Page 18 of The Mafia King's Stolen Fiancée

“Very few things in this world surprise me anymore, and even less that I consider more important than my family and duty. But I knew from the moment I met Vivienne that she was worth more than anything or anyone that I have or will ever know. I will worship the ground she walks on, treat her like a queen, and I would fucking die to protect her.”

“Chet probably feels that way about her, too,” he argued weakly.

“Now, Franklin, we both know that’s not true. But even if it was, there is one more vital difference between me and that asshole when it comes to Vivienne.”

“Which is?” he spat.

“I would never be stupid enough to let her go.”

His silence was priceless. He had no rebuttal for that and was well aware that I knew it.

Perhaps it was Vivienne’s influence on me, but for someone who was usually very pragmatic and skeptical, I found myself hoping once more that Franklin would surprise me and show even a sliver of care for his child. But my pragmatism was justified when he once again demanded that I let them come get Vivienne or have someone bring her home.

“Evidently, you have misunderstood our entire conversation, Franklin. Vivienne is home.”

“I’m warning you, DeLuca. I know people. I can make your life hell. Shed a spotlight on your dirty activities that will get you?—”

“Franklin,” I deadpanned, cutting him off. “I suggest you stop wagging that tongue of yours before you lose it.”

He gasped. “Vivienne will never forgive you if you kill me.”

“First, I believe I insinuated something about you being hurt, not killed. Second, what my angel doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Truthfully, her parents were safe from my physical wrath because I didn’t want to hurt Vivienne. But Franklin didn’t need to know that.

“Now, I’m tired of running in circles with this conversation, so I’ll spell it out for you one last time. Vivienne is mine. I will not ever let her go. If she wants a relationship with you, that’s her decision, but your efforts to separate us won’t end well for you. Trust me, Franklin, you don’t want to get on my bad side.”

“She will never love you, DeLuca,” Franklin taunted in a pathetic last-ditch effort to feel superior over me. “Everyone knows you lack emotion. You're a ruthless killer who feeds on the power trip it gives you to take a life. You're a robot, and Vivienne is desperate to be loved. One day, she’ll realize you aren’t capable of feeling anything for her, and she’ll come running back to us.”

I allowed a rare smile to appear since he couldn’t see it. He wasn’t wrong in one respect. I was ruthless, and a killer, and I often lacked emotion. That reputation gave me power, discouraging anyone who contemplated making a move against the family. And the fact that he didn’t know I had a whole other side filled me with satisfaction.

The parts of me where love, desire, hurt, and pain resided were reserved for family—and I didn’t mean the Family. What I felt for Vivienne, though, was more than I’d ever experienced.It shed light on my darkest corners and made me feel alive. I wasn’t about to share that with anyone but her.

“You might be right,” I lied. “But it’s a chance I’m willing to take. If someday you and your wife decide that Vivienne is worth fighting for, all contact is to go through me. Donottry to circumvent this rule, Franklin, or you’ll see just how merciless I am up close and personal.Capire?”

After a few beats, he gritted out, “Yes.”

“Bene. Arrivederci.”

I ended the call, then glanced up at the door to my office when I heard slow clapping.

“Impressive,” Domenico murmured with a smirk. “Hopefully, you still have an ace up your sleeve, though.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I have a feeling you’re going to need it to convince your woman to stay when she finds out who you really are.”

Before I could formulate a response—one that didn’t give him the smug satisfaction of knowing he was probably right—Dario and Leo entered my office.

“We have a situation,” Leo grunted. “Someone spooked Umberto, and he took off.”

“Cazzo,” I snarled. “His family?”

Dario’s expression was dark as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Currently being rounded up and brought to the warehouse for questioning.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything else as I raised my eyes to the ceiling. My mind was on the angel waiting for me. Handling this shit was my job, but I hadn’t been fucking with Vivienne’s father when I told him she would come first from now on. If I wanted to convince her to stay and make her fall in love with me, I needed to spend time with her now. Not leave her alone with her thoughts so she could question everything.

My gaze shifted to Dario. He would never be strong enough to be aCapo di Provincia—someone who was in charge of a branch of the Family. But he was a steady and reliable lieutenant. Nic had urged me to give him more responsibility, but I could be a bit of a control freak and had never been very good at delegating.

Nic had told me many times that I needed to figure that shit out because I’d have no choice when I had a family of my own. I’d blown his advice off, convinced I’d remain a bachelor and pass my role on to a nephew like my great-uncle Giuseppe had done. Not everyone was destined to find the love of their lives and do the whole picket fence thing. Figuratively speaking since he and his wife, Anna, and their kids lived in a Manhattan brownstone.

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