Revenge Vows: A Forced Marriage Mafia Romance (Ruthless Mafia Sinners)
Chapter 20

I walk back to my study to see Donatello, arms crossed and tapping his foot.

“There you are. We need to talk.”

I sigh wearily. There are thoughts in my head so heavy that I need hours of silence to clear away the whirlwind. Did I hear her tell Donatello that she was in love with me? Or am I mistaken and just a loser pining over the one woman that I should never want?

I walk into my study to see Bunny sitting there as well. I turn to them.

“Why are you both here?”

“Don’t worry, we came for different reasons,” Bunny grumbles as I settle into my chair.

Things have never really smoothened out between us after I punched him.

I look at Donatello. “Let’s start with you, then.”

Donatello sighs. “We can’t keep that girl here for much longer.”

I exhale. “We have talked about this—.”

“No, we haven’t,” comes Bunny’s voice.

“I thought you had no stake in this conversation,” I ask.

He shrugs. “It happens to tie in nicely with why I am here.”

Donatello sighs as I turn my gaze to him.

“She is more cunning than you think. I spoke to her for exactly ten minutes, and she had the right answer to everything,” he tells me, looking at me pleadingly.

“I was clear enough about her—” I begin.

“She can be your lover. I do not object to that, but she can’t remain in this mansion. Brother, I smell trouble,” Donatello pauses. “I have never steered you the wrong way, have I?”

In my heart, I know that he is right. From the very first day when I saw her at the bar, I didn’t miss the fire in her eyes or the determination in her step. I also haven’t missed how the hatred in her eyes only seems to grow stronger. I know she thinks I can’t see it, but I can.

Over the course of the past couple of days, her rage has seemed to melt away into determination. I know she isn’t naive enough to fall for a man like me, but I still want her words to Donatello to be true.

“I say we kill her.”

Bunny’s words startle me, and I gaze at him.

“Are you out of your flipping mind?” Donatello snaps before I can recover.

Bunny stands and walks up to me, ignoring Donatello. “You’ve grown weak, brother.”

“Bunny, stop it right now,” Donatello snaps.

I hold up my hand to motion him to let Bunny speak.

“I don’t know exactly how it happened, but since that woman appeared, you’ve turned into a coward. You’re a pathetic man who buries himself in the arms of a woman for solace,” Bunny grumbles, staring over at me.

Donatello gets up to grab him.

“Sit,” I growl at Donatello, and he stares at me before obeying.

“I do not think that you are fit to handle the affairs of the Russo family,” Bunny states boldly.

I get up slowly, and I can see a glint of terror flash through Bunny’s eyes, but he recovers enough to meet my gaze.

“Is that what you truly think?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t be saying it if I didn’t think it was the truth.”

The eyes of my brother stare at me with disdain, and I feel a crack inside of me.

Donatello stands and steps in between us.

“Please, that’s enough.” He turns to Bunny. “Apologize to him right now and get the hell out of here.”

Bunny faces Donatello. “You are such a disgusting, yes-man. Can’t you see how he is changing?”

Donatello stares at him desperately. “It’s the first time he has truly been interested in a woman. Cut him some slack.”

Bunny rolls his eyes. “I’ll leave, but this isn’t the end. I’ll be back.”

He leaves, slamming the door behind him.

Donatello turns to me. “I’m sorry about him. He has just been—”

“He hates me,” I say.

Donatello’s face softens.

“He doesn’t hate you. You know he is just bitter about you hitting him.”

I shake my head. The look in his eyes felt so familiar. I had seen that look in the eyes of many men who had betrayed me in the past. It was unmistakable.

“Can I have some time alone?” I ask.

“Of course,” Donatello replies hurriedly. He walks to the door and stops.

“I—I don’t know if this means anything at this point, but there is no man more capable of running this business than you.”

I give what I can only hope is a smile. “Thanks, brother.”

I turn my chair to face the open window, and I stare out at the sunset.

I lose track of time, and I melt into nothingness. My brothers have lost faith in me, and I might just have fallen in love with the one woman I should never have fallen for.

The sun begins to give way to the darkness when I hear a gentle knock on the door.

I don’t answer, so it comes again.

After the second knock, I hear the doorknob turn. I whip out my gun and turn, pointing it as the door falls open.

She is clad in a black nightdress that barely covers her body. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun, with strands falling over her face.

“There you are.”

