Page 46 of Triplets for the Mafia Prince

She gives a hollow laugh. "Back home, I knew my role. Stay quiet, stay pretty, wait to be traded to the highest bidder."

"But you wanted to come to New York," I say, remembering her earlier comments about adventure.

"I wanted to escape." Her gray eyes meet mine. "After Ava left, I was the next girl in line my father could use as a business commodity. I don’t love that idea, but I saw it as a way to get out from under him."

The irony of her trading from her asshole father to my demented father isn’t lost on me. And I understand it. She had to know she’d still be under someone’s control. She'd been so desperate to escape her father's control that she'd been eager to marry my father, not knowing it was far worse than what she was leaving.

The calculation in her strategy impresses me, even as it saddens me. She's more like me than I realized. Watching, waiting, playing the long game. Only difference is she did it to survive, while I did it to take power.

I lean back in my chair, studying her. "You really thought life with my father would be better?"

Her fingers trace patterns on the wooden table. "I heard the rumors about him. The missing wives. His… appetites."

"But you didn't believe them?"

"I thought they were exaggerated. You know how stories get twisted in our world." She meets my gaze. "Especially among themade men. A lot of times, their reputations aren’t anywhere as bad as they say. They do it so people are afraid.”

She’s not wrong, but I shake my head at her naivety. "My father isn't like yours, Bella. The stories about him? They're worse than what people say."

She sighs. "I figured if I played my part, was the perfect, obedient wife, he'd leave me alone. I'd get to explore New York, maybe take classes, see shows." She gives a bitter laugh. "Stupid, right?"

"Not stupid. Just sheltered." I reach across the table, taking her hand. "My father doesn't reward good behavior. He sees it as a weakness to exploit."

She pulls her hand away, wrapping her arms around herself. "I thought living in New York would give me freedom. That's all I wanted, to get away from Chicago, from being under constant watch."

"And you thought marrying my father was your ticket to freedom?" I can't keep the edge from my voice.

"What choice did I have?" Her eyes flash. "It was either marry your father or wait for the next arrangement. At least with his being older, I thought…" She stops, looking away.

"You thought he'd be too old to hurt you? Or he’d die soon.”

She shrugs.

"And now?"

"And now I hope you'll keep your promise." Her gray eyes hold mine, a mix of challenge and vulnerability that guts me.

"What promise?" Though I know what she means. I know the deal I made with her when I asked her to stay.

"Not to deliver me to Gino." She says my father's name like it's poison. "You said I'd be free to choose what I want once he's dead."

The raw hope in her voice makes my chest tight. Here she sits, trusting me with not just her body but her future. This levelof faith from her should unsettle me. And I suppose it does. Mostly, though, I want to be worthy of it. I want to be her hero.

"I meant what I said. You won't be going anywhere near my father. Not while I'm breathing."

She gives me a wan smile, but doubt still shadows her expression.

I lean forward, my hands clasped on the kitchen table. "Nothing's changed about my plans. My father dies. That was always the endgame, even before he tried to have me killed."

Bella's gray eyes search mine. "And after?"

"After, you'll have options. You can return to your father in Chicago if you want, though it sounds like you don’t want that. Maybe your sister and the D'Amatos will take you in…" I want to tell her to stay with me, that I could protect her and give her freedom, but the words catch in my throat. I don’t want to say these next words at all, but somehow, I manage it. "Or I could help you disappear completely. Set you up somewhere new, away from all this."

Her face falls slightly. "You'd help me escape this life?"

"Yeah." The word tastes bitter. "New identity, new location, enough money to start fresh. Whatever you need."

I can picture it too clearly, Bella living a normal life somewhere, maybe going to college, finding someone who isn't tainted by our world. The image shouldn't bother me, but I fucking hate it.

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