Conquered by the Mafia Boss

Hope flutters in my chest. “You think so?”

BAM!

We scream as the door flies open and Johnny’s tall silhouette appears between the walls. He walks in, slamming the door shut, and stops at the sight of me.

My heart slams against my chest.

“What the hell is she doing here?”

Maya stands up, her eyes widening with surprise at the growl in his voice. She sets Matteo down at my feet.

“Don’t talk to me like that. She’s my cousin and I’ll bring her over if I want.”

Johnny turns toward his wife, his features thick with rage. “You brought her? Why the fuck-”

“She’s my cousin,” Maya says, louder than ever.

“I know,” he begins with waning patience, “but she’s also a fucking biker who was coerced into a marriage with one of my men.”

“I trust her.”

He smirks, folding his arms. “Well, I don’t.”

“I’m your wife and my trust should be good enough for you. I’ve known her my whole life, not you! I decide who I want to see, not you!”

Matteo’s cry suddenly breaks the sound of his parents fighting. I pick him up as tears bead in his eyes and I rub his back until the cries subside. Johnny’s taut face loosens somewhat.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea what’s going on right now. We’re at war. I don’t give a fuck if she’s Pope Francis, I don’t trust her.”

He grabs his wife’s shoulders and gives her a kiss on her furious face. Then he stops in front of me. Matteo outstretches his tiny arms. “Papa!”

Even though I fucking hate him, I have to admit that he loves his son. Johnny gently takes him from my arms and holds his son to his chest, kissing the baby’s head over and over as if to reassure himself.

Dark, restless eyes settle on me. “I’m just trying to protect my family.”

Annoyance bristles in my chest.

“She’s married to one of your soldiers.”

“I don’t care, sweetheart. Right now, I trust no one.” Then he turns back to me. “I’ll call your husband to come get you.”

Johnny stalks off with the baby in his arms and Maya fumes after him. I sink into an armchair, depressed.

“He won’t stop me from visiting you. I don’t give a shit what he says.”

“Maybe when my kid is born, he’ll change his mind.”

We spend the rest of the time chatting, and then Johnny reenters the room with the baby snug in his arms when there’s a knock at the door. Maya answers.

Jack stumbles into the house, and the first thing I notice is that there’s a bandage on his neck and a large tear in his suit.

“What happened to you?”

He gives a quick glance at John, suddenly looking terrified. “Let’s go. We’re going home.”

Maya gives me a sad smile as Jack grabs my hand and pulls me out of the living room, but Johnny does nothing but give me a cool, appraising nod.

He slams the door shut, cutting off Maya’s good-bye when we leave the house, and I wring my hand out of his. “What the fuck is your problem?”

A vicious look snarls over Jack’s face. “You have no idea what just happened. Get in the car, Beatrice. I’m not messing around.”

Fine.

I slide into the passenger seat and Jack immediately starts the engine, peeling out of Johnny’s driveway and down the street. The sheer desperation in Jack’s eyes stops me from making a nasty remark.

“What happened?”

“I can’t think- I can’t. Everything’s just fucking out of control.”

I’ve never seen him like this. Jesus, he looks scared. Fear’s not an emotion I like to see on my husband’s face.

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I don’t say a word until we get home, and the moment we step through the door Jack pulls me into his bone-cracking embrace. I flatten against his chest, hearing his heartbeat pound against my ear like a heavy drum. The floodgates open as a rush of emotion fills me. “Jack, I’m sorry for what I did-”

“Don’t, it doesn’t matter anymore.” He pulls back and holds my face, his thumbs caressing my skin. Devastation slams into him-he looks like he’s experienced a hundred years of misery.

“Beatrice, I love you.”

The air disappears.

“You make me happy, and now we have this blessing inside you. I thought that we had a chance, but we don’t.”

My eyes sting with tears. “What? Are you-” Are you breaking up with me?

“You have to go.”

My feelings, soaring high, crash back down. “Go?”

“It’s not safe for you here. We’re at war with the Devils again. I almost got killed today, and John wants you gone from my life.”

“I’ll stay,” I choke out in tears. “I don’t care how dangerous it is.”

“I care,” he says, tenderness creeping inside his voice.

He loves me.

“Beatrice, you’re all I have now. Everyone else is gone.”