Page 16 of Morally Gray Daddies

“What’s going on?” I wailed, letting all the pent-up tears that I’d been holding back finally burst forward. I made sure Jack and his father got a good look before I reached up to cover my face. I got a good glimpse of the room we were in, too—it looked like an office with a big desk and several bookshelves. “What’s happening?”

Letting loose my emotions was easier, all the tears entirely authentic, as were my heaving sobs. I was so relieved to be here rather than at the bottom of the Hudson, it was easy to play the part of a distraught damsel.

“That’s the thief,” Gio said, speaking loudly over my sobbing. I pretended not to hear him. The best thing I could do was play… well, not possum exactly, but innocent, helpless prey.

Definitely not someone who would be stealing from them and just about every other person of wealth in the city.

“You’re saying Clara is the thief?” Yup, Jack was buying my sobbing act so far, and I was going to sell it hard. I kept crying, letting myself spend all my tears because, at some point, I was probably going to have to make a run for it, so I needed to vent the emotions while I could. The more I got out, the easier it would be to shut them off when it was time to make my move.

“Yes.” Gio said it definitively, then sighed, as if frustrated by the lack of belief from his uncle and cousin. “Look at her! Look at what she’s wearing! Tomas… tell them.”

“She’s the thief.” He said it plainly, baldly, and also uncaringly, as if it was no matter to him if they believed him or not. Unfortunately, that made him all the more convincing.

I sniffled and looked up at Jack as his father as pitifully as I could. Underestimate me, underestimate me, underestimate me…

Jack sighed. Closing his eyes, he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, as though he was trying to stave back a headache or some really unpleasant thoughts.

“You and Hailey are quite the pair,” he said finally, shaking his head, then looked at his dad, who was still staring at me with a stony expression. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “We can’t kill her. Hailey might actually murder me if we kill her.”

“Well, we can’t let her keep stealing from us. She needs to be kept under control. An example needs to be made.” The lack of emotion in his voice sent chills up my spine, and I felt my lower lip wobbling. The way he looked at me, like I was a bug in the rug, easily crushed beneath his heel, made me wonder how much he cared about Hailey’s feelings.

“I’ll take her,” Gio said suddenly.

Take me? Take me where? I didn’t like how they were all talking about me and my future as if I wasn’t there.

“I’m not going anywhere with him,” I said automatically. Then I squealed as a hand suddenly gripped the back of my neck, fingers pressing into the delicate flesh, making me reel. I tried to jerk forward, but his other hand tugged off my hat and grabbed onto my hair, holding me in place by my curls and the back of my neck.

“If she’s my wife, she can’t testify against me, and I can keep her in line.” He spoke as if I hadn’t said a word, and now I couldn’t. Not just because of his fingers pressing into my throat but because his declaration sent me reeling.

Had he just said I’d be his wife?

As I stared ahead in shock, my lips parted, eyes bulging, Don DiNardo nodded.

“Good. Then she’s your problem to handle.”

Good? Good? There was nothing good about this. Yet, when he looked at me again, calling me a problem, I felt another chill go down his spine. Because if I wasn’t Gio’s problem, then I was the don’s… and I really didn’t want to know what the don would do to solve a problem like me.

Obviously, I wanted to live, but I didn’t want to be married to Gio. Right? I was pretty sure I didn’t want to be married to Gio.

But I didn’t think I was being given a choice.

Chapter Seven

Gio

I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life, but I couldn’t find it in me to feel any regret. I had already decided to claim her, which would have led to the same result. This was just on a faster timeline than I’d planned. Making the decision soothed the beast inside me that had been raging since the moment I’d realized she was our thief.

This worked to our advantage in every way.

As my wife, she’d be under my control. She couldn’t be compelled to share anything she might have learned about us. And I’d have her in my bed every night. I didn’t kid myself—I knew she’d be a handful, a challenge even, but I would rise to meet it.

My uncle shook his head at me, as though he thought I was making a mistake, but it was mine to make. I knew he understood. My aunt was as feisty as Clara in some ways, though I don’t think she’d ever moonlighted as a cat thief. Uncle Lorenzo sighed.

“I’ll let you take care of her then,” he said, gesturing to Jack and Tomas. As they walked out of the room, Uncle Lorenzo gave me a look. I understood. I needed to make an example of Clara right now and demonstrate who was going to be in charge. Which wasn’t a problem.

Despite how sassy she was, she’d already shown a definitive submissive streak when I’d been in her bedroom. Keeping her off-kilter was the key.

She was still kneeling at my feet. Stepping to the side, I shifted my hands to pull her along with me. She whimpered as I sat down and began to tug her up to put her over my lap.

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