Page 16 of Mafia Priest

I open the door and Mancini leaves. Thankfully, it’s still Moretti standing guard. We exchange a look, and he nods. Closing and locking the door, I walk over to the bar.

“You can come out now, princess.”

Seven

Bianca

I don’t move.I can’t. Not now that I know the truth about Nonno—and how Salvatore really feels.She needs to be taught her place, the old ways, the importance of family and obedience…

“You don’t want to make me drag you out of there, little girl.”

I slide out from beneath the desk, smoothing my skirt as I stand and face the man I love—still, despite the horrible things he said. “Don’t call me that.”

He pours a drink, expression unreadable. “Last night you were begging me to be your daddy. Why the sudden change of heart?”

Knuckles white, I grip the desk. “You’re as bad as Nonno, and Nonno…”

Everything was a lie. My grandfather just casually admitted to murdering my father, and Salvatore… Salvatore didn’t care. He didn’t care, and he’s conspiring with Nonno against me.

Mama’s suicide note was vague, rambling, but she hinted that Nonno was to blame for her death. So as idyllic as much of my childhood seemed, I always knew the bottom could drop out at any time. And now it has. But Salvatore? I trusted him. Even after what Frankie told me last night,I trusted him.

“Are you going to let me explain, angel?” He takes a sip of his drink. “Or are you going to act like the spoiled princess that I just convinced your grandfather you are?”

“Why should I let you explain anything,Romano? When were you planning to tell me that, by the way—that you’re in the Philadelphia mob?”

Because of course I heard that name before. Heard it over dinners where my grandfather and his guests ignored me. Heard it when Nonno’s men forgot I was there. All my life I’ve been discounted as a pretty little fool. I’m sick of it.

“Never.” He sighs, defeated. “I was never going to tell you. Not if I could help it. Can you blame me? This is exactly how I knew you’d react to finding out about my past.”

I swallow a half-hysterical laugh. “You think yourpastis the problem? I’ve lived my entire life surrounded by mafiosi. Sure, some are bad, but they all aren’t. Besides, Frankie already told me you’re a made man.”

“I see.” He takes another sip of his drink. “If you have so much love for Cosa Nostra, then what’s the issue, princess?”

Despair claws at my chest. “Theissueis that you lied!”

Eyes filled with pain, he doesn’t answer. I shove aside a pang of guilt.I’mthe victim, not him. I’m the one who was orphaned because of the mafia, the one whose family betrayed her, the one he’s going to pack off to a convent even thoughI did what he asked. I could have said what Nonno wanted to hear today. Then at least I’d get to spend my last weeks of freedom at home. But no, I trusted Salvatore, and he had the nerve to call me a pampered pet?

“Answer me!” I demand, despair turning into rage at his silence.

“I may have beenselectivewith the truth.” Draining his glass, he slams it on the bar. “But I’ve never fucking lied to you.”

Crossing the room, he walks around the desk, shoving the chair aside. He comes up behind me, grasping my hips and yanking me back against him. “You’re the princess of a world you don’t understand. You have no clue—not about any of it, least of all about men like me.”

I twist around and face him. “I knowexactlywhat kind of man you are.”

His fingers dig into my hips. “Oh, really?”

My heart races. He’s so close, so inescapablymale. “You’re the kind of man who sees straight into my soul. A man who knows what I need and will give it to me—even when what I need is to be punished. A man who could become my entire world if I’m not careful.”

“Youaremy entire world.” He brushes his lips against mine. It’s barely a kiss, but it makes me ache, makes me want to beg him to take me—right here in Nonno’s office—despite the awful things he said.

Sinking into the chair, he pulls me sideways onto his lap, one arm wrapped around me, his hand still grasping my hip. “I know how bad that all sounded. But you need to trust me, need to believe me when I say I can fix this.”

I’m trapped in his embrace. Trapped between rage and love. Trapped between the girl I was and the woman I know I must become.

“What Ineed, Father, is honesty. I’ve spent my entire life protected, manipulated, treated like a toy. But I’m not a gorgeous doll to be kept safely on a shelf and taken down when it amuses you.”

“No, you aren’t a doll, Bianca. You’re fucking everything. Can’t you see that? You’re too precious to risk. I’d lose my goddamn mind if anything happened to you. You don’t understand the stakes. Don’t grasp what your grandfather is capable of.”

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