Page 52 of Mob Princess

I felt the world around me come to a grinding halt. “Like—like what?”

His father walked away. “Enjoy your time while you have it, Miss Moretti.”

“Like what?” My shrill shriek sounded above the crowd, and the entire party stopped to look at me. I peered over at Israel, who stared at me with an expression I couldn't read. I felt anger within me bubbling. I felt my frustration mounting. I felt my heart rate skyrocketing as blood pumped through my ears, drowning up the rest of the sound around me.

Then, I rolled my shoulders back and stood tall.

His father came close to me. “You better watch that voice of yours in this party. It’s for my wife. And if you ruin it, you’ll have me to deal with too.”

I held my chin high. “You don’t want what’s best for your son. You want what’s best for your empire.”

“My son is that empire. I would never expect a woman with no family and no children to ever understand that concept.”

The party slowly picked back up as I swallowed hard. “Israel’s my family now. Even if he doesn’t see it. But I know he does. I know he loves me, even if he won’t say it right now.”

“You’ll kill him, just like you were planning to do in the first place.”

“Let me tell you something, Mr. Rossi. I’ve had all sorts of chances over the past few months to kill your son. To poison him. Or stab him. Or smother him. I’ve had every chance to turn his own damn gun on him and go through with what my uncle wanted me to do. What he groomed me to do without my permission, mind you. And not once have I ever even considered it.”

“You considered it enough to marry him, and that’s betrayal enough for me.”

“Your son had every chance to let me die, too, you know.”

He blinked. “What?”

I nodded. “The warehouse fire? I was inside it. He saved me. Just like when those three men you and my uncle sent after us, came into our home—”

“His home.”

“Our home,” I reiterated, “and defiled it. That man was about to rape me, Mr. Rossi. Rape me and then kill me. And your son saved me from it. He could have easily let me die and be rid of all this nonsense, but he chose not to. Want to take a guess as to why?”

His nostrils flared. “Sign the fucking contract, Bonnie. Otherwise, I will kill you myself.” Then, he stalked off back to his wife’s side, while people at the party still glanced at me.

I slowly turned back around to find Israel, but he was gone. Him and Alice. I gazed around the crowd, trying to see if I could spot them. But I couldn’t.

“Israel?” I called out.

I set my drink down and wove my way through the party, trying to figure out where in the world he had gotten off to. “Israel!”

I walked back out into the hallway and looked both ways. I checked the bathrooms as well as the front desk to see if maybe they had seen him. Maybe he’d gone up to the room? Maybe he was waiting for me? Maybe he had gone home?

Where had he gone?

“I know where he is.”

I slowly turned around and glared at Giovanni. “I don’t have time for you.”

He held out his arm for me. “Come with me. I know where he is, but you’re not going to like it.”

I looked down at his arm. I knew I shouldn’t have been lured by his words. I was, though. I was curious. Together, we started back down the hallway. The plush carpet gave beneath my heels as the smell of food and drinks wafted from the ballroom and beneath my nose. He led me past the main door as if we were headed for the bathrooms

“I already checked here. He wasn’t—”

“Just be patient,” Giovanni said.

We turned a darkened corner I hadn’t realized was there and walked down the hallway. We passed sprawling doors, indicating the opulent suites the hotel boasted of, despite the fact that they were on the first floor.

Something didn’t feel right. “Where are you taking me?”

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