Page 70 of The Mafia’s Girlfriend

Did she fear me growing up in the family, raised like all those other mafia men and soldiers?

“If I’d only known...” I shook my head as I walked.

If I’d known that I was the son of a mafia boss, my entire life could’ve been so different. Not struggling for money. Not eking out a living and wondering what would happen if I was too tired to go on anymore.

Now, this was a huge issue.

I got nervous about how Emma and I could get out of all this danger.

It was one thing to butt in and “claim” Emma before Antonio could.

As the son of one of his rivals, though, it was different now. Like an attack or subterfuge to meet her and claim her.

But I didn’t know who she was. She erred in not telling me who she was, that she was the daughter of a mafia lord.

I suspected that she might not have wanted to tell me because she feared I’d want out, that I would walk away. After all those times I told her that I didn’t want any trouble, that would have been a clear sign of it.

If she’d been upfront, I wouldn’t have been able to stay away. It was simply set in stone, some sense of kismet. That when we collided, we’d be trapped in each other’s orbits and unable and unwilling to stay apart.

The dangerous elements of us defying all these mafia leaders weren’t things we had control over. We couldn’t have planned this to happen. It just had.

Emma and I had met. Then crashed and burned. It was inevitable, but now that we’d decided to stick with each other, we couldn’t go forward with this miscommunication. We had to have a better sense of teamwork. And plan.

Too much was at stake to neglect the details that could ruin us.

I had to talk with Jimmy and understand the implications of me breaking Emma’s arrangement to be with Antonio.

I needed to listen to more of my mother’s reasoning and answers to better gauge if the father I never knew about could be a threat to my future.

Emma, too. She and I had to sit down and have a conversation about what our future could look like and how we could make sure no one interfered.

We were pulled together from the beginning, and nothing would force me to lose her. I’d swear on it.

I returned to the resort, finding Randy waiting for me at the door.

“Fuck, man. Where the hell were you?” he asked as I clocked back in.

I sighed. The last hour and a half of my life couldn’t be summed up easily. “I went to see my mom.” That was the truth at the basis of it. I had left to go talk to her on my lunch break after a quickie with Emma at her condo.

Then I learned I was an heir to a mafia boss. Then got engaged.

It was a lot, and I’d need to explain it to my friend later.

“Well, hurry up. Someone caused a fight at the bar.”

“Again?” I sighed, wishing this afternoon could be an easy one so I could think.

“Yeah.” He frowned at me as I hopped into a golf cart with him to get there quicker. “Hey, is she okay?”

I furrowed my brow. “Emma?”

He scoffed. “Man, you’re playing with fire fucking a guest like that.”

“That’s not the worst of it.”

If you only knew, man. If you only knew...

“I meant if your mom was okay. You look...”