United with the Family by Cherie Benjamin (most read book in the world .TXT) 📕

"White doesn't sound like an Italian name. You said she was Italian."  Kane Sr. said.

"Dad, shut the fuck up for a minute.   Kane, Ara, please set down and explain to the old man."  Nazario was already becoming exasperated.

"Who are you calling old?  I want you to know that I can still out shoot, out drink, and out fuck you, boy."  Kane Sr. quipped.

"DAD!" Nazario yelled, as he couldn't believe his father said that in front of someone he just met.

"Fine, Eddie, you have something to tell me about her."

"She has a name, and I expect you to use it with fucking respect."  Kane said with a voice that was full of fire. No one, not even kin, would disrespect Ara.  After seeing Kane Sr. nod in defeat. "Her last name is White, but that is because her mother deceived a man who was not her biological father in believing she was his child.  But we have since learned that she is actually, Arabella Marie Morotti, the oldest granddaughter of Zachary Morotti."

Kane Sr. eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open.  Did he just hear that his grandson was engaged to the granddaughter of Zachary Morotti?  Zachary may be considered, by some, to be a rival family, but he had always had a good relationship with him.  Actually, they talked quite regularly; he knew how disappointed he was with his son, and that is why he decided not to pass the family business to him, but, instead, to the first-born grandchild.  However, a few months ago, Kane Sr. had learned that Kurtus was actually worse than his father. Zachary was very upset about turning over the family that he had worked so hard for to such assholes, but he knew he couldn't continue to run it at his age.  Nevertheless, why had he never mentioned the fact that he had a granddaughter? But wait, he said oldest, which meant, fuck, she was going to take over the family. "Did you say oldest?"

"Yes."

"But Zachary never said he had a granddaughter."  Kane Sr. said.

"Because he didn't know until last week.  You see, Ara's mother kept it secret that she was pregnant with Sebastian's child.  We found out about the same time Zachary did."

"So, you are marrying her to prevent a rival family joining forces.  Smart move, my boy, smart move." Kane Sr. smirked.

Kane stood up, pulled out his gun, and pointed at his grandfather.  "TAKE THAT SHIT BACK NOW! Ara is not a pawn in some game; I am marrying her because I love her, you asshole, and if you can't accept that, then I will end your ass right here."

Kane Sr. held his hand up in defeat.  "Sorry."

"Listen here, old man, you may be my grandfather, and I have great respect for what you have done for this family, but this woman here is my life. She and I will be taking over the family soon, so you better get that fucking thought out of your head for good."  Kane said.

"What do you mean ‘taking over the family’?"

"Dad, Zachary and I have decided to join the families; Kane and Ara are going to run them as the next Don and Donna of the Leone/Morotti Family."  Nazario answered.

"Why the fuck was I not brought into this decision?"  Kane Sr. fumed.

"Because it is not your decision to make anymore, it's mine; this is the best thing for both families.  So apologize to Kane and Ara so we can go have breakfast." Nazario barked, staring at his father. Kane Sr. knew that Nazario had every right to make the decisions regarding the family, but he wanted to push the issue and Nazario would be damned before he allowed him to speak badly about it.

"All right, I was wrong and I am sorry.  Now, let's go eat." Kane Sr. said, looking upset over the entire conversation.  He knew he was no longer the head of the family, but he thought for sure that his son would have called concerning something of this magnitude.  Joining two crime families was not done very often. To have the Leone and Morotti families join together was huge, and to have a person who knew nothing about the family that was being taken over, even if co-leading, was scary.  But, as he looked at the way his grandson and Ara reacted toward each other, he could see how much they did love each other, much like he and his Clara. Maybe he should have thought it out before mouthing off, like Clara always told him to do. Damn, he hated when she was right, because she always rubbed it in.  No doubt he would hear about this shit later.

Over breakfast, Kane Sr. and Clara got to know Ara better, and, with each passing moment, they fell more in love with the woman who had stolen their grandson's heart.  They were impressed that she was not only lovely on the outside, but also on the inside, and had a great business mind. Kane Sr. was very intrigued by the plans for the new club and the work that she had already put into it.  Damn, he had been very wrong in his assumptions about this woman, fuck, he was going to have to eat crow big time.

"Kane, Ara, please accept my heartfelt apology.  I should have kept my mouth shut and listened. Ara, I am very happy to welcome you to the family."

Ara smiled sweetly.  "Thank you; I just want you to know that I will protect and love this family with all that I am."

"I am sure you will, and if you ever need anything, please let us know."  Kane Sr. said as he patted Clara’s hand lovingly.

"Ara, dear, when is the wedding?"  Clara asked.

"August 8th."  Ara beamed.

"Oh my, well, Rosa, honey, we better get to work."

