Page 119 of Diary of a Mafia Princess

I didn’t have a good answer. So I said nothing.

My father shook his head. “You’re too much like your fucking mother. Soft. I tried to beat that out of you when you were younger. Told Virginia to stop fucking coddling you, and I thought I’d succeeded. You can’t walk in my shoes if you’re going to be weak, Luca.”

I wanted to scream that I would never walk in his shoes. Not willingly. That the only way I’d follow in his footsteps is if there was another walking behind me with a gun to my head.

But my father had already proven he could make that happen if he needed to. And that the Guerra brand on my chest meant I was as owned by him as Nyah was.

Carlos just tutted at me, making sure I knew I was the biggest disappointment.

Bruno appeared at his side, and my father jerked his head at me.

“My son here wants to play the hero, so let him. Strip him and lock him up for seventy-two hours. No food. Only give him water once he’s been reminded that how I punish my wife is my business and none of his.”

I didn’t try to fight Bruno’s meaty fingers wrapping around my arm and hauling me out of my father’s office like I was one of his enemies. Perhaps I was exactly that. Because why hadn’t I told him the real truth about how Nyah felt about Dax? The story they’d been spinning, that they had dated once or twice but been nothing to each other, was clearly a lie.

She was in love with him.

And if he had half a brain cell in his head, he would love her back.

Because you didn’t throw away the love of a woman like Nyah.

Fuck. My father was right. I was jealous. But not of what he and Nyah had, because after tonight, I knew she hated him with every fiber of her being.

But the way she felt about Dax was something to be envious of.

Something my father would kill him for in a heartbeat.

Bruno shoved me out of the office, right as Dax walked out of the gym, his gaze colliding with mine. “Luca? What the fuck?”

But instead of jealousy swamping me like I had thought it would, all I could think about was Nyah up in that room, drugged up so she didn’t feel the pain of her burns, but completely unprotected. I mentally cursed myself for sending Lynx home.

But without him here, and with me locked up in a cage, I’d inadvertently left Nyah completely unprotected and completely vulnerable.

I caught Dax’s eye and silently mouthed one word. “Nyah.”

He stared at me as I was dragged away. It was only at the last second that he nodded, a silent acknowledgment he understood what I meant.

And I found myself relaxed and calm while my clothes were cut off me and I took up Nyah’s spot in a prison of my father’s making.

37

DAX

Dear Diary,

I don’t trust him, but he made sure she was taken care of. That counts.

I’d worked at the shop until late and then gone back to the Guerras’ mansion and put in a training session, even though it was close to midnight. I’d needed it. My nerves were on fucking edge, being this close to Nyah, sneaking around with her behind the Guerras’ backs, playing with a fire that burned so fucking hot I was getting seared just from being near it.

And yet I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t walk away.

If I was being honest, it wasn’t only because of Nyah.

I’d told my father I was going overseas to fight for the Guerras, and he’d been so thrilled he’d shaken my hand and told me that this was it. It was what we’d been working for since I was a kid and taken my first class.

He’d always wanted me to concentrate more on fighting. I’d tried every style, from boxing to Krav Maga to ju-jitsu. He’d seen the potential, and fuck, so had I. I’d had enough coaches push me to fight in tournaments, to practice harder and longer hours. And yet all the natural talent in the world had meant nothing when your heart was pulled in other directions.

My heart had wanted art.