Page 26 of Mafia Boss's Baby Surprise

He tilts his head.

“He has a deal with Marya. I’m sure of it. She’s testing me. There’s a reason why Rodri brought his coke to the table and why he wants me to get into the drug business again. She thinks I’m weak. She thinks I’m going to jump into this perfect opportunity and then relapse.” I grit my teeth. “It would make it easier for her to take me out. I would do it all myself, and she’d just take the credit. Probably get from Marcello what she wants too.”

“Why would she want to do that? To you, I mean? You’re her...” He lowers his voice. “You know. Your territory isn’t anywhere near hers now. Marcello’s is closer. Even if she starts to expand, it would take her years, if not decades, to get anywhere near you. And that’s without even facing other enemies who’d get in her way. Marcello might want to use her, but I doubt even he would promise her too much, or she’d know he was lying. He wouldn’t want to take you out and swap one enemy for another. He can’t trust Marya.”

“It’s about revenge. Marya wants to make us pay for what my father did to her family. He played the Fornaris, but he played the Balakins too. I’m in charge now, and all she cares about is making the Di Domenicos suffer. She lost her whole family.”

“Do you think she wants the Balakins’ original territory back? But wouldn’t she go after Brando then, since it’s his now?”

“She probably wants to make us all pay. The Fornaris and us. She’s just poking around to find the weakest link that will let her return. And of course she thinks that’s me.” I’m not only the youngest, but also the one with a fucked-up past.

But maybe this is exactly what Marya wants. She wants to make me angry because she expects I’ll make mistakes. She has to know just how I feel about her and about anyone trying to imply that I don’t deserve to be where I am.

I have to stay calm and patient. I can’t let her get to me. My every decision has to be based on cold, hard facts and not on how I’m feeling.

“She knows I went looking for her,” I say. “It gave her ideas.”

It was one rash decision on my part, but it won’t happen again. I need to be careful, and I can’t let Marya provoke me.

It’s a good thing I have Aurora to distract me and keep my thoughts occupied.

CHAPTER9

Aurora

I catchmyself smiling because all I can think about is Luca. It’s not just because he can touch my body in ways that drive me crazy.

I love how he makes me feel. Safe, wanted, free. It’s very rare that I can feel like that, and Julia, even though she tries, has never fully succeeded because there’ll always be something to remind me of my real life.

With Luca, I can be someone else. Or maybe not someone else. Maybe I’m just who I’m supposed to be, but without the constraints that being a mafia princess brings.

I hear the back door squeaking open, and I rush downstairs. Julia’s lips spread into a smile when she sees me. I’m too impatient and too excited to wait and hide in our usual place.

Someone might interrupt us before she can tell me the news, and I don’t want that to happen. I need to know. I need to know if I’m going to see Luca again.

“Can it be done?” I breathe, my gaze trained on hers as my heart pounds like crazy in my chest.

“Yes.” She grins. “Friday’s totally fine. It’ll work out. I just have to find new guys to drive us, but it’s going to be fine.”

I furrow my brow. “New guys? Are you sure they’re reliable and trustworthy?”

“Yeah. They’ll do fine. They don’t give a damn about who we are.”

“Aurora!” My mother’s voice cuts through the air.

My heart leaps into my throat, and I jump away from Julia with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry for getting in your way, miss,” Julia says, lowering her head. “Hello, Mrs. Valentino.”

“What are you doing here?” My mother ignores Julia, who scurries away with a sympathetic look on her face.

“Nothing. I was on my way out,” I say. “Just wanted to stretch my legs.”

“Now?” My mother glares at me. “What about your book? Have you read it?”

Books. Books. And more books.

It’s as if my mother doesn’t know what else to do with me, so she only gives me more and more boring books to read. If only I could have something fun. Maybe a romance novel or a thriller. But I’m stuck with the boring classics.

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