Page 16 of Mafia Christmas Vows

So I take the opportunity to look.

He’s beautiful. He really is. Sapphire-blue eyes in a face that’s sculpted from marble. Dark blonde hair that contains glimmers of lightness, which catch the faint glimmers of muted snowy light from the windows.

He’s tall. His shoulders are wide, and underneath his dress shirt, I can see the flex of his chest and shoulder muscles.

If I had to conjure myself a husband, I’d be happy with how this one looks, for sure.

One of his eyebrows twitches. “Or, are you happy to not have her here?”

“No. I mean. I’m not sure,” I say.

Alexei tilts his head again.

“I love my mom. She’s all I have in the world. She’s the reason I’m here,” I huff.

“She is?”

I narrow my eyes and look at him. “Why do you think I agreed to this?”

“I have no idea, Magdalena.”

The sound of my full name makes me sit up straight. “It’s Maggie.”

“I bet you let those familiar with you call you Maggie.”

“I do.”

“Then it seems appropriate for me to use Magdalena.”

“Wow. So this is it? Strangers, even though we just got married?”

He tilts his head. “You were telling me why you agreed to this.”

My heart breaks a little at the fact that he doesn’t insist that we aren’t strangers.

But I continue.

“The… mob. The ones who aren’t you. They came for us, six months ago after they found out that my… biological dad apparently did really care about us. Burned our house down. My mom, she almost died,” I whisper.

Alexei doesn’t move.

“My parents weren’t together. I was the product of a one-night stand. But evidently my bio dad, he was… helping. He sent us money. He helped get me into school. He cared about us enough that we could be used against him.”

“And so when he offered to marry you off…”

I shrug. “I agreed. Because you’re the bigger monster. Right?” I raise my eyebrow.

Alexei’s face darkens. “I am.”

“Well. I figured I could face a big monster if it meant my mom could be safe.”

“Are you safe?”

I look at him.

“I heard you speak of your mother. Your father. Your desire to make sure that she is safe. But what about you? Did you not think yourself safe?”

“Well, I kind of figured the man who spent my whole life watching over my mom and me from afar wouldn’t completely screw me over.”

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