Page 9 of The Don's Prisoner

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this some sort of prank? Am I being scammed or something?” I looked around the room for hidden television cameras as Gio spread his arms.

“No, no one is messing with you. This is one hundred percent real. I need you to marry me within six months and play nice with my family so I can take over when my father retires, which should be soon. After that, we can get divorced if you wish, but know the children will stay with me for their safety, if there are any.”

“And what do I get out of it, hmm?” I demanded, folding my arms over my chest. My heart was pounding, and I was very close to just walking up to Gio and kicking him in the balls. The arrogance of this man was unmatched. Who did these kinds of things?

“You get money, protection, and you’ll live in the lap of luxury. Plus, you’ll get to have sex with me, which is every girl’s dream,” he said, winking at me. I scowled harder.

“What if I say ‘no’ and walk out of here right now?” I demanded.

Gio’s face went dark, and he pushed off of the desk so he could go over to the glass wall. He looked out the window and casually reached over to the side of the bookcase. He touched a button on the side, and a panel popped out revealing a row of guns ranging from handhelds to what looked like a sniper rifle, with a very small barrel and a large arm to rest on the shoulder. He took out the long one, cocked it, and pointed it out the window.

“If you say no, I will simply shoot your brother,” he said as if he were telling me the temperature outside. He looked at me, and there was not a hint of hesitation in his face.

I raced over to the window and could see the three men approaching the SUV, Vito’s blond head turned, hesitating. He stood for a moment outside the vehicle and looked back at the house as if he were trying to figure out if he should leave or not.

I silently prayed he would get into the car.

“You can’t shoot him. You’ll be arrested. You’ll go to jail…” I started, but Gio’s laugh was both cruel and sinister.

“All that would happen would be that my men would get rid of the body, and life would move on. At best, he might end up a missing person's case if the cops cared to try to track him down. And if you told anyone, we would have you killed as well. I might even be nice enough to bury you both together.” He looked me in the eyes with a cold, vicious look.

“So will you marry me or not, Victoria? It’s your choice. How much do you want your brother to live? Do you value him more than you value yourself? Do you value him more than he values you?”

Sweat dripped down my back as I looked down at the top of his head.

This guy was serious. This was no joke, no empty threat. Giovanni was pointing a very real gun with very real bullets at my brother’s head. I didn’t even have to see them to know they were real. The look in Gio’s eye was enough to tell me he wasn’t bluffing.

I could either marry this bloodthirsty madman, or I could let my brother die and risk my own life for having witnessed it. Not much of a choice when put that way.

“Fine,” I said, putting a hand on the gun and pushing it down so he was pointing at the floor.

“Fine, what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me and revealing a cocky grin. He knew very well what I was saying, but he was going to make me say it out loud. Fine. He could have his battle, but if he thought he had won the war, he was delusional.

“Fine, I will marry you. But you have to promise me that you will never harm a hair on my brother’s head. No matter how undeserving he may be,” I said, holding my head high. Giovanni nodded and held out his hand for me to shake.

“We have a deal,” he said, and I put my hand in his to shake on it.

Chapter four

Giovanni

The woman I just made a deal with was so hot, I could hardly believe my luck. I had imagined that Vito’s sister couldn’t possibly look that bad, but when I saw her tall, slender frame walk through my door, dressed like she was going to make a business deal, hair put up in an artful way, and smelling so good? I knew I had really hit the jackpot with that bet. After we shook hands, she glared at me again as I motioned for her to sit down. But she did so, crossing one leg over the other without even the slightest peek at what color underwear she was wearing, which was a complete shame. I debated demanding her to show me, but then I dismissed the thought. Victoria was clearly not the kind of woman who would bend over the desk just because I asked her to. I could tell that by the way she crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her ample cleavage from me as I sat down on the desk next to her.

One of these days I would have to get more seats for my study.

One of these days I would have the woman before me bent over my desk.

I shifted a little to adjust myself without letting Victoria see. I doubted she was ready to see that kind of reaction from me so soon after just threatening to kill her brother. Women could be a little sensitive about that, and I couldn’t see her being any different. Besides, if I was going to pull this off, I needed to get her on my side, and I was already at a disadvantage.

“First, what I should be very clear about is who I am and what my family does so you know what you are getting yourself into,” I started, but Victoria held up a hand to silence me. I didn’t much appreciate that. No one told me to be quiet. But I waited patiently, trying to be nice—even though what I really wanted to do was yank her off the chair and get her on her knees on the floor so I could shove my cock down her throat.

Fuck, what was wrong with me? I was hornier than a teenager. I needed to get laid. Big time.

“I know who the De Carlos are. You can’t be a business owner in this city without knowing the De Carlos. You guys own Navigation Bank as well as most of the retail properties. Hell, I'm pretty sure I pay rent to your organization every month for my shop,” she told me, and I lifted an eyebrow. So, she was a businesswoman. How interesting. I wasn’t used to a woman who had made her own way.

“Very good, but that’s just our public face, and a very small segment of it at best. My family has been in charge of the crime syndicate in New England for the last century,” I told her and watched her eyes grow wide.

“You’re… your family is… the Mafia? Are you serious?” she asked, a look I couldn’t decipher crossing her face. Maybe it was akin to horror in realizing how deep she was in right then or how serious I had been about killing her and her brother. Whatever it was, it drained what little color she had in her face.

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