Page 10 of Fight Me Little Pearl

My woman.

A thrill, hot and juicy, runs through me.

“The day I find you with another man, I swear to God, I will rip your family apart with my bare hands. But before it gets to that, you are welcome to leave right now, and I will not stop you.”

He steps back and gestures to the door. A humiliating flush rushes up my throat and stains my cheeks. Despite all my bravado and pride, I am at his mercy. The Barbieri family needs him more than he needs us. Terra de Barbiera may be the object of every Mafia family’s desire, but it’s worth nothing compared to the protection the name Barone offers.

“Are you walking away?” Valentino asks politely.

I swallow and shake my head.

“Words,bellezza. Words.”

I clear my throat, feeling the heat of shame spread all over my face. I hate that he can see my embarrassment even though there’s no gloating in his eyes.

“Not yet,” I reply. “Eventually.”

He gives me a stone-cold look, then he goes around to my side of the bed, switches off the lamp, gets into bed, closes his eyes and behaves as if I no longer exist.

I leave the room, unable to stand the sight of his arrogant face any longer.

One day down, God knows how many more to go. I’m not sure I can survive many more of this. His men must have left as the suite is empty. There is a breakfast cart parked by the dining table. As I sink onto the big comfy sofa, tears sting my eyes. When I was younger, I would imagine how my life could have been if I wasn’t born into a Mafia family.

If I were born into a normal family.

I probably would be a normal twenty-year-old with a normal boyfriend, someone like Thomas. Not married to a freaking mafia boss who kills humans the way other people kill cockroaches. Growing up and seeing the way my father treated my mother and me, I always wished for more, and I promised myself I would find a loving man who would dote on me, love me, and put me first.

How did I end up with someone even worse than my father?

After my father’s death, I was surprised when Nonno told me my father left the Terra de Barbiera to me. My father never gave me anything. In fact, he hated both me and Mama; me because I was a female child, and Mama because she had a condition that meant she couldn’t have any more children after me. He wanted a male heir, but surprisingly, with all the whores he kept, he continued to have female children who he would abandon in disgust as soon as they were born. I could have hundreds of half-sisters dotted all around the world for all I knew.

I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t abandon me at birth like all the others.

Terra de Barbiera was the only thing my family had that was of any value, and immediately after my father’s death, the powerful Mafia families began to hunt us for it.

Terra de Barbiera was a pocket of land located in the heart of a multi-billion-dollar development. Although it was mine, it was up to Nonno to decide how best the land could be used to enrich and protect our family. By now the deeds to the land must already have been transferred to Valentino and Terra de Barbiera is now his to do as he pleases.

I’d witnessed many men come to ask for my hand in marriage in exchange for Terra de Barbiera, and my heart soared every time Nonno rejected them. Until one day, Silent Night himself found his way to Nonno’s office.

It was the first time I’d laid eyes on Silent Night, and after all the gory tales I’d heard about him, I expected him to look like the devil, but it was the opposite. There’s a saying: The most beautiful things are often the most dangerous, and Valentino personifies that saying. He was so magnificent my heart couldn’t help but flutter. Even so, I knew that beauty should take a back seat to character. How right that perception was. The more I get to know him the uglier he becomes, starting from when he’d decided to marry a woman against her will, and to now with himgoing to a whore on our honeymoon… on our very first night together.

Okay, I’ll admit, I did reject him, but just for the sake of propriety couldn’t he, at least, have controlled his animal urges for one freaking night?

I made a pact with myself to never get involved with a man like my father, and here I am. Lusting for an unworthy man. But worse I now know that my body will betray me and I must find the will to stand my ground against my husband before I lose every single iota of good left inside me.

I must keep my body pure and remain faithful to my love for Thomas.

Chapter Five

VALENTINO

“Here’s your guy,” Vance says, slapping the file on the desk in front of me. “Thomas Dwight. A twenty-seven-year-old bleeding heart, social justice warrior.”

I steeple my fingers in front of me, staring at the small-eared, pasty-faced ridiculous man in the photo before me. Unbelievable! A creature like him has Francesca Barbieri’s heart. Just unbelievable. The longer I look at him, the more my blood boils.

“He attended the same public college that Signora Barone did,” Vance briefs me. “They met on their way to English literature class. He graduated top of his class four years ago, and even though Signora Barone dropped out, they continued to see each other.”

They continued to see each other.

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