Page 70 of Mafia Don's Twisted Proposal
Mia moves to the opposite side of the desk and stares at the image in silence. She reaches out to touch her mother’s face, then stops and pulls her hand back.
Her brow furrows. “She looks just like me.”
I nod. “The moment I found that photo, I knew.”
“I can’t believe she gave me up.” Her voice is barely a whisper. “All this time, I had a family out there where I actually belonged?”
The raw emotion in her voice makes my throat feel tight. “Your mother died about ten years ago, Mia. She was the only one in your biological family who knew about you.”
Her hand flies to her chest, rubbing like she’s trying to soothe a physical ache. It won’t work. This kind of pain goes soul-deep.
I give her time to process, to gather her thoughts. I just shattered her entire understanding of who she is, and that’s not something you bounce back from in five minutes.
“I still don’t understand,” she says finally, her voice steadier but still shaky. “Why would the doctor think you’d care about this? What does any of it have to do with our marriage?”
Here comes the part that’s going to destroy whatever trust I’ve built with her.
“Alliances are everything in my world, Mia. Especially when you’re in the middle of a fucking war. I need connections, powerful ones, to keep this from escalating beyond control. The Bratva is moving on my shipments, affecting business. They’re dismembering my men and trying to gun down my family in the streets.”
I’m rambling, telling her things she already knows, but I need her to understand what’s at stake before I admit what I’ve done.
“Lorenzo.” Her voice wavers. “Get to the point.”
She knows where this is going. I can see it in her eyes, the dawning horror as the pieces click into place.
As I stare into those beautiful brown eyes, regret fills my heart. For weeks, I’ve tried to convince myself I have nothing to feel guilty about, that my feelings for Mia are separate from myreasons for marrying her. I’ve shoved aside every doubt about whether I did the right thing.
Even as I started to fall for her—whatever this thing is that goes beyond lust or obsession—I told myself it was necessary. A war with the Bratva means casualties no matter what, but with a strong ally, we can minimize our losses. Marrying Mia was the fastest way to ensure that alliance. I couldn’t afford to waste months courting her properly.
That’s what I told myself, anyway.
But looking into her eyes now, feeling that strange, insistent pull in my chest, I know I took the coward’s way out. I wanted an alliance the moment I heard the doctor’s story. Then I saw her picture and felt drawn to her in a way that seemed to justify everything.
I didn’t expect her to matter this much. I didn’t plan for any of this to feel real. And now, I can’t tell her the truth without risking everything.
I haven’t even said the words yet, but I can already feel her slipping away like sand through my fingers.
But I won’t let her go without a fight.
I’m Lorenzo Andretti, and I don’t back down from what I want. No matter how this marriage started, it’s real for me now. The best way to show her that is to give her the respect she deserves.
No more lies. No more secrets.
I steel my nerves and take a deep breath. “The truth is, I tracked you down based on that information and planned to marry you to force an alliance with your family. I need you to help me win this war.”
27
MIA
I always thoughtheartbreak was just a fancy word for being really, really sad about a breakup. You know, like when my high school boyfriend ditched me for my supposedly loyal best friend, or when my college crush announced his engagement with all the enthusiasm of a game show host revealing the grand prize.
Those times stung. This? This is something else entirely.
As Lorenzo stands across from me, his confession hanging in the air, I realize I’ve been living in a carefully constructed lie for three weeks. The ache that spreads through my entire body isn’t sadness. It’s the actual sensation of something breaking apart inside me.
I’d been falling for him. Hard. The way he looked at me like I was the only woman in any room. The way his hands knew exactly how to touch me. The way he made me feel seen for the first time in my life.
All of it was bullshit.
