Page 18 of Deadly Don's Arranged Vows

“Your real mother is dead.”

“I know she is. So is my stepfather. And now my stepbrother is dead too. Who the hell cut off his head? Why the hell would they do something so barbaric?” Shaking, she wraps her arms around herself. “I don’t understand anything, and it feels like I’m going crazy. Like clinically insane.”

I run my hands over her shoulders and wish I knew how to comfort her. “Listen to me. Your father is Daniel Barone, and he’s the one responsible for John’s murder. The couple who raised you isn’t dead. Your stepfather retired, and they’re living in Florida.”

The pupils of her eyes shrink rapidly, and I worry she’s about to pass out. She reaches out and hangs onto my arms. “This can’t be true. Why would my mother leave me?”

“She and your stepfather were my associates and had to get out of the business for their own safety. Your real father was getting close to finding out where you’ve been living. Your adopted parents, the Conti couple, had to be moved, and you couldn’t go with them, or their lives would have still been in danger. John stayed to watch over you.”

Some clarity begins to filter in. Isabella asks, “Is my real mother still alive?”

And here comes the hard part. “Keeping her alive would have meant that my family would be in danger. She really wanted your safety over everything else anyway. That’s why she took you and ran away from your father. She knew she could never go back to him, and she knew she couldn’t live within our organization. She knew what would happen to her. It was you she cared about more than anything else.”

Her face pale, Isabella asks, “What was my father going to do with me?”

“He would have done what any man in his position would do with their daughter.” The grim reality isn’t easy to voice aloud, but it’s important for her to know. “A daughter is nothing more than a pawn to be used for a variety of purposes. Your mother didn’t want you to become the property of some man the way she did.”

Her eyes move to rest on mine. “But that happened anyway, didn’t it?”

“I would rather you not look at it that way. It’s true that I married you to gain some leverage with your father. But the main reason I married you today is to put you under my complete protection. As my wife, you are untouchable by anyone. Even your father.”

Strength suddenly forms where none had been, and she sits up straight. “He killed John. Why did he do that?”

“Your father learned that John had you. His life was threatened yesterday, which prompted the urgency for us to get married. Your father wants you back in his possession, and he was ready to kill anyone who got in his way. He will continue to kill to get you back.”

Her eyes, vacant, move to the floor. “Give me to him. I don’t want anyone else to die over me.” Her chin juts out fiercely. “Do it now before anyone else gets hurt. Please.”

“I can’t do that. I won’t do that.” I caress her cheek. “Your courage is respectable. But you’re mine, Isabella. No one takes from me. And I give nothing away that’s as important to me as you are.”

She shakes her head and wipes the tears from her eyes with both hands. “Carlo, this is the only way. I can’t let anyone else die.”

“It’s not going to happen. Forget about it.” Sitting on the bed next to her, I wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her head. “You’re mine, Isabella. You are precious to me. But even if you weren’t, even if I hated you, I would never hand you over to anyone.”

“Because that would be an act of weakness, and you would never show anyone that you can be weak,” she mutters quietly. “People will continue to die because of me, and you will allow that to happen.” Pushing on my chest with her hands, she looks into my eyes. “You are a monster. You’re every bit as evil as my real father is, aren’t you?”

She’s been through a lot, so I keep my temper in check. “Don’t ever call me a monster again or compare me to your father. I am nothing like that man.”

“Tell me what you are, Carlo.” Her body, rigid in my arms, makes me worry that our marriage might not be as happy as I thought it would be.

“I am the boss of all bosses. In short, I am the head boss in an organization that’s as old as time and has a vast reach. You can think of me as a king. And you are the same as a princess. Now that you’re married to me, that makes you a queen. Can you understand your value now, Isabella?”

“I’m no princess. And I certainly am not a queen. I don’t want to be either,” she says firmly. “Let me go, Carlo. I don’t want your hands on me.”

She has been through a lot, so I let her go and stand up in front of her. “I’m giving you some time to gather yourself, Isabella. You didn’t know any of this, and I know what’s happened has to be mind-numbing. But I am your husband, legally and in the eyes of God. You are mine, and you will behave as I expect you to. Do you understand me?”

“Why did you have sex with me last night? Why did you make me fall in love with you? You could have simply taken me as your wife and never given me the idea that you cared for me at all. Maybe this would be easier to take if I knew the plain truth about it all.” Sighing heavily, she leans back on the bed, clasping her hands over her stomach.

I know it’s a lot to take all at once, and I never meant for it to happen this way. Lying down next to her, I want her to know the truth. “I didn’t care about you, at first. John asked me to get to know you a bit before marrying you. He thought the idea of getting you to plan the wedding would be a good way for us to get to know each other.”

“So, my stepbrother was behind this the whole time,” she says as she nods. “He’s in the Mafia too.”

“He was an enforcer.” The thought of John being dead makes me angry again, and I have to stand up. “And that bastard took his head. He has to pay for what he’s done. Murdering my right hand is almost as bad as murdering my wife. He can’t get away with it.”

Sitting up, she massages her temples. “I am the wife of a Mafia boss. I came from Mafia, and I have married Mafia. I am Mafia.”

“I’m glad you’re coming to terms with this so quickly. Maybe your pure blood makes it easier for you to accept what you really are. A Mafia princess who has become a Mafia queen. People will look to you for help from now on.”

“The Mafia doesn’t help people,” she scoffs.

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