Page 5 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don

I think about the kind of sex that Elio and I enjoy, then suddenly I can feel my cheeks getting hot. But I know that isn’t what Marco is asking about, so I say, “No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Then why can’t you just tell him that you don’t want to be cast aside or left here when he goes back to the States?”

My vision goes blurry with fresh tears. “Because I don’t have a bargaining chip anymore. I’m already pregnant.”

“Does he know?” Marco asks.

“No,” I say. “I just found out this morning. I’m already out of time to change his mind, and we aren’t even married yet.”

“Well, that’s less than ideal, but I still think you should talk to him about this,” Marco insists.

I sit up and push away from Marco. I feel my heart harden with my resolve. “No. I don’t want this life. I don’t want to be his pawn in some huge game of chess he is playing. If he already feels this way about me, then nothing will change once we are married. I will be landing right in a trap that was built by both of our parents. I don’t want to live my entire life knowing that no one loves me.”

I start pacing around Marco’s small living room. I pull my engagement ring on and off my finger in my agitation.

The desire to fling it out the window crosses my mind, but I resist being that heedless. The ring is a family heirloom and I don’t need to give Elio any more excuses to be angry with me.

“I came up with a solution to my problem. That’s actually why I’m here,” I say to Marco.

“You need my help,” he states the obvious.

I nod. “Yes. Well, actually, you are the plan.”

Marco rises to his feet. I glance over at him and see that he is frowning at me. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

I turn pleading eyes on him. “I need you to tell Elio that the baby is yours and that we are in love.”

Marco holds up a hand at this. “Wait a minute. I don’t want to end up knee-deep in your family drama. My adoptive family will not thank me for causing a rift with the La Rosa tribe and they certainly won’t want me to marry someone who was engaged to Elio.”

“We’ve always been close, Marco,” I plead. “We wouldn’t have to stay married for long. We could get divorced.”

Marco shakes his head firmly. “Absolutely not. I’m game to try and help you out in another way, but I am not willing to burn bridges with every single influential family in the business just to get you out of your marriage.”

Marco opens his mouth to say something else, when suddenly there is a loud pounding noise at the door.

I look at Marco with wide eyes. He looks worried, which doesn’t make me feel better.

Often, I am able to forget that our families are engaged every day in criminal business that is dangerous. However, in moments like these, away from the safe housing compound I grew up in and my personal bodyguards, it becomes obvious why I am not allowed to roam around unprotected.

“Who is it?” Marco calls as he walks to the kitchen and picks up a gun off the counter. I watch him disengage the safety before he walks over to the front door.

“It’s Elio,” comes an angry voice that is muffled by the door.

Marco looks at me with narrowed eyes. “Fuck. Location sharing,” I say softly, holding up my phone.

I bite my lip. I should have thought of the fact that Elio could track me with the help of my cell phone.

Marco rolls his eyes and clenches his jaw. He hesitates for a moment, clearly pondering what to do.

“I heard her, dammit!” Elio yells from the other side of the door. He pounds on the wooden surface again. “Let me the fuck in!”

Marco takes a deep breath and swings the door open.

Elio bursts through the doorway so violently that it knocks Marco back. I hear him curse under his breath before Elio is on me, pushing and shoving me back until my calves hit the couch, and I sit down hard.

“What the actual fuck, Kate!” Elio shouts at me. “Why are you here with him?”

“I…” I start to say, but Elio turns away with a curse to glare at Marco.

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