Conquered by the Mafia Boss

Light illuminates the shrubs and the dirt paths leading into the garden. I take one at random, my breath frosting out in front of me in white clouds. Then I see her blindingly white dress, glowing in blue light as she sits on a park bench, her hands swallowing her face.

Something goes through me when I see her upset like that. It’s painful, like a splinter digging into my heart. I take off my jacket and approach her, wrapping her shoulders. She jumps when I touch her, and my heart clenches as her tearstained face turns toward me.

Some fucking wedding.

“He’s gone, Elena.”

Brown hair shifts in front of her as she bows her head. “However long that’ll last.”

The dark tone in her voice bothers me and the look she gives me feels even worse.

Fire blazes in my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Red-rimmed eyes stare back at me as she presses her lips together, refusing to respond. Then she finally croaks out, “I don’t have any choices anymore. You control everything. The moment you want a divorce, I’m fucked. I’m finished.”

I grasp her chin, watching the tears slowly pooling in her eyes.

“He’ll always be there, waiting. Won’t he? I’ll never be free of him.”

“He won’t, Elena.”

“Oh, come on, Tony!” She pulls away from my grasp. “Let’s just stop deceiving ourselves. You’re not the type of guy who’ll be happy with this forever. You’ll get bored of me. You’ll want someone else.”

The sounds coming from her make my chest feel as if it’s caving in. My arms wrap around her because I can’t fucking stand it. Is she right?

“I won’t let him hurt you. If things don’t work out between us, I’ll take care of him.”

Her eyes widen. “You’d be killed.”

“The way I see it, I’m dying either way.”

One of these days, I’ll get shot. That’ll be it.

“I’d rather die protecting you than from a botched drug deal.”

Her voice softens. “Tony.”

“Stop it. I don’t want to hear any more of this shit from you. Understand? You’re my fucking wife. Act like it.”

“But-”

I pull her head closer. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

She looks away from me and bites her lip. “I-I have to tell you something-”

I recognize that look and sigh. “Whatever it is, it can wait. I want to salvage what’s left of this wedding.”

Nodding, she gives me a weak smile and a pat on the hand, and I feel another surge of anger. This should be a happy day for her-fuck, for both of us.

No one should cry on their wedding day.

These places always give me hives.

I walk through the woods with Johnny and his underboss, Pierre-Luc. Twigs snap under their feet as they walk behind me. I ball my hands in the sleeves of my leather jacket. How many times have I driven out to a deserted place in the woods to get rid of some poor prick’s body? It’s perfectly devoid of people. Too cold for hikers, but the ground is no good for digging a hole. Frozen.

The New York boss is meeting us here and so is that fuckface, Rafael.

We’ll solve this shit once and for all.

My mind focuses on the girl-my wife-waiting for me at home, who has no idea that this meeting is even happening. The wedding band feels tight around my finger-I’m still not used to it, but it’s not suffocating.

She’s mine. I wanted her the moment I laid eyes on her. Had to have her. I had to fuck the Mafia princess, just had to stick my dick in her. Then it was an addiction. I had to have her again and again. There was never a girl who made me want to break my no repeats rule. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but somewhere in between all the fucking, I felt for her. There’s no way I’ll allow that piece of shit to hurt her any more than he already has.

It all depends on this meeting.

The New York boss waits for us under the shade of a tree. He’s a tall, skinny guy with wavy black hair and a short black beard. Beside him, shit-for-brains stands. His face looks like someone took a meat tenderizer to him and I can’t resist giving him a small smirk.

“Hey, John.”

“Vincent.” He gives the New York boss a short nod and turns his smooth face toward Rafael. “I’m glad your injuries are healing.”

Rafael curls his lip and looks as if he’s on the verge of a nasty retort.

“Can we get this over with so I can get the fuck out of here?” Vince looks anxious as he addresses me. “Both of you have legitimate beefs against each other.”

My throat burns. “What the fuck did I do except defend my pregnant wife against this psycho?”

Rafael makes an ugly, almost grotesque, grimace. “Your pregnant wife is carrying my kid.”

“I have to side with Tony, Vince. They married as soon as they found out about the pregnancy and as soon as that happened, that asshole showed up at their reception and started screaming threats.”

Vince runs his hand over his harried face and gives Rafael a very unpleasant look. “I told you to leave her the fuck alone.”

“She’s pregnant-”

“I don’t give a fuck! I gave you a fucking order, and you hit her again, didn’t you?” His hot eyes bore into Rafael’s face and then he laughs and looks away. “You fucking deserve this beating.”

Wow, I didn’t expect the New York boss to turn on his own guy. Things are looking up. My hand strays toward the gun I’ve hidden in my jacket.

“Vince, I know I fucked up, but this is actually real. I’m going to be a father. I saw her pregnancy tests.”

Wait, what?

I face the prick. “The fuck are you talking about?”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“I went to her house. I-I thought that it was a scam, but I made her take some tests, and they were positive.” He turns toward Vince and speaks in a trembling voice. “All I want is to be there for my kid. I just want to be a part of his life. I should at least be allowed to go to doctor appointments with her.”

Vince crosses his arms, looking unmoved. “No.”