Page 35 of The Don

I smile at her as best I can. “Daniele lasted ten more years, but every time he contacted my mother and I with a few dollars to help us get by, he was in a different place.”

“He was on the run?”

I nod.

“I never saw any of my cousins again after that, not even Dante. I was too busy helping my mother make rent.”

“How did you…sign up? Why would you?”

I shrug. “It’s the family business. This is what I know. My father’s reputation was ruined, but he still had friends who left us groceries when we needed them and gave me a little work here and there.”

“But…but what if…?”

“What if I’ve worked with the men who killed my father and uncles?”

She nods slowly.

“I have, actually, but not in many years.”

“How do you know for sure?”

My smile — like my soul — feels hollow, the way I felt before I met her. “Because I killed almost everyone who was involved in my father’s death. I took their lives and their territories. I made sure they paid me back in blood and power for what they took from us.”

“I don’t want that for our baby,” she whispers quietly.

I wrap my arms around her waist. “Neither do I, bella. That’s why I have to do this.”

I can see the question she wants to ask. If she does, I’ll tell her. I know that as sure as anything else. But she doesn’t speak, so I reach for another box on the floor and place it on her lap. “Open it.”

Her hand is hesitant again, but when she lifts the lid up, I feel her exhale at the stack of papers. “What’s this?”

“My birth certificate. A family tree going back over a century.” I move the papers to one side and grab a book at the bottom. “This has the information to all of my international bank accounts.”

“I don’t—”

“Yes, bella, you do. My father never got the chance to provide for my mother. Or maybe he didn’t have the foresight. I won’t make that mistake.” She’s shaking like a leaf in my arms. I hold her close, but I don’t stop. There might not be time to do this again. “My father was a flawed man, but he was right about one thing. If anything happens to me, you find Giulio, Alfonso, Lorenzo, or Federico because I do have an army, and if anything happens to me, they will take care of you and our child.”

15SHAE

“How do you feel?”Salvatore asks while I close my eyes, chew, and dance in my seat. His voice is a melodic mixture of concern and happiness, warm, gentle.

“Amazing,” I say before shoveling another forkful of the best seafood pasta I’ve ever had into my mouth. So far, I haven’t eaten a meal that Salvatore hasn’t cooked for me. His cooking is as good as his dick. So, if the plan was to seduce me with orgasms and pasta, it’s working. To be honest, I would have settled for far less. But that’s the thing about Salvatore, I think, he’s never let me settle once.

I want to thank him for this dinner and his care and his dick, but that will have to come later. Right now, I’m too busy spearing a piece of lobster onto my fork. I groan when I take that next bite.

Salvatore’s eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles, and his lips practically disappear behind his facial hair. He’s going to be the biggest pushover as a father, I think out of nowhere, twirling some linguine onto my fork.

“What is that smile for?” he asks casually, reaching for his glass of water. He takes a sip, watching me with light dancing in his eyes.

I chew my food and swallow. “No reason. I’m just…happy.”

He grabs my thigh and squeezes. “Good. You deserve that.”

“You’ve been telling me that since we met.”

“You are stubborn,” he says. “You didn’t believe me the first time. But you do now?” He lifts an eyebrow at me.

I nod and stare him down. “I do. And I deserve you, too. You know that now, right?” I’m ready for his objections.

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