Page 65 of Mafia Queen

Antonio heard the regret in my voice. “Stop doing that, Doe. It’s not your fault.”

I remained quiet, silently watching. Happiness was painted in bright colors on his face while he swung his son in the air. And Layla, she was a striking beauty, and I was convinced it was her love for Dante and her son which made her so beautiful—inside and out.

My heart ached thinking of what Vadik had taken from me. How he ripped my God-given right to bear a child from my body. “I can never give you that.”

“Doe—”

“I can’t give you a child, Antonio. A family.” I placed my hands on my stomach. “Vadik made sure of that.”

With a swift twist of my hip, he turned me to face him. “Don’t. All I want is you.”

I struggled to keep the tears at bay. “That’s what you say now. But is that how you’ll feel in two years, five years, ten years’ time when everyone around you has their own families?”

“Doe,” he pulled me closer, pushing his hard body against mine, “all I’ve ever wanted was to find something as pure and as powerful as what we share. There was a time when I thought it wasn’t meant for a man like me. But here you are, and I love you so much it fucking hurts.”

A tear slipped from my eye and down my cheek. “I love you too, Antonio. That’s why I want to give you everything you—”

“But you are, Doe. You are. You are everything I want. Everything I’ll ever want.”

“How can you say that when the blood of your enemy runs through my veins?”

“Stop that.” His voice was hard, demanding. “I don’t give a fuck whose blood runs through your veins. I don’t care that you’re the daughter of my enemy. Stefano is dead. The fucker is no longer able to hurt anyone. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re Doe, the woman I will love until I take my last goddamn breath.”

After that night with Vadik, I never pressed Antonio for answers about why he chose to keep the truth from me because I already knew. I knew deep down he kept it from me because he wanted to protect me. I would have done the same, made the exact same choices if the truth had the power to hurt someone I loved. So, I couldn’t blame him…and I didn’t.

Antonio wiped a tear off my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You’re my woman, Doe. And I want to live every day to the fullest with you.” He shrugged. “Besides, when the times comes, and it’s something we both want, we can adopt.”

My heart fluttered. “Adopt?”

“Yes. There are lots of kids out there who need people to take care of them.” He smiled warmly. “People like us.”

“But the child won’t be blood. And blood is important for a family like yours.”

His eyebrows almost touched his hairline. “Lorik ain’t blood. Not even close, and yet here he is.”

I had to laugh. The love-hate relationship between him and Lorik was very amusing. Not a day went by that I didn’t laugh at the two of them.

“Did I hear my name?”

Antonio closed his eyes, and I smiled when Lorik peeked into the room.

“We were kind of in the middle of a private conversation,” Antonio said with annoyance.

Lorik walked in. “Yeah, so, here’s the thing…I don’t care.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Antonio mumbled before turning to face him. “What do you want, Lorik?”

Lorik’s eyes grew wide, the smile on his face even wider as he held up his hands. “It’s my fucking wedding day, baby. Jesus, there was a time when I seriously thought this day would never come.”

Antonio snorted. “Yeah, and there was a time I seriously hoped it wouldn’t.”

“Nah.” Lorik waved it off. “You love my Albanian ass.”

“My feelings toward you have abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with your ass, Lorik.”

There was a knock on the door, and I frowned, thinking no one ever knocked around here.

“Is Lorik in there?” We heard Karina’s voice from the hall.

---