Chapter Sixteen: Tamed Down

Ryker POV
When your wife died, sadness and despair were the expected emotions, but I felt only anger and resentment as I watched the coffin being lowered into her grave.

Nine and I had been married for eight years. On the day of our anniversary, death ended our marriage. A fitting end to a bond that had been doomed from the very start. Maybe it was fate that today was the hottest day of the summer. Sweat trickled down my forehead and temple, but the tears wouldn’t join in.


Father tightened his grip on my shoulder. Was it to steady himself or me? His skin had been pale since his third heart attack, and Nine ’s death didn’t help matters. He met my gaze, worried. Cataracts clouded his eyes. Each day that passed had him fading away even more. The weaker he got, the stronger I needed to be. If you appeared vulnerable, the mafia would eat you whole.


I gave him a small nod then turned back to the grave, my expression steel.


Every Underboss of the Famiglia was in attendance. Even Luca Vitiello, our Capo, had come from New York with his wife. They all wore their solemn faces—perfect masks, just like mine. They’d soon give me their condolences, whispering fake words of reassurance, when rumors about my wife’s early death were already making the rounds.

I was glad that neither Luna nor Simona were old enough to understand what was being said. They didn’t realize their mother was dead.

Even Luna , at two years old, couldn’t grasp the finality of the word “dead.” And Simona… left without a mother at only four months old.


A new wave of fury raced through my body, but I shoved it down. Few of the men around me were friends; most of them were looking for a sign of weakness. I was a young Underboss, too young in many eyes, but Luca trusted me to rule over Philadelphia with an iron fist. I wouldn’t fail him or my father.


After the funeral, we gathered in my mansion for lunch. Sybil, my maid, handed Simona to me. My baby girl had cried all night, but now slept soundly in my arms. Luna clung to my leg, looking confused. It was the first time he’d sought my closeness since Nine ’s death. I could feel all the compassionate looks. Alone with two small kids, a young Underboss… they were looking for any small crack in my façade.

Mother came over with a sad smile and took Simona from me. She’d offered to take care of my children, but she was sixty-four and had my father to take care of. My sisters gathered around us, cooing at Luna . Mia picked him up and pressed him to her chest. My sisters, too, had offered their help, but each of them had their own small children to take care of, and they didn’t live close by—except for Mia.

“You look tired, son,” Father said quietly.


“I didn’t get much sleep these last few nights.” Since their mother’s death, neither Luna nor Simona had slept more than two hours at a time. The image of Nine ’s bloody dress crossed my mind, but I shoved it away.

“You need to look for a mother for your children,” Father said, leaning heavily on his walking stick.


“Mansueto!” Mother exclaimed under her breath. “We buried Nine today.”
Father patted her arm but looked at me. He knew I didn’t need time to mourn Nine , but we needed to keep decorum in mind. Not to mention that I wasn’t sure I wanted another woman in my life. What I wanted was irrelevant, though. Every aspect of my life was dictated by ironclad rules and traditions.
“The children need a mother, and you need someone who’ll take care of you,” Father said.
“Nine never took care of him,” Mia muttered. She, too, hadn’t forgiven my late wife.
“Not here, not today,” I clipped. She snapped her mouth shut.

“I suppose you already have someone in mind for Ryker ,” my eldest sister Ilaria told Father with a roll of her eyes.
“Every Captain and Underboss with a daughter of marrying age will already have contacted Dad,” Mia said quietly.
Father hadn’t talked to me about it yet, because he knew I wouldn’t have listened. However, Mia was likely right. I was a hot commodity—the only unmarried Underboss in the Famiglia.
Luca and his wife Aria came over. I gave my family a sign to be silent. Luca shook my hand again, and Aria smiled at my children. “If you need to step back from your duties for a while, let me know,” Luca said.

“No,” I said immediately. If I gave up my position now, I’d never get it back. Philadelphia was my city, and I would rule over it.


Luca inclined his head. “I know it’s not a good day to discuss matters, but my uncle Felix approached me.”


Father nodded, as if he knew what Luca was going to say. “It’s a reasonable idea.”


I motioned for them to follow me outside into the garden. “What is it?” “If I didn’t know of the circumstances of your wife’s death, I wouldn’t have broached the subject today. It’s disrespectful.” Luca only knew what I’d told him.


Father shook his head. “We can’t wait the expected year. My grandchildren need a mother.”


“What is it you have to discuss?” I asked Luca, tired of my father and him knowing what was going on and leaving me in the dark.


“My uncle Felix has a daughter who isn’t promised. She could become your wife. A union between Philadelphia and Baltimore would solidify your power, Ryker ,” Luca said.


Felix Rizzo ruled as Underboss over Baltimore. He’d gained the position by marrying one of Luca’s aunts—not because he was good at the job—but he was a tolerable man. I didn’t remember his daughter.

“Why isn’t she married yet?” As the daughter of a high-ranking Made Man, she would have been promised to someone in the Famiglia for years… unless something was wrong with her.
Luca and Father exchanged a look which raised my alarms. “She was promised to the son of a Captain, but he got killed during a Bratva attack last year.”

Quickly recognizing my troubled expression, Father added, “She didn’t know him. She only met him once when she was twelve.”
There was more.
“You could marry her in early November. That way the wedding wouldn’t be too close to Nine ’s
funeral.”


“Why November?”


“That’s when she turns eighteen,” Luca said.


I stared at him and my father. Had they lost their minds? “The girl is almost fourteen years younger than me!”


“Given your circumstances, she’s the best option, Ryker ,” Father said imploringly. “All the other available daughters of high-ranking Made Men are even younger, and I doubt you’d be willing to marry a widow, given your past experiences.”


My expression became hard. “Today isn’t the right time to discuss this.” Luca inclined his head. “Don’t wait too long. Felix wants to find a match for Aurora as quickly as possible.”


I gave a terse nod then returned inside. Mother was trying to calm Simona who’d started crying, and Mia was on her way out of the living room with Luna in mid-tantrum. I needed a wife. However, today I didn’t have the mental capability to make that kind of decision.