Page 3 of Banished and Pregnant by Her Sicilian Billionaire Husband

And that was how he had made her his.

His wife looking into his eyes, biting her lip hard at first, and then crying his name out as he took her again and again. He had only let her rest when he saw her eyes drifting closed, and he had felt her body growing heavy.

And later, when she woke up in his arms, she had whispered, “I have a confession to make.”

“Go on.”

“That first day. In the shop.” She pressed her face harder against him. “When you bought the bracelet...”

“And you believed I had a wife?”

“Exactly,” she mumbled to his chest. “When you left, I went straight into the stockroom and burst into tears.”

“Ah.”

Her head jerked up. “Why does that sound like...”

“I stayed behind. You didn’t see me. I saw you come out of the stockroom, and your eyes made it obvious you were crying.”

“You knew the whole time, and yet you...” A choked laugh escaped her. “You took so long before letting me know it was for your mother!”

“A punishment,” he said without shame, “for charging me full price.”

“That’s so...”

“What?”

She looked at him helplessly. “Unreasonable.”

“If there is something or someone you want,” he instructed her, “then you must be prepared to do unreasonable things.”

She had tried to argue with him about that, but—

No more, Bastianelli!

Marcello slammed a mental door shut on the rest of his memories. To spend another second dwelling in the past would be a weakness, and he was not where he was now by being weak.

Tomorrow, he would take care of his enemies. They would know what it meant to cross a Bastianelli. And that...was the easy part.

Tonight, however...

Tonight, Chisa was no longer just his wife.

Because of what she had done, she had become a family matter.

And since such matters meant that the entire family must cast their vote...

Curzio found himself holding his breath when Marcello turned to look at him. Obviously, the boy needed to do something about this—

“I need you to call Vico and have him take care of things.”

But when Curzio heard Marcello mention his cousin’s name, only at that moment did it become clear to the old man just how ruthless Marcello could be. Everyone knew that Vico was the one in charge of...disposal. And while this wasn’t always synonymous to death, it did mean that Chisa would be as good as banished, her face never to be seen by any of the Bastianellis...

“Marcello...” Curzio’s voice was strained. “Are you sure—”

Marcello interrupted him, “That shall be your task. To ensure that Vico and all the others will obey my orders when it comes to...her.” A muscle started ticking in his jaw. “Nobody touches her. No one. Second: I need her out of the house within the hour—”

“But your wife’s pregnant!”