give retribution for that some way."

"Fine. Let him kill me." He snaps. "There’s no way I’m handing my syndicate over to fucking Sasha. Let him kill me if he wants to."

His reaction is just as I thought. I shake my head slowly. His pride won’t even let him grab a lifeline thrown at him. "I can’t promise that getting out of it will be easy."

"What?" he asks sharply. "Let Sasha do what he wants to me. He won’t hurt me anymore when I’m dead."

"He can still go after your men."

He goes stiff and clenches his fists. "What do you mean?"

I hold his angry gaze. "Sasha explicitly told me that if you refuse, he will go after every last one of your men and slaughter them along with their families."

He recoils at the statement and then takes a step back, looking shaken. "Why would he come for my men? They have nothing to do with this."

"Because he is fucking Sasha Adonis. You don’t say no to him and not expect consequences." I’m certain that I look convincing considering how he isn’t even questioning that Sasha will kill all of his men.

He barks out a harsh laugh. "That fucker boss of yours is just using this as a chance to take the power from me. There’s no difference between him and my lunatic cousin Dalton."

"No, I don’t think so. Your cousin is just greedy. You wronged Sasha. Dalton is a snake, he turned on his own just for the sake of power. After the disrespect you have shown Sasha, he has every right to retribution."

"Even so, he has no right to steal my syndicate." Arlo’s voice trembles with anger. "That’s my rightful inheritance. My father built that mob with sweat and tears. What makes Sasha think he has the right to just swoop in and take it from me? That’s not fair."

Much as I don’t want to feel sorry for Arlo, it is impossible. He looks like a little animal trapped in a cage. Watching the shock and confusion radiate from him sickens me to the core. He can’t stop Sasha from taking what he wants. The worst part of it is that Sasha is only leaving him with two choices. Live or die.

"That’s how it’s going to be, you either take the deal or die," I speak to him calmly, hoping that I somehow manage to convince him to give in to Sasha’s demands. I don’t want him to die because I know certainly that it will wreck and gut me. Hell, I’m willing to go ahead with Sasha’s crazy plan to keep him above the ground. I hope his self-preservation instincts are stronger than his pride to make him accept the agreement. "It’s not like we will be entering the marriage for love. This will purely be a marriage of convenience."

"This is ridiculous, Miles. I don’t know how you don’t see that. I can’t be forced to marry you." He looks like he is about to cry. "All I have left if my father is that syndicate."

His pain makes me wince, but I try my best to not show it. He can’t ever know that I feel any kind of sympathy for him. He has no allies. Nobody to advise him. No options. It is the feeling of isolation that will force him to change his mind. Then, he can live. I want him to live. I want him to stop fighting so hard and listen to me and Sasha for a change.

"My choices brought me to this, and so did yours," I say quietly.

His cheeks are flushed red as he glares at me. His eyes are bright with angry tears. "This...this isn’t right. It isn’t fair. I...I just wanted him to pay for killing my father, but this... this is nonsense."

Unable to keep my cool any longer, I inch closer to him. He watches me warily. His body is rigid. "It’ll be okay, Arlo."

"How will it be okay?" he chokes out.

"You will have the power and support of the Triple Triads behind you. You will remain be head of the Sovereign Ring syndicate. Only that you will be getting the protection from us. You will still run your businesses and make money just like you are doing right now. Sasha even told me that he would let you handle the ports. That’s what your father wanted, right? That was the reason he fell out with Sasha, no? Trying to force his hand. Now you’ll have them, just like your father wanted. Once you are calmer, you will see that this merge is a good thing."

"Good how? All you and Sasha do is lie. We both know that that will be the end of the sovereign ring syndicate. That’s Sasha’s plan. He will dismantle us slowly by slowly until we are done for. Nobody will even remember the Sullivan name."

I sigh. "Arlo, you’re looking at this all wrong. You will have all the power and wealth behind you. Nobody will mess around with you. You will grow and so will the Triple Triad Syndicate. Don’t you see? It will be a good thing for everyone."

He scowls at me. "You are a liar. Both of you are. You will tell me everything Sasha tells you to tell me. Why did he have you break it to me? If he’s man enough, why didn’t he tell me himself?"

I laugh gruffly. "Would you have rather heard this from him?" I doubt it. With me, you can vent all you want. I don’t take your words and anger personally. Sasha might. You tend to be a smart mouth when you are upset. Sasha can’t be as patient with you as I am."

"A SmartMouth? What? Should I laugh now that you are taking away everything from me? Or didn’t you expect me to complain?"

"All I’m saying is you really need to learn to tame your mouth around Sasha. He doesn’t like getting no for an answer. And he hates being questioned. From now on, you need to tread carefully with him.

Normally, I’d have little patience with Arlo, but I feel extra tolerant with him tonight. The longer we spend time around each other, the more I begin to really feel like his alpha. Is that a good or a bad thing? I’m not sure. It might come in handy though, considering that we are being pushed into matrimony.