“Carlo killed Salman.”
For a moment, I shut my eyes in frustration, gripping the phone tightly in my hand. Crushing the cigarette into the ashtray, I ask, “Did he mention my name before he died?”
“No, boss. They didn’t get the chance to arrest or torture him. He was killed in the fight. But he managed to leave a scar on Carlo’s face with his blade.”
That doesn’t matter to me. Nothing short of Carlo’s death could truly satisfy me. Still, there’s some solace in knowing Carlo’s hands will be tied for a while. Giuseppe has been scheming behind Carlo’s back, trying to stir up a rebellion to place Brando on the throne instead. He’s working on convincing the underbosses that the rightful capo should be Don Fernando’s legitimate son.
Carlo knows this and is scrambling to secure his crown. This latest incident will only keep him preoccupied longer, hunting down the traitors. But the outcome is inevitable. It doesn’t matter how it happens or how much blood is spilled, Carlo will ascend to power. And before that day comes, I need to get that stubborn girl out of there.
For weeks I’ve been fucking her every Tuesday night until dawn. Filling her with my seed over and over again. If she’s not barren, one of my shots will take, turning one of her eggs into a child.
Every time, she resists at first, but breaking through her defenses is second nature to me now. All I have to do is trap her in my arms, claim her lips with hunger, and toy with her sweet, tight pussy until she melts in my hands and surrenders beneath me.
She fucks me as if I’m truly her king, kisses me like I’m her lover, and glares at me when I make her leak with my cum like I’m her sworn enemy. And God help me, I love all of it. I love breaking her, kissing her, and filling her until she’s overflowing with me.
Let her fight it as much as she wants; it makes no difference to me. In the end, I’ll make her mine, mark her forever. I can already picture Carlo’s face—the humiliation, the rage—when he realizes, in front of all his underbosses and soldiers, that his wife has been in my bed. That I’m the one who put a baby in her belly. That his Sun Princess was mine all along.
ELEVEN
Lucia
I sit on the edge of the bed, fists clenched in the sheets, my whole body shaking with anger. I don’t think I’ve ever felt rage like this before, the kind born from humiliation. The body is supposed to be sacred. Nothing violates a person more deeply than someone forcing their way inside without consent.
My eyes dart to the pregnancy test sitting on the table again, and my grip on the sheets tightens even more. Being with Tony wasn’t always against my will… but this baby growing inside me feels like the worst violation of all. I’m not ready to be a mother. And I can’t run from Carlo, not with everything it would cost.
It’s not just fear for Fabiano anymore. It’s the shame this would bring on Carlo, a man who’s never hurt me. What I’ve done could shatter everything he’s built.
I’m furious at everything and most of all, at my own helplessness. If I were a free woman, I’d go to the hospital tomorrow and end this pregnancy. But I’m not free. Even this pregnancy test sitting on the table is from Tony, because I’m a prisoner. A captive whose every purchase, every daily task, even every word is monitored.
Finally, the clock strikes nine, and Tony enters the room. My hatred for him is so consuming that I can’t even bring myself to meet his eyes. My rage makes me feel twice my size, like a volcano about to erupt. All I want right now is to gouge his eyes out.
He stops in front of me and picks up the test from the table. I’m certain there’s one of his signature triumphant smirks plastered across his face, but I refuse to look at him.
“Don’t think you’ve won,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
He carefully sets the test back down on the table before sitting beside me. The smell of cigarettes clinging to him churns my stomach, but I swallow hard to push back the nausea. This isn’t the time. His voice, as calm and composed as ever, fills the space between us.
“I don’t think I’ve won. This isn’t a game, Lucia. You couldn’t see what was coming. I just saved you from a much worse fate.”
My vision blurs with rage. Every ounce of blood in my body has surged to my head. I whip my face toward him, my voice louder than it’s ever been.
“How dare you justify what you did with such a pathetic excuse? How can you be so vile, so spineless, that you won’t even admit that everything you do is for your own twisted agenda? You used my body without my permission. You put something inside me that I don’t want.”
His lips twitch, curling inward as he holds his silence. He’s clearly angry but I don’t care. Not one bit.
“I’ll get rid of it,” I spit. “No matter what it takes. I will not bring a child into this world as a mark of my shame and Carlo’s failure, just so you can be happy. I’ll throw myself down twenty flights of stairs if that’s what it takes to purge myself of this fetus, conceived with your evil plans.”
He draws in a deep breath and tries to use my emotions against me.
“I don’t see it that way. Except for that first night when I was too drunk to even know it was you, I’ve never touched you without you wanting it. And you know that’s the truth. Every time, you’ve willingly tangled yourself beneath me. You might be an inexperienced girl, but you’re not dumb enough not to know that a woman who has sex on a regular basis will eventually open the door for one of the swimmers to get through. Put all that aside, how can you so casually talk about killing your child? A part of yourself?”
I lose it. I leap from the bed like I’ve been shot out of a cannon and plant myself in front of him, screaming in his face. “It should’ve been my choice whether your sperm ever got near me! BecauseI’mthe one who has to carry another living being inside me for nine months. That decision was mine, not yours, do you understand? And don’t you dare play the saint with me. We were both born into the mafia, and in this world, spilling blood is second nature to us.”
Despite my outburst, he remains infuriatingly calm. “The blood of a traitor, yes. The blood of family? No, Lucia. That’s not how it works.”
“If you had the power, you’d kill Carlo this very moment without a second thought. Wouldn’t you?”
At the mention of Carlo, his nostrils flare, and his jaw tightens. His hand, resting on his thigh, clenches into a fist, and for a brief moment, his eyes squeeze shut as though trying to restrain himself.