She looks unfazed at the sight of me pointing a gun at her. She is holding a tray of food. The aroma of the warm food fills the room, and I tuck my gun back into its holster.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

She places the food on my desk carefully.

“I got bored, and I decided to take a walk. On my way here, I overheard the maids saying that you hadn’t come out of your study for hours.”

She looks up at me with a soft smile.

“They were too scared to trouble you, so I decided I’d bring you a meal myself. I brought you leftovers from lunch.”

I clench my fist as I watch her set the table, unbothered by my agitation.

“I could have shot you.”

“And yet, you didn’t.”

I inhale. “Get out. Now.”

She looks up to meet my eyes, and then she walks up to me. She slowly moves her hands to my face and strokes my cheek.

Her hands smell like freshly plucked lilies. The scent is subtle, yet enchanting. Our eyes meet again, and every nerve in my body holds me back from pulling her to me and burying my lips in her neck.

I jolt back to reality, and I snatch her hands away.

“I won’t repeat myself. Get out!”

She sighs. “I am afraid that I can’t do that. I’m not leaving until you have dinner.”

I grab her neck and push her against the wall. She barely blinks as my hands wrap around her neck.

“Your life is mine, and I can take it when I please! Don’t you forget that,” I grit out.

She struggles to speak and I realize that my hands are gripping her far more tightly than I had intended. My heart skips a beat as I loosen my grip.

“Alyssa?” I say softly, moving my hands to grab her shoulders. “I—I didn’t mean to hold you that tight. Do you want some—some water? Fuck!” I curse, looking down at her.

She shakes her head, her hand going to her throat. When she casts her gaze up at me, she looks sad, but no less determined than earlier today.

“Can you stop being so scary and come eat some food?” she whispers before coughing.

I walk over to the desk and sit down, looking at her carefully.

She pulls out another chair and sits beside me, watching me as I begin to eat my food slowly. She nods in approval as I try to slow my heart rate down after the terror I felt at thinking that I had actually strangled her. Why does she make me want to possess her heart and her mind, as well as control her actions? I’ve never cared about a woman like this, and the fact that she causes me to act this much out of character scares me.

I can’t decipher the emotions that are hiding behind the calm look on her face as she watches me eating. She’s just sitting there, looking beautiful. Her reddish, chestnut hair gleaming in the evening light, her skimpy clothing showing off far too much of her skin.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was hallucinating, and she wasn’t even real.

“I guess my job here is done,” she says when I lean back away from my plate. She gets up and begins to gather up the items on the tray. I slowly wrap my arms around her waist.

She stays still, not reacting in any way.

“I have hurt you so much, haven’t I?”

I hear her inhale sharply. “You own me, and you can do as you please with me. It’s not in my place to make any complaints.”

I look into her face, and her eyes are brimming with an emotion that I can’t read. My brothers are right. I have become a weak man.

I feel her warm hands move to my back, and she slowly begins to stroke her hands up and down.

“Do you want us to get some fresh night air together?” she asks, meeting my eyes. She doesn’t let me answer. She pulls away from my hands and reaches out to hug me.

I get up without a word, and I follow her. We walk down the hallway, getting stares from the guards as they see our hands linked. Just as we get to the door, she stops by a guard at the door.

“Can I get some handcuffs, please?” she asks.

The guard glances at me, and I nod, fighting to hide my surprise.

He hands her the cuffs from his belt, and she turns to me. She hands the cuffs to me and stretches out her hands.

“I ran off the first time under the cover of darkness. I wouldn’t trust me that easily if I were you.”

I look down at the handcuffs and then at her big green eyes before I put the handcuffs around her wrists.

We walk into the cool night breeze with her hands cuffed in front of her.

“I spied the prettiest spot from my window. Let’s go there.”

She sounds bright and cheery. Maybe she has always been this way. Maybe this was how she was before I swooped in and ruined her life.

I follow her past the garden to the backyard, past the courtyard, and then she finally stops at a long stretch of land at the back of the house. This area is acres upon acres of land that I haven’t quite figured out what to do with. So, I turned it into a lawn for the moment.

She points up, and I see that we have the most beautiful view of the moon. “Finally,” she sighs, plopping down on the grass.

I sigh, and I take off my jacket. I spread it over the grass, and I make her sit on it instead of sitting down on the grass.

“Oh, why, thank you.” She grins, and I inhale sharply.

“Why are you being like this?” I ask softly after we sit in silence for a minute.

She pauses as my hands fall on the handcuffs. “Am I doing anything wrong?”

