Page 56 of Auctioned To Her Dad's Mafia Enemies

I throw my hands up, palms wide. “Machevuoi?!You act likeI’m the bad guy here. Last time I checked, she wasn’t yours.”

Antonio exhales sharply, his teeth grinding audibly. “Listen,” hegrowls as he swipes a hand through the air, dismissing my protest like it’snothing. “She just told me something.”

Luca, who’s been lingering in the kitchen doorway, straightens. “What?”

“Shehad a stalker back in Maryland. A guy named Cohen. The flowers that weredelivered to the penthouse weren’t from Carlo. They were from him.”

Luca’shead tilts slightly, the only sign he’s registered this new information. “Astalker?”

“Yeah.She worked with him. He got obsessed. She turned him down, and he lost hisfucking mind. She reported him, but the cops didn’t do shit.”

“Andyou’re sure about the flowers?”

Antonionods in response to Luca’s question. “She nearly came apart when I told herabout them. She’s fucking terrified of this asshole.”

Lucaprocesses for a beat before he nods, already making decisions. “Find out who heis. We’ll send Vito to deal with him.” Luca exhales through his nose, pressinghis lips together before he speaks again. “This changes things. If the flowersweren’t from Carlo, it means he’s made no contact.”

“SoEnzo was right,” Antonio mutters. “He doesn’t care.”

Luca’sface is unreadable, but his nod is slow and deliberate. “It would seem thatway. There’s no reason for us to stay here now. We can take Aemelia back to thepenthouse.”

“Forhow long?” Antonio asks. “And then what?”

I stepforward before something’s decided without my input. “Let’s be honest. None ofus wants to let her go.”

Luca’s expression flickers, but he doesn’t deny it. Antonio stayssilent, but his gaze drifts to the stairs, the path leading back to her. Thegirl we stole—the girl who’s making us question everything.

“Her home life is a fucking nightmare,” I continue. “And we all knowit. What’s waiting for her out there? A mother who lets her work her fingers tothe bone. A brother who’s one hit away from an overdose? A dying aunt. Poverty.Misery. And now some psycho’s sending her bullets with her name carved intothem.” My voice lowers, dark with certainty. “She’s not safe anywhere but withus. Nero took her once. If he finds out we released her and she's stilluntouched, he’ll take her again. Or someone else will.”

Luca stays quiet, unreadable, but his silence is telling. Antonio’shands flex like he’s imagining wrapping them around someone’s throat.Eventually, he speaks. “You’re saying we keepher for her own good?”

I roll my shoulders. “I’m saying if she’s willing, she could be ours.”

“Ours?”

I nod. “I’m not prepared to fight you overher, but none of us has a greater claim than the others. It’s share or nothing,and I’d rather she was with all of us than none of us.”

Antonio exhales sharply, shaking his head. “Whothe fuck shares a woman in our world, Alexis? Most of the men we know have two,three women each.”

“Good luck to them,” I say. “None of them havea woman like Aemelia. If they did, they wouldn’t be out running the streetslike a bunch of straycani.”I spit the word—dogs—because Ineed them to understand how serious I am. We could have almost any woman. We’vehad more than our fair share. But Aemelia? She’s the fire inked on my skin,burning through my bones, impossible to ignore. She’s wild, hot-tempered,passionate, determined, craving to submit; everything I never thought Iwanted—but exactly what I fucking need.

Luca nods, his decision made. Antonio closeshis eyes for a second, shutting out the world while he thinks. When he opensthem, his hands go to the back of his neck, gripping like he’s trying to holdhimself together.

“What if she doesn’t want us?” he asks, voiceraw. “Not really. What if she’s pretending because she believes it’s the onlyway she’ll survive us?”

I shrug. “We show her what we want. We makeher understand.”

His laugh is bitter, mocking. “You think it’sso easy?”

I step closer, lowering my voice. “Don’t putup barriers, Tonio. Not when she’s everything you ever wanted, and holdingyourself back is killing you.”

He barks out another rough laugh, shaking hishead. “What the fuck do you know, little brother.”

I smirk. “I’m thirty-two. Mama told me I’mready to get married.”

Luca’s brow lifts. “She did?”

“She told me she’s given up on you two. Saidyou’re too old.”

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