Page 52 of The Darkest King

She looks up at me, and her eyes are filled with tears. I take a step closer, my arms dropping.

“What. Did. You. Do?”

Ice creeps into my bones as Mia bites her lip and looks pleadingly at me. My eyes hold hers, pressing for the answer.

“Well, I said I can’t marry anyone,” Mia replies. “Because...Oh god.” Her head drops into her hands. “I told my father...I said I was engaged to you.”

I draw in a sharp, audible breath, then curse.

Jesus fucking Christ.

The head of the mafia thinks I am engaged to his daughter.

Me.

The man who wants to destroy him.

“I’M SORRY,” MIA criesas I spin away and run a hand through my hair.

Jesus.

I don’t know whether to strangle her or kiss her. This could be an incredible opportunity. Or an enormous risk.

Marry the mafia princess?

Am I insane for even contemplating the idea?

Whatever I decide in the next few minutes, what I need to do is ensure Mia thinks I’m shocked—which I am—and need convincing.

I shoot her a glance, then start to pace, my hands roaming over my head and across my face. Multiple times, I turn to face Mia, who stands there with her arms wrapped around her middle.

She’s worried.

“What do you think is going to happen here?” I finally ask. I need to know what her expectations are. What she’s thinking.

If I’m to proceed with my idea.

“Not that you will marry me,” she says firmly. “Honestly, not that. I just need to buy some time until I can get my own place. I have to move out of my apartment in two weeks. Papa is taking away everything.”

Papa, like Joe Mancini is some guy who used to take her to Saturday ballet, instead of leading one of the country’s most dangerous gangs.

If he has taken away her apartment, it’s likely he will cut her off financially as well. It’s how you control trust-fund babies. I see it all the time.

“And?”

“I just need a few months to get a deposit together and furniture.” She waves her hand around, like she could afford anything in my penthouse. Most people couldn’t. “Then I’ll convince my father I don’t love you, or something. Once I have everything set up, I’ll be independent enough to tell him I’m not coming back.”

My eyes widen, and I nearly laugh.

Is she insane?

Thisis her grand plan to escape the mafia? Her family, her destiny, and the role she was born into as a mafia princess.

If I didn’t know the security in my penthouse was the best in the world, I’d suspect I was on a hidden camera show.

It’s like she’s in complete denial.

Or desperate.

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