Page 36 of Mafia Don's Twisted Proposal
I force myself to keep eating anyway. If I’m staying—and apparently I am—I need to find a way to deal with the darker parts of his world.
He slides back into his seat a minute later, and I can feel him watching me.
“What is it?” he asks when he notices I’m staring instead of eating.
“Can you tell me what’s going on? Or is this one of those ‘good mob wives don’t ask questions’ situations?”
He chuckles. “I think you’ve been watching too many movies.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s a handbook.Mafia Marriage for Dummieswas out of stock at Barnes & Noble.”
His smile is warm enough to melt butter. “The fact that you’d read one if it existed is a point in your favor.”
I roll my eyes. “So? Are you going to tell me or not?”
The lightness fades from his expression. “The hand belonged to Will, the manager of one of my bars. Good man. Hard worker. And I’m royally pissed that the Bratva took him.”
There’s something dark and dangerous in his eyes now, but it’s not directed at me. It’s the look of a man planning someone’s very painful demise.
“Dario found security footage of Will being ambushed behind the bar. Half a dozen men dragged him away. I’ve ordered increased security at all our businesses.”
I reach for my wine glass and take a gulp that’s bigger than strictly necessary. Fuck it. What’s Lorenzo going to do if I get drunk again? We’re already married.
“The Bratva…those are your enemies, right? The Russians you told me about?”
“Yeah. Their leader is a cold bastard named Anton Kozlov. He’s been trying to expand into my territory for years, and I’ve pushed him back every time. Last year, he thought he found a way around me, and got permission to open a casino in Andretti territory. Dario shut it down, so Kozlov retaliated. Shot my son in the street. Nearly got his pregnant wife too.”
His hand is clenched into a fist on the table, knuckles white with tension.
“Since then, we’ve been at war. It’s one thing to make a play for my territory—everyone in this business wants more power, more money. I expect that. But coming after my family?” His voice drops to something lethal. “Unacceptable.”
“So you’re just...killing each other?”
“We’re not brawling in the streets, but this is a war in every sense of the word. And I’m going to crush the Bratva.”
I don’t get it. Why can’t they just split up the city and stay in their respective corners? But I’m not part of this world, so maybe it’s impossible for an outsider to understand.
“Aren’t you worried about your people? Your family?”
“Every day.” He pauses, and I can see him weighing how much to tell me. “I’m working on forming alliances with other organizations. I have to do whatever it takes to keep my people safe. My family is counting on me.”
His tone is almost defensive, like he’s justifying his actions. The only explanation I can think of is that these “alliances” involve some seriously questionable people.
I reach across the table and pry his fist open, lacing our fingers together. His skin is warm and slightly rough, and holding his hand feels illogically right.
“We might still be figuring each other out,” I say, “but I can already tell you’d do anything to protect the people you care about. I see it in how worried you get about me being vulnerable. I hear it when you talk about what happened to Dario. If you need these alliances to win, then you do whatever you have to do.”
He stares at me for a long moment, his thumb tracing across my knuckles. “You’re something else, Mia. It’s almost like you were made for me.”
Heat floods my body. At this rate, falling head over heels for this man isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when.
“I want to throw a party,” he says, abruptly switching gears.
Probably for the best. The intensity was getting a little overwhelming.
“What kind of party?”
“A celebration of our marriage. I want to introduce you to my men as my queen. They’ll know to respect and protect you the same way they do me.”