“You hate me, so why are you—”

“Being nice?” I add. I look away, feeling pathetic.

“Look, Antonio, I also liked you when you walked into my room and were a brute.” Her tone softens, “At least, then, I had every reason to hate you.”

“So you all think I am weak,” I mutter.

She catches the tone in my voice, and she smiles. “Is that what this is about?”

I don’t answer.

“I don’t think you’re weak. I have always thought you were one of the strongest men I know. The great Viper.”

I roll my eyes, and she chuckles.

“I thought that I would take this to my grave, but lord knows that the past few weeks have me doubting if anything matters,” she pauses, and I turn to her. She leans over toward me. “I used to have a big crush on you back when I worked in the club.”

I replace my lips curving into a smile despite myself.

“Not that I am special in that way. Everyone there wants you inside them,” she adds.

I clear my throat, and I look into her face, now beautifully illuminated by the moonlight. “That isn’t so bad.”

“I mean, I used to pleasure myself while I looked at your Facebook pictures, but who cares,” she spits out, shaking her head.

I throw my head back, and I burst into laughter. She fights to hit me with her cuffed hands and fails.

“I know you own me and all, but take this to your grave. I am being so serious,” she snaps as peal after peal of laughter leaves my body.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s not even that funny. Why are you so tickled?” she cries through my laughter.

With a smirk on her face, she says, “Ugh, I fucking hate you.”

I turn to see her sniffing in laughter.

“That’s more like it.”

She watches me as I gather myself.

“I haven’t laughed this hard in years.”

She nods. “I can tell, and I can’t blame you either.”

“How can you tell?”

She tilts her head back and forth like she is thinking.

“I mean, the kind of work you do. I doubt that it leaves any room for joy.”

Her words strike something within me.

“I—I didn’t mean to cross a line,” she soothes hurriedly.

Whatever lines remain in our relationship, I have a feeling that we have slowly crossed over them all. Where we are, I have no idea, but something feels so safe about this that I have no complaints.

“You don’t have to apologize, mostly because you’re right. The last time I laughed this hard was about ten years ago.”

Her eyes widen beautifully with her shock.

“Bunny was fifteen, and he was learning to ride a bike. He badly wanted to take the training wheels off. I wouldn’t let him do it, but Donatello got so sick of his whining that he yanked off the training wheels and made Bunny get on the bike.”

“Oh,” she said knowingly.

“Bunny toppled over and hurt his legs, and Donatello was so scared of what I would do that he got bandages for himself too. He said that Bunny fell into a ditch, and he jumped in to save him.”

She laughs. “Did you buy it?”

I grin. “It was so creative that I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I watched the whole thing from inside the house. But I laughed myself to sleep that night.”

We laugh together, and it feels good.

“You practically raised your brothers. That’s cool.”

“Is it?”

She nods. “My mom has been sick since my sister was little. I was only nine, but I found myself becoming a mother. You did that for two humans. That’s brave, and you were only a kid.”

A lump rises in my throat. “I wasn’t much of a kid. I was eighteen. That’s practically an adult.”

She shakes her head. “An eighteen-year-old is still a kid. You barely know anything about the world and how it works at that age.”

“What about an eighteen-year-old who already has his first kill? What do you think about that eighteen-year-old?”

She sighs. “I killed a man too—I was fourteen, I think.”

I stop and slowly look at her.

“My father owed him some money, and he grew impatient. Broke into our home, beat the shit out of my father, and tried to have his way with my mother while we watched.”

She swallowed. “I grabbed a lamp, hit him from behind, and when he fell to the floor, I hit him again and again until he stopped moving.”

She sighs and follows it with awkward laughter. “I don’t regret anything I did to him. He was a piece of garbage, and I would do it over again.”

I sit silently for a moment, pondering how many similarities there are between our lives. On the surface, it doesn’t look like we have anything in common, but these kinds of memories are very familiar to me.

She turns to me. “The first person you killed; would you do it over again?”

“He kidnapped Bunny. I would do it over again in a heartbeat.”

She nods. “Life can be dangerous. Sometimes brave people have to do hard things for the ones that they love.”

Our eyes meet and lock. Before I can stop myself, my hands move into her hair, and I run my fingers through it.

“I have a confession,” she says suddenly.

I pause.

“You—you haven’t touched me in so long that I think I miss—I miss the feel of your hands.”

I look down at her face, and happiness fills my heart. “You have no fucking idea,” I whisper as my eyes fall on her lips.