"Great idea, Clara. Ara, do you have training today?"  Rosa asked.

"Yes, Uriel will be here in an hour to start with my knife training.  God, I hope I am better at it than hand-to-hand. My ass, oops, sorry, my butt still hurts."  Ara said, blushing brightly over cussing in front of Kane's grandparents.

"Ara, dear, I know you have heard what comes out of your soon-to-be husband’s mouth. Well, he gets it from his father, who got it from this asshole."  Clara said, poking Kane Sr. in the ribs.

"Hey, I don't cuss that fucking bad."

"See, Ara?"  Clara chuckled.

"Okay, let's go make some plans while you guys catch up."  Rosa said as she stood up. Ara and Clara followed her into the office where Rosa had started boards with each area of the wedding planned out.

Ara was so impressed. As she looked at the boards, she could see her vision coming to life.  While in the office, Rosa called her friend. She and her daughter were getting on a plane the next day to make the trip over.  The designer needed somewhere to sew. Once she heard that, Ara quickly called Katrina, who was more than happy to furnish her all the items and space she would need.  They went over a quick list of guests and the final head count surprised Ara. What was truly surprising was the actual number of attendees that were actually members of different crime families throughout the country.

"Ara, your wedding is a huge deal, even without the joining of the families.  Kane is the next Don of the family, and other Dons and their wives, as well as some of their family members will want to be in attendance to keep in the good graces of the family’s next Don."

"So, is there anything I need to know or do?"  Ara worriedly asked, because she wanted to make the best impression on the other crime families.

"Ara, you and I will sit down with Nazario and Kane and go over all the details.  By the time we brief you on each of the families in attendance, there is no doubt that you will be perfect.  After the joining ceremony, all the normal formalities will go out the window, and, trust me, when the other families come to realize the significance of this event, they will kicking themselves for not bringing much larger gifts."

"Gifts?"  Ara questioned, did they need to do a registry or something?

"Envelopes filled with money."  Rosa said.

"MONEY?!"

"Yes."

"Wow."

Ara was shocked with this information, but, as long as she knew about it ahead of time, she could deal with it.  Looking at Rosa, she was so happy and grateful that she had someone like her to guide her with adjusting to everything, and then she remembered her conversation with Kane this morning about the Munch.  She knew that Rosa could offer some words of advice. She explained the concerns that Kane was having about the outfit she was wearing during the demonstration and during the party itself.

Rosa listened to Ara, taking into mind that, since Ara wasn't just Kane's submissive, but also the next head of the family, her outfit did call for some delicacy.  Even though the members of the community who truly lived the life would never think anything of her being at any stage of undress, there were, unfortunately, many who used the community as an opening to mistreat their submissives, under the guise of the Dom/submissive relationship.  The elders of the community took allegations of abuse seriously and revoked the membership of many so called Dominants, but there were always those who slipped through the cracks due to lack of reporting. So, many submissives were fooled to believe that their scenes were normal, when, in reality, it had nothing to do with the principles and ideals of the BDSM community.

"Ara, how about if you wore a flesh color bodysuit?"  Rosa offered.

"Oh my, why didn't I think of that?"

"Let me send Nazario a text and tell him my suggestion.  Knowing my son, I am sure he is asking his father's advice, and, being a man, he would never think of it."  Rosa smirked. She quickly sent a text to Nazario, and a few minutes later, she got a text with a promise of a wonderful thank you session in the playroom.

The ladies continued with the plans for the wedding and they finally completed all they possibly could for the day.  As they were finishing up, there was a knock at the door. Opening the door, Ara welcomed Uriel, who walked in with a smirk on his face.

"Ready for your next training session, Ara?"

Ara let out a long sigh and nodded as she silently prayed to herself that she would be better at knife training than yesterday’s hand to hand and not cut herself or someone else.  She followed Uriel out to the training area, where he had set up a table with a large selection of knives and a board with a man's body painted on about 50 feet from them, much like the targets that she used when Rosa was teaching her to shoot.  Initially, Uriel handed Ara a plastic glove, and a tennis ball that was inked, and after demonstrating how to hold, aim, and throw the ball, he gave her several minutes to practice throwing. Ara and Uriel reviewed the target after each throw to critique what she could do better to improve her aim at the target.

Once she felt confident with her throwing, Ara picked up the first knife and took aim, pulling back her arm and threw it, but, instead of sticking in the target, it bounce off.  Shit. She picked up another knife, and, once again, it bounced off the target. Uriel watched and with each throw, he watched her form, finally, after a few minutes, he saw what might be her problem.  He explained that, although she had mastered the tennis ball, the shape and weight of the knife was offsetting her follow through.

Correcting the way she held the knife and the position of her feet, she took aim again, but, unlike her other attempts, this one hit the