Forced To Be The Mafia King's Bride novel Chapter 13

Dante's POV

Then it happened, Gia's terrified eyes locked on mine. And for a moment, she disappeared.

Replaced by the broken, beautiful face I couldn’t save. The only voice that calmed me down when I was about to crash out.

And now, as I hovered over Gia with violence pumping through my limbs, it felt like I heard her voice again, pleading.

This isn’t you…

I pulled away, even as my cock throbbed with the need to bury itself in her heat, but guilt and rage and grief crashed into me in a wave that almost made me sick.

I pushed off her, shoving myself away so fast her eyes widened in confusion.

I let out a low, bitter growl as I stood and spat through clenched teeth,

"You’d beg me to stick this cock inside you, Gia… You hear me?”

I glared down at her, my voice feral now.

"That’s a fucking promise. And only then, only when you crawl to me, desperate for it… will it ever happen."

I turned away, storming into my closet.

The silence behind me was deafening.

I grabbed a robe from the hook, slid it over my shoulders, and tied it shut.

I didn’t look back at her.

Not once.

Let her sit with what almost happened.

Let her feel what she nearly brought out of me.

She wanted to call me a monster?

Then she better be ready to meet the thing she keeps trying to awaken.

—--

I slammed the door behind me.

The sound echoed down the hall, but it still wasn’t loud enough to drown out the sound of her voice, those spiteful words replaying in my head like a curse.

Your touch repulses me.

I walked through the corridor, past the empty guest rooms, descended the stairs, and made my way to my office.

I kicked the door open and went straight for the decanter.

"Fuck..."

I poured a glass of scotch, filled it almost to the brim, and took a hard gulp.

"Shit…"

Shit… what had I almost done?

I let my anger consume me. I almost ripped that girl apart, physically and emotionally. But it wouldn’t have been my fault. No. That mouth of hers… it was venomous. She knew how to push every wrong trigger, to dance on the line of danger like she had no idea who I was.

But still… she was just a wounded and scared girl. And deep down, I knew I had to treat her pain differently.

Ease her into her new life, my world.

She was mine now. There was no escaping that.

I had time, power, experience. I’d break her slowly, tenderly. Make her crave my touch. Make her addicted. Make her beg.

Fuck…

She was lucky my sweet Esmeralda’s voice stopped me tonight. Even from the grave, she pulled me back from the abyss.

She always had. She was the light in my dark world, one of the precious gifts God so kindly gave to a ruthless man like me, and Vincenzo stole her. Not just from me. From our daughter too.

That bastard took the woman I loved and left me to raise a child alone in this bloody, brutal world, all because of his greed.

Lorenzo, a wretched bastard I brought into the Mafia world myself. I made him one of my trusted men, gave him a seat at the table where the rulers met when no one else would. I vouched for him, introduced him to the five clans that ran the organization.

And how did he repay me?

He betrayed me.

He stole my shipments, ran with my money, and when I finally caught up to him with a gun pressed to his head, ready to end him, my wife begged me to let him go. She believed mercy could build a new legacy, that maybe this world did not always have to be soaked in blood.

She was wrong.

This world is filled with darkness, and betrayal only speaks one language, blood.

I recovered my shipment, spared his life, and walked away.

But over the years, Lorenzo built his own army. He sold intel about my clan to the remaining clans at the table, men who were my enemies and who had always eyed my throne. And I, fool that I was, believed he wasn’t a threat.

One night, while I was out of town on business, my wife and daughter were driving back from school. They had no idea Lorenzo had joined forces with our enemies. He set up an ambush on the road, and they were attacked, like prey trapped by a predator.

The heartbreaking news reached me just as I landed. I didn’t wait. I gathered my best men, and we scoured the streets, the ports, and every known enemy base. Days passed with no leads.

Until finally, we tracked his hideout.

It was an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the city.

We stormed it, and a shootout erupted the moment we breached their walls, bullets flying like rain, but I didn’t care. I was hunting for my family.

I tore through the rooms, calling out their names, and then I saw her. My daughter. Tied up, bruised, but alive. My heart shattered as I cut her loose and lifted her into my arms.

I had already arranged meetings with those weaker clans, the same traitors who had once turned their backs on me. They thought they could survive under Lorenzo after he promised them the world. But just as he betrayed me, he betrayed them.

And now the truth was simple, they didn’t stand a chance against me. Without Lorenzo’s backing, without anyone to shield them, they were cornered. My army was stronger, and I had secrets buried deep enough to destroy them if they dared to resist.

-------

Later that night, I stepped into the room, feeling calmer. More in control.

The lights were still dim, just the way I left them. My eyes adjusted quickly, scanning the space and then they landed on Gianna.

She was already asleep.

The sheets had shifted halfway down her body. Her back rose and fell softly with each breath. Hair spilled across the pillow in messy waves. She looked… peaceful. Almost angelic.

A strange sense of affection tugged at me, but I pushed it down before it could rise.

It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in years, and had no intention of entertaining. I’d built walls too high for emotions.

Gianna was a pawn in a much bigger game. Nothing more.

She would remain that way.

I walked to the bed, my eyes lingering for a moment longer than they should have. Then, without a word, I reached down and pulled the sheets back over her body, covering her from the cold.

My gesture didn’t feel like kindness. It just felt necessary.

Turning away, I headed into the bathroom. The water was cold, and I let the heat from my body bring me some clarity.

Minutes later, I dried off, pulled on a pair of black drawstring pants, and walked back to the bed.

She still hadn’t moved.

I climbed in beside her, silencing the noise in my head, shutting my eyes, and drifting to sleep.

I don’t know how long I was out.

But then I felt cold steel pressed against my neck.

My eyes shot open.

Morning light spilled through the curtains, and there she was.

Gianna straddled me, her hand trembling as she held the knife, her voice low, seething.

"Don’t move… or I’ll kill you."

And despite the blade against my skin, despite the fire in her eyes…

I smirked, dark. I could almost admire her nerve.

“Bold of you,” I murmured, my voice a rough rasp, “to threaten the man who showed you mercy last night.”