Page 15 of Secret Mafia Daddy

Chelsea loves an adventure, and she’s go-go all the time, so I don’t think she’ll mind too much. She’ll probably take it with grace. She’s young enough not to remember not having a father, and I wonder if Angelo will stick around after all this is over.

He holds her tightly with one hand as we get on the elevator, standing with her still sleeping on his shoulder. He looks over at her little face and kisses her tenderly on the forehead.

She wraps her arms around him and his face looks suddenly so tender that it makes my heart ache.

Maybe I’m wrong about him. Maybe he will be a good father, even if he might never be a good husband. Regardless, his lifestyle is not good for her, so I have to take her away from all of this.

Even if Angelo starts to love her, he’s dangerous. Hell, he killed a man tonight. I can’t have my daughter around that. But my stepfather’s house isn’t much better. I just want her to be safe and happy, and I don’t want to see any more death.

Is that so much to ask for?

The elevator dings and the tension is broken between me and Angelo as the doors open and he strides out, pulling out his key card and opening the penthouse.

It’s huge, with two bedrooms and a couch that looks like a pull-out, so at least we’ll have plenty of room.

I put the overnight bag I made for myself and Chelsea down on the couch.

Angelo takes Chelsea to the unmade bed, presumably the one he’s been using, and tucks her in gently, trying not to wake her.

I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, and then Angelo roughly takes my elbow, dragging me out onto the balcony.

“You will never take her from me,” he growls, as if he’s known what I’d been thinking.

“I—” I start, and he cuts me off.

“You hid her from me, and I hate you for it, but one thing that’s never going to happen is you taking her away,” he says. “We’re getting married, and we’re going to stay married until such a time as I can trust you not to say anything. We’re going to raise her together and be a family, but married in name only.”

“Fine with me,” I mumble. “Her name is Chelsea, by the way. Chelsea Anne—”

“Bianchi,” he says firmly. “Her name will be Chelsea Anne Bianchi as soon as we get back to Chicago.”

“All right,” I say quietly, ready to agree to anything to be safe and to get the hell out of the city and away from my stepfather. As much as I love him, he’s just as wild as Angelo. “But my stepfather—”

“I’ll deal with him,” Angelo says dismissively, looking out over the city instead of me. “We’ll go there tomorrow for dinner. You’ll call, make up something about how we’ve been together for a while in secret.”

I swallow. “I don’t know if he’ll buy it.”

“He will. You’ll make him buy it.” He glances at me. “You’ll do what I say.”

“I told you that you don’t own me—” I start, but he cuts me off again.

“Don’t I, kitten?” he asks, advancing on me until I back up against the balcony railing. “Your life is in my hands, so I think maybe I do.”

“I won’t live like that,” I argue. “You can kill me now.”

Angelo sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “Bold of you to assume that I’d want to own you,” he says, and my heart drops in spite of how angry I am at him. “You’re the mother of my child and my wife in name only, and that’s it. But you’ll listen to me when it matters. It will be to keep you and my daughter safe.”

“Our daughter,” I say, panic rising in my throat from how he’s talking. “She’s our daughter, Angelo.”

He goes silent and walks back into the penthouse.

I stay outside on the balcony for a while, taking in deep breaths of fresh air and thinking. What am I doing? I don’t have a choice, but at the same time, some part of me wants to run away from all of it, just start over somewhere new. But I know that either Angelo or my stepfather or both would find me and drag me back.

I just have to remember that this is the only way to get out and protect myself and my daughter. Soon enough, Angelo Bianchi will be back to just being a bad memory.

7

ANGELO

---