Bound By Duty

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Hey guys! If you liked this book, check out the new book I'm writing called Bound By Duty. It's about an Irish mafia daughter who gets married off to the heir of the Italian mafia for an alliance. The first three chapters are posted as of January 5, 2023!

Here's the first chapter as a preview:



I'd been listening to the clock tick for the last five minutes and I was about ready to rip it off the wall if I had to sit here for any longer. I tapped my fingers on the mahogany desk and stared at the empty chair across from me. The leather chair put my uncomfortable wooden one to shame. My father sent someone to get me ten minutes ago because he wanted to meet with me in his office about something important, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

If anyone else had asked me to sit here, I would've laughed and flipped them off, but I knew I couldn't say no to my dad. No one said no to him without facing consequences. Granted, I was his daughter, so he wouldn't kill me but I still didn't want to get on his bad side. Not that he had a good side to be on in the first place.

Finally, I heard the door open and I stared straight ahead as my father walked into the office, around to his side of the desk. He stood, using a handkerchief to wipe some blood off his hands before unbuttoning his suit and sitting down. I waited in silence until he spoke, knowing not to speak out of turn.

Cormac O'Connor was not a man to mess with. Leader of the O'Connor family Irish mafia, he had some powerful enemies and even more powerful allies. He was not a man of sympathy or remorse.

"Caitlin, I wanted to discuss a few things with you." It was a simple sentence, but he spoke each word with purpose. Somehow, everything that came out of his mouth sounded like a threat.

I nodded, keeping my gaze level with his.

"Your twentieth birthday is next week and it presents me with an opportunity." He started.

"What kind of opportunity?" I asked curiously, dreading what he was going to say. I had a feeling that opportunity would benefit him a lot more than it would me.

"Are you aware of the tension between our family and the Genovese?" He asked.

"I've heard you mention that over dinner, yes." He had said something about a war brewing a few weeks ago and he'd been particularly cruel since. I could only guess what he was leading to.

"I met with their patriarch yesterday and we've come to an agreement. All tension will cease between our families." My father stated.

"What does that have to do with my birthday?"

"After your birthday, you will be old enough to marry. The agreement we came to was a union between our two families. You are to marry the Genovese heir." My father could have told me he was selling me to a prostitution ring and it would've sounded the same to me.

"You're marrying me off to the Italians?" I asked in shock, forgetting my place. "You've said yourself that they're all filthy monsters! Don't you want me to marry an Irish man?"

My father gave me a dark look and I shrunk back in my seat, shutting my mouth. "You will marry him for the sake of this family. You do not get a choice in the matter, the deal has been made. I do not want to hear one more complaint from you. Am I clear?" He asked.

"Yes sir." I nodded, looking down at my hands in my lap. I noticed my nail polish was beginning to chip. I wanted to breakdown and cry, but if my father had taught me one thing, it was to never show weakness.

"Good. Now get out, I have business to attend to." He said gruffly, kicking me out of his office.

I stood quickly and left. As soon as I closed his office door behind me, I leaned back against the wall and placed my fist over my chest. I focused on taking deep breaths and squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't marry an Italian. I just couldn't, but I knew I didn't have a choice.

"Caitlin? Are you alright?"

I opened my eyes and looked up to find my sister peering down at me from the second floor banister. I forced myself to smile. "Hey, Rosie. I'm alright, I just..." I trailed off, having no idea what to say.

"How'd it go with our father? What did he want?" She asked.

I pushed myself off the wall and started climbing the stairs to her. "I'm... I'm getting married, Rosie." I gave her a bitter smile as I reached the top of the stairs.

Her eyes widened. "You're what? To who? That doesn't even make any sense!"

I shook my head helplessly. "I don't know. It's some political union with the Italians to ensure peace. I don't know who he is."

Rosie looked around, checking to see if anyone could be listening. "We shouldn't have this conversation here." She said quietly, taking my hand. "Follow me."

She led me into her room and I sat on her bed, laying down as she locked the door.

"The Italians? I mean, I knew things were bad, but to marry you off to an Italian?" Rosie said in disbelief.

"I don't understand it either." I mumbled. I propped myself up on my elbows. "I mean, our father hates the Italians. He calls them vermin!"

Rosie gave me a pitying look.

She was the lucky one in our family. I was the oldest and, being a girl, I had been a real big disappointment to our father who had wanted a son. He'd resented me my whole life for not being a boy. Our brother, Declan, was eighteen and he was set to inherit the empire my family had been building for decades. Because of that, our father had always been hard on him, teaching him everything at way too young of an age. Rosie was the youngest. She was seventeen, too young to marry off, and our father had always had a soft spot for her despite his cruel nature.

