Page 39 of Stolen Union

“You have to take me with you.”

“Oh, no.” He chuckles darkly. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Do you want to see your sister again or not? Because the one major thing she wanted in life was freedom. She never wanted to be married to that doofus.” I nod at Antonio, who blinks in surprise. “She just wants to be free. And you would know that if you’d just talked to her.”

“Says the man who stole her.”

“I did,” I agree. “But Gabriella was happy with me. You can ask her yourself when you find her. But you’ll find her a lot faster if you take me with you.”

“I’m going to regret this,” Rocco mutters. “Massimo, go grab some clothes.”

“Why me?” Massimo asks.

“Because I’m tired of staring at Dante’s cock. Give him some clothes so we can go find Gabriella.”

Massimo grumbles under his breath, but he runs upstairs. Within a few minutes, he returns with a shirt and pants.

Rocco unties my hands, but he holds my arms back as he tells his brothers to put the clothes on me. “I’m not taking any chances.”

Once I’m dressed, we leave.

“Where is she?” Rocco asks. I’m stuck in the back between Massimo and Emilio again.

“I’ll give you directions as we go.”

Rocco sighs. “Fine.”

As we get closer to our destination, Rocco speeds up. He recognizes it, too. Of course, he does.

It’s where his mother is buried.

We reach the cemetery, and all four of us leave the car. Neither Massimo nor Emilio let me go. Antonio isn’t with us because Rocco told him to stay back in case Gabriella showed up.

We find Gabriella kneeling before her mother’s grave.

She stands up when she sees us. “Dante?” she whispers. “You’re alive.”

“For the moment,” I say.

She turns to Rocco. “Don’t kill him.”

“You keep saying that. Gabriella.” He grabs her arms. “Why did you run off? You knew it would worry me.”

“Honestly, Rocco. I’m done caring what you think.”

He steps back, blinking in surprise. “But I’m your big brother. I protect you.”

“You’ve always protected me, and that’s the problem. You’re too protective. I don’t want you to kill Dante and marry me off to Antonio. I hate Antonio. I love Dante.”

Everyone looks at her in surprise, including myself. She … loves me?

After a beat, Rocco speaks. “You love him? How? He’s brainwashed you.”

“You can’t brainwash someone in a week.”

“You can’t fall in love with someone in a week either,” he snaps back.

“You can because that’s how I feel. Dante might have taken me away against my will, but I quickly learned he’s what I’ve always been looking for. With him, life is fun. It’s exciting. And I want to experience more of life with him, assuming you don’t kill him. I know you don’t understand, and you probably never will. But if you kill him, Rocco, I‘ll keep running away. I’ll run and run until you never see me again. I’m not going to marry Antonio. I’m already married to Dante and intend to keep it that way.” She takes in a shaky breath. “I know he tried to kill you, but you’re the Mafia. Everyone is trying to kill you. I’m making my choice, and you will respect it. Dante is a powerful enemy or a powerful ally. You can make him your ally and put all this shit behind you. Or you can kill him and lose me forever. You can lock me up, but I’ll never forgive you for it, and I think you care enough about me to not want to lose me again.”

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