Page 59 of Bullet for My Good Girl

"I am. How are you?" I ask, putting my hand out so she can come over to me.

"I'm better now. Did Diego tell you what we're going to need to do?"

"Yeah, you're going to get some work done."

"Yeah, I was thinking my nose and chin. Something that can change the profile but not much of the front. I don't think I need that much done."

"You don't need anything done, but if it'll give us a chance to live freely, then I'm all for it."

Her head tilts to the side, and she gives me a tight smile. She's got something on her mind.

"What?"

"You realize after I get this work done, I won't have to be protected anymore, right? You don't have to..."

I nearly spring up out of the bed. Does she really think after all that we've been through that I was just going to leave her.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Stella. Nose job or not, you're mine." I pull her forward, ignoring the slight ache in my midsection, and kiss her deeply. The kiss instantly turns heated, and she moans.

"Babies present." Diego barks from where he's standing behind us. I let her go and look back down to where Chance is sleeping.

Stella laughs before moving away from me and walking around to the opposite side of the bed to lay on the other side of Chance. Never would I have thought that I'd ever be in the position to be huddled up with my family in a bed, but this is the most at peace I've ever felt.

"What are we going to do about Babbo? You think he's just going to let this go?" Diego asks from where he is sitting.

I don't want to scare Stella, but I'm not going to keep things from her anymore. "Like he said, if I completed his task, he'd allow me to keep her. Besides, I think I'm going to take an extended leave of absence from all the bullshit. I'm tired of just being his lap dog. He'll know where to find me when the time is right, but I have a feeling he's going to be needing my services less and less. I have enough money to live a comfortable life wherever I want. I don't need anything he has to give me. Not the name, not the protection, and not the money. It's time for me to break away from the family."

"You'd leave us?" Diego asks, his face a bit crestfallen, as if I told him I was breaking up the family business.

"You and I both know I was never really part of it. Christine and the rest of the family have everything under control."

"Yeah, that's what I'm scared of." He sighs and turns his head away.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I ask, leaning up a little bit.

"You haven't heard what's going on, have you?"

"What's going on with what?" I focus on him. Something more is going down that I'm not aware of. I figured since everything was finished with the Isley family, there was no more danger.

"Christine is taking a new leadership role," Diego says.

"What? In what way?"

"She's building her own army; it seems like she's going to try and take out Babbo. He doesn't see it, but the rest of us do. She's trying to run the family going against his wishes. Sooner or later, we're going to start having to answer to her. Giancarlo isn't happy about it at all."

My eyes open wide; there's never been a power struggle within the family. What Babbo said has always been law, the fact that Christine thinks she's got enough power to go up against our father must really mean she's got a lot more under her belt than the rest of us know.

"Surely it's just for show; she knows how powerful our father is." I shake my head not wanting to believe it.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you? But who really holds all that power, at the table who has the most connections? Who puts all the plans into motion? It's always been Christine. Hell, she's the one who set up the marriage between Gian and his new bride. This was all her, not Babbo." Diego breathes out, and I fall back against the bed.

If I thought Babbo was... I think back on what Christine said at the hospital, how she didn't save me for some sense of love; this was all business for her. Taking over the Isley family was exactly what she needed to show just how powerful she really is. I'm starting to think that this wasn't all just to please Babbo but maybe I was a pawn in her rise to power. My sister just walked all over me to get to her crown, and I laid down and let her.

Thirty-Two

Vitto

I'm surprised by how on task Diego seemed to be with everything. I thought I was going to have to get Stella and the baby all set up on my own, but over the few days that I was there in his little club, my brother really came through for me. Not only did he set up a secret surgery for Stella, but he also made sure the baby had everything he needed and that my medical care was a priority. It's been years since I had this level of rest and relaxation.

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