Page 54 of Mafia King's Surprise Baby

All this time, Leo took care of this matter. Hana and I had set out clues that would’ve incriminated Ardian for my disappearance, for my presumed murder.

He took matters in his own hands.

For me?

I can’t stop my heart from swelling at this thought. Did Leo step out for me, killed my fiancé so I’d be free of the deal my father made for me? I recall him telling me he could do this for me, for us, in that loft in Tribeca. We would’ve had the entire Abrashi family to deal with, I’d reminded him.

Was that the start of the war?

I didn’t keep myself abreast of what was going on in New York. It’s a life I’d left behind.

But each time Hana has come back, a slice of that existence has returned. It’s here now, with me, in this room.

As I process this information, another realization slams into me. My back lands with a whoosh against the cushion behind me, the notion hitting me like a freight train going at full speed.

“Leo’s the new Don,” I say.

Hana nods. “Yes. Mattia was just telling me the syndicate has approved his position.”

My jaw hardens. “Reluctantly, I’d bet.”

She frowns. “How did you know?”

I laugh, but it carries no mirth. “I know their world, Han. They can’t refuse him the position because his father made it clear he was the Pellegrini heir.”

“But…?”

“But they can make life a living hell for him now. They’re the Old Guard, in the syndicate. They don’t like young, fresh bloodmaking it into their ranks.”

Hana shakes her head. “I don’t get it.”

I grimace. “Theirs is a world built on rules, on certain conventions and traditions they adhere to like parasites clinging to their unwilling host.”

I think of this, and my heart breaks for Leo. He adored his father, where I have always loathed mine. Don Eduardo was more like a wise older friend to him. I didn’t even find it strange when Mattia invited him to his bachelor’s party. He kept an eye on us all yet also partied with the younger set, a perfect bridge between our two generations. Everything our world needs with the syndicate on one side and the young cohort our age.

They’re going to try to make Leo into one of them. And when that fails, as Leo is a man who bows to no other who hasn’t earned his respect, they’ll brow-beat him into submission. Little by little, they’ll make him come to heel.

Beautiful, strong, dependent Leo.

They can’t do this to him. I can’t let this happen, though who am I —

An idea flits inside my mind. I do have a way to help him. However, that’s locked in a vault in New York, in a safe deposit box that requires my retinal scan to open the lock.

I can’t help him if I can’t set foot in New York again. Maybe a quick jump? I can send him the memory stick anonymously. What will I do with my son, though? I can’t leave him here, nor can I take him with me.

Another realization makes me blink, freezing as horror slicesthrough me.

A Don needs an heir.

They’ll force Leo to marry, beget a son.

Except, Enzo is already his heir. My son is now the child of a Mafia Don.

It’s not like I didn’t know this. But Leo should’ve become a Don in twenty years, at least. Enzo would be an adult then, having lived his life away from the dark and violent ways of the Italian-American Mafia. If he wanted to get to know his father at that point, I wouldn’t stop him.

This? This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not when my son—our son—is a child, completely defenseless and a prime target should anyone ever find out who he is. The child of a Mafia heir is one thing; the son and heir of a Don is an entirely other matter.

I could stay here. But I’m coming face to face with a conundrum in Tokyo, too. Hiro is the heir of hisoyabun—this is becoming clearer with each day that passes. Japanese society knows me as his unofficial partner; we’ve never denied this, even though it’s clear Enzo isn’t his son. Hiro will be the boss of a yakuza clan one day. He’s made no move to settle down yet, but he will have to marry someone one day. It can’t and won’t be me—we love each other like siblings. When that day comes, he won’t be able to protect me and Enzo like he’s doing now.

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