Page 23 of The Don's Soulmate

“Drive,” he repeats the address to his chauffeur.

I look out of the window, prepared to leave this harrowing night behind, but the car doesn’t move.

Chapter 10

Ettore

“Get going,” I repeat, annoyed with the chauffeur.

“But boss,” his eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror. “Surely you don’t mean to go there directly? That’s not our territory.”

If I could, I’d punch him here and now. This poor girl next to me still trembles from what she’s been through. She doesn’t need to know that she just jumped into a car with a mafia don’s son.

“Bypass it” I demand.

“Boss. The address…it’s his house,” he stammers. “Your father …there’s war–”

“Quiet,” I bellow, slamming my fist against the leather seat. Beside me, Carlotta jumps involuntarily. I didn’t mean to scareher, but talks of war isn’t what she needs to hear right now. "Drive to the address I gave you. Now step on it before I put a bullet through the back of your skull!"

Enzo pales and nods vigorously. "Y-yes boss. Right away." The engine roars to life as we peel out onto the rain-slicked streets.

I sit back, jaw clenched tight, and glance over at the young woman huddled on the seat beside me. “Tell me,” I run a hand through my hair, “what happened back there in the alley? Who was that old guy, and how did you end up with him?”

I turn in my seat, facing her fully. The sparse moonlight glows off her smooth skin. She looks like an apparition, and for a moment I want to touch her, reassure myself that she is real. Then she starts speaking softly.

“He is the man my father and brother want me to marry.” I lean in to hear her words. “Tonight was the first time I met him - and hopefully the last - if I can convince Papa to break off the engagement.”

“I’ll help you convince your father. I’ll tell him everything that guy did: what he said to you, how he nearly strangled you to death! I’m sure that once he hears the threats that old guy-”

She whispers something I can’t hear. I lean in further. The car hits a bump in the road and our skin touches; my nose to her ear. Her disheveled hair tickles my cheek. I breathe in the smell of her. I want to pull her into me, to whisper into her hair that everything will be alright. I will protect her and help her outof this mess. My family holds influence, after all. Instead, I ask “Sorry, I didn’t catch what you said?”

“Ugo, Ugo Caputo. That’s the old guy’s name.

I blink at her – eyes unseeing. Mentally I go through the scene in the alley. Caputo? Yes, I see it now.

I grimace at the realization. The Caputo family has a vile history, and Ugo is no exception. There have always been rumors of the Caputo heir’s vicious games with women. A pal of mine, years ago, I now remember, used to run a brothel. Ugo liked sadistic games and the whores always left the room crying. Eventually, they banned him from the establishment, in retaliation he had the place burnt down. He's an animal, a beast that should never be allowed near a woman like Carlotta.

“Why?” I press, my voice thick with anger. “Why would your father and brother do this to you, don’t they know the kind of man he is?”

Carlotta's eyes fill with tears, and she looks away from me. Her voice breaks as she speaks. “Because they think it's a good match. They think it will strengthen our family’s position.”

I sit up abruptly. “Who is your family?”

She averts her eyes, her fingers fidgeting nervously in her lap. The air between us crackles with tension. After a long moment, she speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. "My father is Salvatore D'Amici. Angelo is my brother."

The names hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. My jaw clenches, a muscle ticking in my cheek. Of course, she'stheD'Amici. The universe has a twisted sense of humor, making me save the daughter of a sworn enemy, not once, but twice.

I look at her again. This time not trying to be subtle as I study her. Those captivating green eyes, that heart-shaped face - she's the spitting image of Giana D'Amici. Don D’Amici’s long-departed wife.

Her mother used to be a model, before the Don found her. Carlotta is a well-kept mystery of the D'Amici family, a daughter who is always kept out of conversation, hidden away from our world. I heard she was studying abroad for a while. Fuck.

I rake a hand through my hair, a war raging inside me. Part of me wants to tell Enzo to turn the car around, but I can’t just abandon her, but waltzing right up to their front door with Sal's little princess in tow is suicide.

Then again, this golden opportunity seems to have fallen into my lap. And why not? Those D’Amici bastards don’t deserve a woman like this. If they did value her, they wouldn’t exactly marry her off to that monster I just crushed. The temptation to let them know that even I, their enemy, knows what’s better for their treasured daughter and sister is too great to resist.

“Your father is in the mafia,” I state, matter-of-factly, wondering what she thinks of it.

She gasps, looking at me with wild eyes, her hair tumbling off her thin, naked shoulders. “I…I…”

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