Page 5 of Pregnant By the Mafia Boss

She sounds frightened. I’m not surprised. I want to give her some good news, but I’ve none to give.

We’re both going to have to have luck on our side to survive more than a couple of days.

I take a deep breath, relaxing into my seat. In the mirror, the crashed car still burns in the distance, the smoke rising into the evening air.

“I went to tell the high council I had the commission’s approval to become Don of the Valentino famiglia.”

“I thought Antonio was in charge.”

“He’s focused on his family with Zoey. I’m in charge now.”

“I see.”

“There was a coup. By the time I arrived, the high council had a new leader— a usurping bastard by the name of Christian Garibaldi.

He held me prisoner. Wanted me to call you, persuade you to come to Rome. I refused. He… wasn’t happy about that.”

I don’t know how I’m managing to downplay the events of that time. The weeks of torture before I escaped. How close I was to death. Hell, death still stalks me, even now.

“Why did he want me there? What have I got to do with anything?”

The million-dollar question. I’d rather do anything than ruin her life with the answer, but I have no choice.

“Your father was the head of the high council.”

She gasps. “What? I never knew my father.”

“Abandoned on a doorstep, right?”

She nods. “How did you know that?”

“Your mother brought you over here to get away from him. She was terrified you’d end up like her, trapped in a mafia marriage to a man you didn’t love.

“When she found out he was chasing her, she left you and kept running, drawing him away. Kept the attention on her.”

I know she’s staring at me, but I avoid her eyes. “She died because of her love for you.”

Keira’s breath hitches. “My mom’s dead?” she asks, her voice childlike.

“Your father killed her for taking you. Never managed to track you down.”

She slumps in her seat. “How do you know all this?”

“When I was over there, Aristide, your father, told me he’d found you at last. Showed me photos of you. Said he was going to get back in touch and invite you to join him in Rome, to take over when he died.”

“I never heard from anyone,” she says. “This is a total mess.”

We fall silent for a minute. It’s a lot to take in, and I don’t know what to say. Nothing can make it okay.

“What was my mom’s name?” she asks suddenly.

“Persephone.”

“What happened in Rome? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Christian expected to take over. When he found out you’d be getting the job, he killed your father and took me captive. Wanted me to get you over there so he could marry you. Cement his position as head of the high council with you as his wife.”

Her voice is devoid of emotion. ”So both my parents are dead.”

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