Page 51 of Unwilling Vow (Mafia Marriages 4)

I do my best to mask the doubt, the fear that follows me as a mafia don. She never has to know the truth.

I keep telling myself that, willing it to be true.

She rests a hand on her abdomen. “Hard to tell,” she says and scrunches her nose with a grin.

Behind her, several feet away, are two of Caruso’s men. They’re watching us from a distance and waiting to make a move.

She’s oblivious to their presence, and I don’t want to worry her. But we can’t just stand here and wait for them to close in on us. They’re not stupid enough to make a move inside and physically hurt Olivia or me. But they could force us outside, and that’s where danger lurks.

Caruso’s men have no idea who Olivia is to me. They think she’s another woman who I’ve bedded, but certainly, them discovering us in the baby aisle will get word back to Luka.

I pull her against me, rough and forceful. It’s an act, a show for the men watching. Our bodies are pressed tight, my hands on her lower back. I long to cradle her ass, but I refrain from enjoying this. As much as I want to, there’s too much at stake.

“Jace?”

It’s no wonder that she looks taken aback. I’ve never shown any interest in her romantically, but I have no choice but to make the men watching believe that she’smine. Indeed, they will return to their compound and report that the girl is, in fact, my girlfriend.

I have to make it convincing.

And while I don’t want to put her in danger, I’ve already done that by cruising the baby aisles. I may as well show them she’s mine. Discovering she’s a surrogate could be far worse, because the only thing standing between us is that baby.

I’m a bastard for putting Olivia’s life on the line instead of my child.

I pull her tighter, harder, and my lips crush hers. Claiming her and letting everyone see that she’s with me, under my protection.

I vow to protect the woman carrying my child, but above all else, I vow to protect my unborn child. The baby that she’s having—my heir to the Barone throne.

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