Page 85 of Stolen Queen

“Shut the fuck up!” My father slaps me again.

“Matteo!” Elio grabs Matteo as he starts toward my father.

“You’re the pussy,” Matteo yells. “Only weak men hit women.”

My father takes his gun and points it at my head. The blood drains from Matteo’s face. My breath stops.

“Tell me again that I’m a pussy,” my father taunts Matteo.

Elio sucks in a breath. “Vincenzo, come on. Are you really going to kill your daughter after all this? If she’s that disposable, let her come with us. What would it take for that to happen?”

My father shakes her head. “Your word is shit, D’Amato. Besides, she’s already promised to a Don in New York who appreciates her value far more than you ever could.”

I feel so small, so helpless at this moment. I want to scream, to fight back. There must be something I can do. What would happen if I told him I wasn’t a virgin? Or that I was pregnant? It would definitely lower my value in his eyes, but he might retaliate.

“The only negotiation here is that you hand over Moretti and me and Ava leave,” my father says with a smug, triumphant tone.

“No.” Matteo shakes his head.

“Don Nardone won’t want me.” I can’t believe I’m uttering these words.

My father turns to me, and the darkness in his eyes scares me. He glances at Matteo. “Did you defile my daughter?” He holds his gun up, aimed at Matteo’s head.

I close my eyes, knowing this is the end. "I'm pregnant."

It’s almost as if the world stops. Everyone’s gaze turns to me, their faces stunned.

At that moment, Lazaro comes barreling through the door, shooting one man and putting his gun up to my father’s head as he knocks his gun away.

“Move and I’ll kill your boss,” he says to the third man. It’s so sudden, so inconceivable, the speed and power with which he took over the room.

“Took you long enough,” Elio quips, taking the gun from the third man while Matteo takes one from the first one.

“I didn’t want her to get hurt, plus I had to call up backup.” Lazaro smiles down at me. “Hello, Ava. How are you?”

“I… uh… I’m okay… I guess.”

“Deal with these fuckers,” Elio says of the two other men.

Matteo kicks the man Lazaro shot.

“Is he dead?” Lazaro asks. “I didn’t want to kill him.”

“Nah. He’ll be alright.” Matteo rolls him over and sits him up.

Two minutes later, several other men arrive, and Lazaro is working with them to take my father’s men away.

Elio pushes my father down in a chair and is standing over him. “How about now, Vincenzo? Ready to negotiate?”

Matteo comes over to me, kneeling in front of me. “Is that true? About a baby? Or were you just fucking with your father’s head?”

I study his face, wondering what he hopes the answer to be.

32

MATTEO

Ithought the last few days were hard. The last few minutes nearly gave me a heart attack. To see Ava at her father’s mercy, to watch him hit her and not be able to do anything without risking all our lives was unbearable.

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