Page 5 of Mafia Queen

“You prayed for me?” He placed his hand on his chest, looking all touched and shit. “Antonio, brother…I didn’t realize I meant that much to you.”

I let out a breath. “What do you want, Lorik?”

“Karina sent me to get you. Dinner is ready.”

“Tell her we’ll be up in a bit.”

“Oh, no. No, no, no, no. If I don’t take you two back with me, that feisty Italian fireball will be all up my ass.” He gestured toward me and Doe. “You are coming with me.”

Placing my hands on my hips, I opened my mouth to tell Lorik off, but then Doe softly wrapped her fingers around my arm, and I turned my gaze down to her next to me.

“It’s okay, Antonio. I am kind of…hungry.”

Hungry? Well, that was it, then. Hearing my woman was hungry settled the matter immediately. Even though her eating habits had improved, she still needed to gain a few more pounds toward a healthy weight.

I wrapped my arm around her tiny waist. “If my woman is hungry, then she needs to be fed.”

Her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink, and I loved it. I loved how innocent her shyness was. There was no sign of an overconfident woman hiding behind the façade of being shy simply because men found it attractive. Her being shy was pure, beautiful…real.

“Come on.” I guided her with my arm around her waist, the cotton fabric of her dress pressed against my palm.

Lorik smirked as we passed him, leaning in closer to me. “One word, brother. Pussy-whipped.”

“Two words, Lorik. Two words.”

“Oh, no. When it comes to you and her, it’s one big-ass fucking word.”

All I could do was shake my head with a grin tugging at the ends of my mouth. Even though his Albanian ass had the natural talent to annoy and piss me off, deep down I was so fucking grateful that bullet didn’t end up sending him to the grave. For some reason, his amusing arrogance and misplaced humor were growing on me.

We made our way up the stairs and onto the patio, finding Karina and Lucio placing dishes and plates on the table. Karina glanced up at us and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind having dinner outside. Since autumn has already started, I reckon we need to take advantage of beautiful evenings like these.”

“I don’t mind at all.” I pulled out a chair for Doe, and her gaze shot up to mine. Even though we came to a mutual understanding that night in the bathroom when I allowed her to take control, she still struggled with the idea of freedom. Given that she had been a slave half her life, it was understandable. And I’d be a lying son of a bitch if I said there wasn’t a part of me that liked the way she sought my permission with every glance my way. How she would constantly look for me whenever we were between other people, searching for my guidance and my approval with everything she did.

But it was different. At least, that was what I tried to tell myself. That she wasn’t doing it out of fear, but rather because she wanted to please me—yearned to please me with everything she did. Even though, at first, I was drawn to the fear in her eyes whenever she looked at me, I no longer liked to think that she was afraid of me, of what I might do to her. Just more proof of how the dynamic between us had changed. How that one night when I lost it and almost broke her completely ended up saving us both.

I gave her a warm smile and a slight nod before she finally sat down and allowed me to be a gentleman by letting me push back her chair. With my hands on her shoulders, I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the nape of her neck, savoring the sweet scent of vanilla. I didn’t care that all eyes were on us, that the rest of my family witnessed how I felt about Doe. It was weird for everyone at first, seeing how affectionate I was toward her and not caring who was around to watch. The truth was, I didn’t give a shit who thought what when it came to Doe and me. Doe was my woman now, and since the night I made the decision to stop fighting my feelings for her, I no longer cared about anything as much as I cared about her. So Lorik could crack all the jokes he wanted. Lucio could cock his brow in question a thousand times while I flaunted the unorthodox relationship between me and Doe. I didn’t give a flying fuck.

“So,” Karina sat down at the table and started to pass the dishes around, “I spoke to Layla today. She says Dante is miserable.” She shot me a sideways glance. “He wants to be here, at home…with us.”

I took a sip from my bourbon. “That’s unfortunate. One would think since he’s with his family, he would be happy.”

“Wearehis family.”

“So are Layla and Rafe, and they are more important. I won’t let him risk everything by being here while this whole thing with Va—” Immediately, I stopped myself before I completed that sentence, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Doe pause just as she took the bowl of salad from Karina. The faint blush on her cheeks paled instantly, and the way she placed the salad back down, I knew she’d lost her appetite. Goddammit.

I reached out over the table and took her hand in mine, squeezing it lightly.

Karina took it upon herself to place a few spoonsful of salad in Doe’s plate. “I know our current situation isn’t ideal, but maybe you should consider having Dante around as extra muscle and brain power.”

“No.” I let go of Doe’s hand.

Karina glowered at me. “Antonio, they both want to come back home. The only thing keeping them from doing so is you. Why?”

“It’s too dangerous for Layla and Rafe to be here, and a father’s place is with his family. And even though we are all Dante’s family, we are in a situation where a choice needs to be made, and I won’t let Dante carry the burden of making that decision. So,” I cut the knife through the steak on my plate, “I made the decision for him. Easy as that.”

I started to eat, conveying the message that this discussion was over. Dante was where he needed to be—with his woman and his child. It was killing him to not be here with us; I knew that. But I couldn’t let him choose between us and his new family. It wasn’t right. Being with Layla and Rafe was.

Silence ensued around the table—uncomfortable silence. I looked up only to notice why everyone was so eerily quiet.

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