Page 46 of Deadly Don's Baby Contract

“What then?” He smirks at me like this is already over.

“The horses,” I say. “Yours against mine.” His three-legged donkey can’t beat my prize winner. He knows it, and I wait for him to tell me to choose something else. Marco’s sly smile is a dead giveaway that he thinks he can still win.

“This is stupid,” Aria says between us. “You are both idiots.” I can see how angry I have made her by considering this at all. Her whole life has been out of her control. She hates it when choices are made for her.

“No, this is the only way to make him stop,” I assure her. “If I win, then he has no choice but to walk away from this fight.”

“It’s not a fucking fight,” she huffs. “I married you.”

“With Marco, everything is a fight. He’s always afraid someone will have something he doesn’t have.” I say, looking him in the eye. “I’m not fighting over you. I am fighting for you.”

“Betting on a horse race?” she snaps and then storms out.

“I see who wears the pants,” Marco mocks. “Oh wait, she hasn’t even got any on, and she’s got you whipped.” Not for the first time, he’s trying to get a rise out of me. It’s getting hard to ignore the jabs.

“And you think you could control her?” I laugh, knowing more about my wife now than he does. Some family secrets are secret. I haven’t shared what I know with him—there is no reason to. “I would love to see you try.” I laugh at him.

“Just because you can’t control your woman doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t submit to me.”

“Get out,” I growl at him because if he doesn’t, I am going to punch him. “I will see you at the track in two hours, we can end this bullshit.”

“Two hours, don’t let her make you late. I’ll start with or without you.” He’s a sneaky fucker, I can’t trust him if I can’t see him. We will be there early to make sure nothing untoward happens before the race.

Marco saunters out of my apartment like he owns it. I ball my fists to hold back the urge to run after him and kill him. I make a call to my groom to have my horse ready in an hour. “Aria.” She’s in the shower, and if there were time, I’d be tempted to join her, but with traffic, we need to leave right away. “We need to go,” I say to her as she steps out to dry herself. “I can’t trust him not to do something underhanded.”

“You want me to come with you?” She scoffs at me, clearly still fuming.

“Aria, I need you to trust me.”

“We have already established that we have trust issues, Franco.” I see the hellfire flash in her eyes again, and that’s why I love her. “You better have a better argument prepared than that.” How do I explain that I know my brother and this is the only way to get him to let her go?

“Please, just today, don’t fight me.” I haven’t got time to get into how his mind works with her. “Come with me, let us settle this shit once and for all.”

“For the record, I do not want to go. I think you are both stupid. No matter which pony wins the race, I am your wife, Franco. Nothing will change that.” She pulls on a pair of skinny jeans from the drawer. They hug her curves in all the right places. When she knots one of my white t-shirts at her waist, I’m caught staring. “You can stop,” she says, “You have to win if you want to get lucky again.”

I button my shirt, pull on a jacket to conceal the gun I plan to carry and look for the car keys.

***

“She’s a pretty horse,” Aria says, looking at my prize mare. “Is she fast?” she says, smiling. The race track is empty except for staff, my security and some of Marco’s men. It’s eerie being here when it’s not a race day. The vibe is different when there are thousands of people with money on the line.

It's just us—it’s personal, and everything is on the line for me. I’m not here to lose it all. Not to Marco. “She’s the fastest one in the stable.”

“And your brother's horse?”

“My brother wouldn’t know a donkey from a pony. He has a few duds. None that stand a chance. He knows he can’t win, which is why he expects to try to cheat.”

“Your brother is a donkey,” She laughs, “that’s probably part of the problem.” Even when tensions are high, she can find a way to make light of the situation. Marco’s cars pull up to the stable area. As always, he’s un-fashionably late.

“We don’t have all day,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Let’s settle this.” His groom comes out with a horse, which I know isn’t his, but I also know it still can’t beat mine, so I don’t argue.

“His horse looks good for a donkey,” Aria whispers concerned.

“She looks good, but she freezes out of the gate at every race. She’s a good-looking lemon.” I need her to have a little faith. “We are waiting for you, Marco.” He makes his way to the box where he will have the best view of the track, and Aria and I follow. I hold her hand, keeping her close.

We watch them load the two horses into the starting stalls. Aria is holding my hand tight. She was right—this is stupid, but it is too late to pull out now. My brother won’t allow that, not without making me forfeit. I won’t willingly give him what he wants, my wife and child, the family legacy to himself.

The start goes exactly as I predicted: Marco’s horse freezes, and mine is like lightning out of there. She’s a sure-thing week in and out. I chose this wager because I knew I could not lose.

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