"You could run away." She suggested, but both of us knew that wasn't a realistic option.

This place was always on high alert, with security details everywhere. Our father was a paranoid mother fucker. Even if I did manage to sneak out of here successfully, my fathers influence was so strong he'd probably be able to track me down within a few hours. I didn't want to know what he'd do to me if he caught me trying to run. I shivered at the thought.

"I wish I at least knew something about him. For all I know he's a short, hairy man with a big nose. I don't even know how old he is." I said in exasperation.

"C'mon Caitlin, he can't be that bad. Stay positive." Rosie squeezed my arm gently in reassurance. "Maybe he's nice."

I glared at her. "Yeah, Rosie. I'm sure the mobster set to lead the Italian Mafia is nice." I deadpanned.

"I'm sorry." Rosie said quietly.

I sighed. "It's okay, you were just trying to stay positive."

"No, I'm sorry about all of this. I'm sorry you have to marry a stranger. I'm sorry life dealt you a shitty hand. You deserve better."

I felt my eyes tearing up and I squeezed my eyes shut. "I'm going to have to leave. I'm going to miss you, Rosie."

I felt her arms wrap around me in a hug. "I'm going to miss you too. You have to call me every day, okay? And come visit whenever you can."

I nodded, wrapping my arms around her. "I will. I promise."

"I wonder who'll plan the wedding." She said after a few seconds, pulling away from the hug.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I don't even know if there's going to be a ceremony or anything."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course there's going to be a ceremony." She said. "Think about it, it's a perfect opportunity for our families to merge and settle whatever it is that's been going on. And do you really think we'd pass up an opportunity to celebrate and get drunk? We're Irish for fuck's sake!"

I couldn't stop the smile that came to my lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Don't let our father hear you talk like that; he'd find a way to blame me for corrupting you."

Rosie rolled her eyes. "Please, the internet is corrupting me, not you. If anything, Declan swears around me way more than you do."

I giggled. "Yeah, he has no filter."

"Are you excited for your birthday?"

I sighed. "I was, but now that I know it makes me 'old enough to marry,' I'm a little less excited."

A knock on Rosie's bedroom door interrupted us. I looked up as Declan poked his head in. "Hey, I was looking for you." He said, looking at me. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Rosie said, gesturing for him to enter.

"Father just told me... I'm sorry Caitlin." He said, wincing. "Of all the people he could've married you off to, he chose the fucking Italians."

I pressed my lips together. "I'd rather marry an American." I joked, making Declan and Rosie laugh. "You're lucky, you get to marry a nice Irish girl of your choosing."

Declan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll get a huge say. It'll probably be political too."

"Did he tell you anything else? I don't even know his name, or when I'll get to meet him." I asked curiously.

Declan shook his head. "I know he's a little older than you, but that's about as much as I know. I think father mentioned the wedding is supposed to be right after your birthday."

"Happy birthday, Caitlin. Here's a husband you didn't ask for." I said bitterly.

I stayed in Rosie's room for half an hour as Declan and Rosie tried to cheer me up. They succeeded in making me laugh, but all my worries and fear were still in the back of my mind, begging me to pay attention to them. I excused myself after a while to escape to my own room.

I pulled back the sheets on my bed and climbed under them, not caring that I was still wearing my jeans. I hugged one of my pillows to my chest and let myself cry in the privacy of my room where no one could see me fall apart.

I didn't want this.

I never liked this mafia life, but I had always played my role, hopeful that one day I'd earn my freedom. I always thought my father would eventually let me go off and live my own life, I never imagined I'd be married off to a stranger. Hell, I didn't even know his name, let alone what he looked like or anything else about him.

I didn't want to pull myself together and pretend to be okay, so I skipped dinner and no one came looking for me. Rosie and Declan knew better than to come check on me and my father apparently had the decency to let me process everything. It wasn't until a few hours later after I'd gotten all my tears out that someone knocked on my door.

Declan poked his head in, letting a sliver of light into the otherwise dark room. "Hey Caitlin?" He whispered.

"Yeah?" I whispered back.

"I asked father about him. His name is Lorenzo Genovese, and he was born in Italy. He didn't tell me anything else." He said.

I nodded more to myself than anything. "Thanks Declan. I appreciate it."

He gave me a small smile. "You're strong Caitlin. You'll get through this, okay? Everything's going to be okay."

"I know." I whispered.

"Goodnight, Caitlin."

"Goodnight, Declan." I replied as he closed the door, leaving me in the dark again.

Deep down, I knew he was right. I was strong. I had to be with the way our father had raised us. Tonight, I felt like anything but strong, but tomorrow I would have to get up, pull myself together and play my part just like everyone else.


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net