Page 27 of Dangerous Devotion

For a moment, I thought he might refuse. But then his shoulders sagged, and he nodded slowly. “Fine,” he said, his voice gruff. “But this is far from over, Salvini.”

As the tension in the room slowly dissipated, I exhaled and gradually relaxed.

I looked around. I was so focused on my dad that I didn’t even look around when we entered. But everyone in the room was watching us—Fee, Alex, Vince’s brothers, Hawk,and his guys, and to my utter surprise, Iset and a woman who was her spitting image—all wearing expressions ranging from concern to curiosity.

“Can we have some privacy?” I asked, my voice softer now. “Just Dad, Vince, and me?”

There were nods of agreement, and slowly, the others filed out of the room.

As the door closed behind them, I turned to face the two men in my life who meant the most to me, albeit in very different ways.

“Let’s sit,” I said, gesturing to the nearby sofas. “We have a lot to talk about. And I’m the only one allowed to use violence.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

To my utter surprise, I’d survived Craig Donnelly’s anger.

I still vividly remembered the beating Gabe received from Donnelly when he told him he was the father of Sophie’s child.

Donnelly had definitely gone easy on me.

Because he’d knocked Gabe flat out, and he’d spent a week in the hospital afterward.

I side-eyed Donnelly, and he really didn’t look as murderous anymore as when he used me as a punching bag for his pent-up emotions just moments ago.

I squared my shoulders, and prepared myself for another round with Craig Donnelly because the man might’ve stopped using his fists for now, but who knew how he would react to the news of me marrying Jemma instead of Matt?

“You think you can just waltz in and take my daughter?” Donnelly snarled, his face still flushed with anger.

I narrowed my brows. So he already knew—that was unexpected. “With all due respect, Donnelly, our arrangement still stands; it’s only minor circumstances that have changed.” I kept my voice level and focused on proper articulation—despite the throbbing in my jaw.

He scoffed. “Minor circumstances? I agreed to her marriage to your brother, not for her to be put straight into the line of danger and be scared to death! And certainly not to be toyed with and used as the Salvini family’s whore.”

Jemma gasped.

My muscles tensed as my temper rose. How could he think my wanting to marry her was me toying with her, or using her as… “That’s not what’s happened,” I countered.

Jemma turned to me and cocked her head.

“What?”

She gave me a lopsided grin. “You kidnapped me…and scared me.”

I narrowed my eyes. That’s what she chose to address? Not her father calling her a whore?

My eyes snapped from Jemma back to Donnelly. “I only did that to protect her, but let’s ad?—”

“Protect her?” Donnelly’s laugh was bitter. “From what? The biggest danger here is you, Salvini.”

He suddenly looked very suspicious. “So you didn’t have sex with him?” he asked Jemma outright.

I could feel her cowering next to me. “As I stated before, Jemma is an adult. And since we’re going to get married?—”

“You’re what?” Donnelly said, his voice sharp, and surprise was written all over his face. So he didn’t know?

“What exactly do you mean by you’re getting married?” Donnelly said.

This was it; this was the moment of truth. “Jemma and I are going to be married,” I repeated and gave Jemma a sideways glance.

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