Page 96 of Mafia King's Forbidden Vows

This fight is far from over. I have to find Karl Abruzzi or Aria will have my head on a stake, especially now that she blames me for her brother’s death.

Pulling myself together, I get in my car and dial Cortez.

Chapter thirty

Aria

The latte in front of me seems like a total waste. Mia has prepared it, making a beautiful heart shape over it with milk, and yet all I want to do with it is to smash it against Elio’s face.

Mia sips her latte, her concerned eyes fixed on me in silence. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asks, her voice gentle but firm.

The nod seizes my head without thinking while my hands clutch my cup of coffee as if it holds the courage I desperately need. “I have to be. Dad deserves to know what happened to Mario, plus he’s the only one who can put these monsters in their place.”

Mia reaches across the table to caress my hands. “It’s 3 p.m. already. We’d better get moving so we can get to your dad’s on time.”

A sudden wave of nausea hits me as I stand up.

“Are you alright?” Mia’s quick hands grab me while I try to regain my balance. “You need to eat something, Aria. You’ve barely eaten since yesterday. You’re pregnant, for God’s sake!”

My eyes shoot up at her in a mean glare. “I’ve told you not to say that around here. Let’s get moving.”

The expression on her face tells me she’s worried about me, but I don’t care. Right now, the only thing I care about is getting justice for my brother.

I want to look Elio and his allies in the eye when they’re being prosecuted for being murderous bastards. I want to see the look of pride on my father’s face when he hears that I’m in this sham marriage just to help him catch the biggest mafia don in New York.

“Aria?” Mia’s voice cuts through my inner turmoil.

“Mm?”

“Your keys, I’ll drive.”

I’m not sure why I decided to drive my car, today of all days. I give the keys to Mia and she pulls the car door open, helping me in, then heads over to the driver’s seat. “Your father cannot see you looking half demented…”

“Well, that’s how I feel.” Mia turns to me, her eyes wide with worry. “I feel like I’m losing my mind. My husband might’ve killed my brother, and I’m carrying his baby. I’m starting to despise myself so much just thinking that I have been warming the bed of this man.”

One tear slips down my cheek, then another, until a deep sob racks through my entire being.

“You have to get it together, Aria. Somehow, you got what you wanted. You're onto the person responsible for killing your brother, and now you’re going to give your father what he’s always wanted…the biggest mafia don in New York.”

She’s right, but somewhere in between I fell in love with said biggest mafia don in New York. I fell in love with him, married him, and now I’m expecting a child with him.

I wonder if he approached me on purpose that first day, already knowing who I was, and perhaps tried to use me to cover up his tracks.

The bastard.

The drive to my father’s house feels longer than usual, increasing the knot in my stomach. Mia doesn’t fail with the constant reassurance of her fingers brushing lightly against mine.

My father is on the phone, dishing orders to his men when we arrive at his house. He waves us to the kitchen, only taking his phone off his ear to tell us that he’s just made some noodles.

“...Just get me whatever you have on those families in a written report this time. I’ve lost my entire progress on Ezra and everything on my system, in fact. And the stupid mistake I made by not backing up my system…” Dad slaps a hand to his forehead.

My plan, or rather Elio’s plan, worked.

Since everything on the system has been wiped off, it will take quite some time before the information on his system can be restored−if it can be restored at all.

That would give Elio the time he needs to get his shit together, but that doesn’t matter anymore.

When he’s finally off the phone, he beams at us with a genuine smile of excitement. “It’s so good to see you here, Aria. Mia, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

---