Page 40 of Claiming His Mafia Princess

I nod at his words and snuggle back against him. “I’ll worry about that tomorrow. Right now, I’m - happy.” I say, feeling Nevio tense beneath me. He feels rigid for a moment, then his hand drifts up my back, caressing me.

“You’re happy?” he asks, tentative.

“I’m happy.” I whisper, smiling, not knowing how to explain how or why I feel that way if he asks me, but knowing that for the first time in a very long time, I really feel genuinely happy.

I keep glancing at my watch.

The diamond bracelet glittering on the same wrist whenever I move my arm.

I can’t stop pacing, up and down, up and down, nervous to see my father.

“When are they coming?” I ask for the hundredth time.

“They are about five minutes away.” Nevio has endless patience. I have no idea how he hasn’t screamed at me to shut the hell up yet because I am at the point where I’m annoying myself, so I must be annoying him too.

I continue to pace until I hear the door chime - security letting us know our guests have arrived.

I sit in the living room, tense and awkward, with my father sitting opposite me and my brother’s on either side of him. Only Masaccio and Red have come with.

“Rufino, Mas, Vincenzo - thank you for coming.” Nevio greets them as he sits down next to me, wrapping his hand over my thigh, not caring about the look my father throws in his direction. I thread my fingers through his and press his hand tighter against my leg.

I take a deep breath. Rufino looks pissed off, and I wonder if they all had a fight on the way here or something. Mas is sitting tense and quiet.

“Red? Are you ok?” I ask. He nods, his bright red hair and the shadow of fire colored stubble growing across his jaw is the reason we all call him red. He’s a good-looking guy. But of course, that didn’t stop my other brothers from tearing into him for having red hair while we were growing up.

It’s been a long time since they taunted him, though. Now that he is a head taller than even my oldest brother, his height, and bulk are an imposing threat to anyone who wants to mock him. The jagged scar above his eye adding to his Viking sort of look.

Red nods. “I’m good.” He says, throwing an angry look at my father.

Oh. I see. He’s angry at my father.

My dad clears his throat. “Lila, I wanted to come and talk to you.”

I turn my eyes towards him, and my fighters tighten over Nevio’s.

He squeezes my thigh, a wordless gesture to let me know he’s right here with me. My heart constricts. I smile, because he makes me feel safe.

“Talk then.” I say with confidence that Nevio has given me.

“I came to explain why — what happened. You’ll understand. I know you will.” He is falling over his words, perhaps nervous, perhaps unsure where to start. I wait patiently.

“A few months ago, one of our allies turned into a rat. The fucker got caught for something and in exchange for not going to prison, instead of just serving his own fucking time like a man, he started spitting out names to the cops. My name. He gave the cops my name and a lengthy list of shit I have done - with evidence. None of my own rivals could help because they would be in just as much trouble as me if their names got mentioned.”

I stare at my father, waiting to find out what this has to do with me and Lenny Malone.

He shifts in his seat.

“I was in a dangerous position because I was going to jail. I started asking around, looking for any way I could get out of it. That’s when Malone approached me. We’ve never seen eye to eye. We’ve never gotten on or even done business together. But he said that he would make that fucking rat disappear if—”

He coughs, rubbing his hand across his throat.

“If I gave you to him.”

I stare in total disbelief.

I don’t think my father can hear the irony in his own words.

I stare until I can’t hold back my anger for another second. “So, you made the deal. You gave me to Malone, the most monstrous man on the planet, so that you didn’t have to go to jail?”

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