Page 7 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don

Marco makes a groaning noise, and then I remember that he’s hurt.

I rise to my feet, feeling numb all over, and manage to stumble over to Marco’s crumpled form near the front door. “I’m so sorry,” I keep saying over and over again as I try to blot up the blood pouring from Marco’s nose.

I look down at my hands, which are now covered in blood and I nearly gag.

“Here, look out,” Marco says to me, managing to sit up. He pulls his t-shirt off and presses it to his nose with a wince.

“Marco, what do we do now?” I ask in a shaky voice.

Marco looks at me with sadness in his eyes. “Now we make plans to keep you and your baby safe,” he says.

Chapter Three

Elio

Seven Years Later

I stalk up quietly behind the guard posted by the rear gate of the opulent hotel that Marco Rodrigeuz has chosen for his wedding.

I’ve been watching Marco for years, hoping that he would lead me back to Kate. I always assumed he would be too foolish and inexperienced to keep her location hidden from me.

Surprisingly, Kate’s lover proved to be very good at keeping her in hiding where I couldn’t find her. He was even better at slipping out of my clutches every time I tried to get even with him for humiliating me.

All of that is going to end today.

Today, I am going to finally get my hands on Kate again. And, if I’m lucky, I’m also going to be able to get even with that prick Marco for hiding her from me for so long.

When my informant told me that Marco wasn’t marrying Kate, but rather a Baldini, I knew it was my opening.

Kate is mine, always has been, always will be. And it’s about goddamn time she’s back where she belongs.

I crack my knuckles, glancing down at my long, thin, fingers. My mother likes to say that I had the hands of a poet or a musician.

I am very talented at things like art and music. However, I am much more talented at brutality.

I wait until the guard passes by me, casually smoking a cigarette as he wanders back and forth near the gate.

I would have expected Marco to be more careful about the people he chose to protect his family during his wedding. But then again, maybe being in love has made him go soft.

Aside from being a big soft pushover, there's nothing that would explain why Kate would even be allowed at this wedding. And if my intel is correct, she will be.

My mouth twists into a grimace. Love makes us all go soft in the head. That’s why I’m never going to allow that emotion to cloud my judgment again.

The guard passes by me again and pauses to grind out his cigarette in the sandy planter near me. Seeing my chance as he turns away, I leap out of the shrubs and wrap my powerful arm around his neck.

I immediately clap a hand over his mouth so that he can’t alert any other guards with his shouting. I squeeze hard, my forearm digging into his windpipe. It is only a matter of moments before the guard sags limply in my arms.

I drag his unconscious body back into the bushes I hid in, then hurry along the stucco wall toward the sounds of merriment.

I remember the girl that Marco is marrying. Sure, she’s a Baldini, but not the most important sibling. The sons in the Baldini family are who really matter.

I don’t have a beef with Grazia, or the other wives who have married into the Baldini family. However, women often make excellent bargaining chips when it comes to mob warfare.

I’m always surprised that other men in my business choose to marry women that they actually love.

It’s almost impossible to protect lovers and wives, something I am about to prove with great clarity.

I halt outside the huge wooden doors that lead into the reception area. I know that there will be a guard on the other side of this door. I know this because I told him to be there and I’m paying a hefty price for his promise that he will make it easy for me to get inside the reception area.

---