Page 29 of Nico (Belles & Mobsters 2)

My brain shouted through speakers to retreat, but my mouth failed to listen.

“We are not married.”

“Yet,” he said. “But very soon.”

“It’s just a temporary contract,” I reminded him. This man was dangerous, bad news. How did it come to a marriage contract?

He grinned like a Cheshire cat, and it made me feel like he knew something important that I did not. When he didn’t elaborate, I couldn’t resist prodding at it.

“Why the marriage?” I breathed in a whisper, trying to understand.

I couldn’t comprehend why he was so adamant about getting married. It didn’t make sense why, of all the women in this world, he would want to marry me. I sensed there was something he was keeping from me. Something more than it being about the money William stole. If only I could find out what, it might give me leverage.

“One thing you can be sure of, Bianca,” I noticed he ignored my question, “I will protect you and your girls; and I will never cheat on you with another woman.”

The dumb part of me almost melted, finding his comment oddly sweet. But the smarter part of me scolded the dumb part. He was forcing me to marry him. This would be a temporary arrangement, and if I played my cards right, I’d end it even before the two years were up.

“And who will protect us from you?” I asked in a low voice.

ChapterEleven

NICO

“You won’t need protection from me,” I told her honestly. “You and our children will always be my priority.” The look she gave me told me she didn’t believe me. Not that I blamed her.

Yes, I was using her to get what I wanted, but I meant it when I said she would have my protection. With each second that went by, she got under my skin more.

The pained expression when I asked the question about her husband’s fidelity told me that the wound caused by her husband hadn’t healed. Not that I could blame her. If I had known her husband was a cheater when I saw her that stormy night, I would have finished him right there and then and taken her for my own.

Although I found it odd that her husband’s infidelity didn’t come up in the detailed report I requested on him and Bianca. I’d have to check into that.

My eyes traveled over her petite frame, admiring her natural beauty. She barely wore any make up and unlike other women that clung to me, there weren’t traces of deceit or greed on her face.

Bianca Carter, soon to be Morrelli, pleased me immensely. Bear had given me an update of her activities all day. Apparently, my future wife baked when stressed out. That explained the abundance of cookies all over her house. A perfect housewife!

Unlike her house, my own home was empty and the knowledge that she and her daughters would fill it soon settled me in a strange way. I didn’t want to see anything happen to this beauty. Sixteen months ago, when I spotted her, at her doorway, seeing her husband’s friend off into the stormy night, she took my breath away. Literally. I couldn’t believe she was so close to me again.

I often wondered if she recalled the night we first saw each other. It was a fleeting moment so many years ago, but it almost felt like it was destiny offering her to me. I tried to do the right thing and not touch her, but now it haunted me.

Once I learned Bianca was Benito’s daughter, I regretted not pulling Bianca into my world after that night all those years ago. Ever since I learned about facts on Belles and Mobsters arrangement, I had to wonder whether there was a debt Bianca’s family was repaying. After all, her family roots in Italy were not exactly far outside this crime world. So far I came up short, but my hunch was telling me there was something there.

I recalled the stormy night from two years ago when her husband and his friend stole the money. As I watched her from my yacht, the light from the inside threw a soft glow over Bianca’s petite frame. Even from the shadows, she stunned me with her beauty. She stood in the shadows of the turbulent night, illuminated by the soft lights. A metaphor and a sign, if you fucking asked me. Maybe it was a sign to guide me to her light and my revenge. She felt like my destiny, a woman I should have danced with all those years ago when I first saw her in my club and had her as mine ever since.

Bianca’s husband and his friend were idiots, to think they could take a bag full of money and it wouldn’t be noticed. It was a test of their loyalty, and a trap I carefully laid in my attempt to get closer to Benito King’s daughter. It didn’t surprise me that William failed. The plan was to watch them take the money, approach the married couple and force them to play into my game of revenge against Benito. I was going to use them.

Leonardo attached a tracking chip to the bag, which allowed us to follow its location and listen to their conversation as they kept trying to justify their decision. Both of those morons should have listened to Bianca, but they thought they knew better. Ready to make William pay for stealing from me and use Bianca to pay for his mistake, it was Bianca’s conversation with her husband that stopped me in my tracks.

He was already a dead man. The background check on William didn’t have his medical history. It was a surprise to hear about his sickness that night. So, I let it go. One of the few decent things I have done in my life. Leonardo was the only man that knew about it. And despite that, even through the pitch-dark night, something pulled me to Bianca as she cried in her husband’s arms. I knew I couldn’t have her. So I wrote off six hundred thousand dollars and postponed the revenge plan. After all, I was a patient man. I walked away, leaving the Carter family to their own life. For the time being.

Then Bianca bumped into me at the restaurant. It was by design that I was there, but what were the odds that the woman I watched from the shadows would land right into my arms? Literally.

Seeing her had been like the best punch in the gut. She was stunning, those glittering dark eyes and lush lips tempted me. I knew I had to have her.

Bianca was meant to be mine.

ChapterTwelve

BIANCA

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