Borrowed Bride: A Fake Marriage, Secret Baby, Dark, Mafia Romance (Mafia Lords of Sin)

“It wasn’t me.”

The words are out of my mouth as soon as the door closes. The drive home was tense, with Marco mostly on the phone barking orders like his life depended on it. Even his father was oddly silent and he vanished when we arrived at the manor, presumably off to do whatever Marco was demanding of everyone else.

“It was someone,” Marco replies tightly, pacing back and forth as he wrenches his tie away from his neck. “That weaselly little fucker!”

Marco’s phone blares to life and he answers it, storming to the other end of the study. Alone, I sink down onto the nearest chair and carefully remove my shoes. My toes and heels ache but it was so worth it to feel this beautiful for the first night of my life. And yet, it’s soured.

Leonardo claimed to know that Emilia was alive. Such a revelation clearly shook Marco to the core and Leonardo slipped away with such a smug smile on his face, it was a wonder Marco let him walk out at all.

It turns out he’s trying to find a credible reason for Leo to make such a claim while clinging to the hope that it’s just some weird shot in the dark to try and fuck with him. Leo seemed charming up until Marco arrived, then he became rather snakelike. It was an abrupt wake-up call that everyone in this life has some kind of agenda.

But that’s not what shook me the most. While Marco and Leo were brawling on the floor, I saw something. It was hard to be certain in the commotion of the fight, but I’m fairly certain I saw someone I recognized at the party. I have no friends and certainly no family. Running into anyone from any part of my life sets off alarm bells.

But I can’t be sure. The person I saw shouldn’t be at parties, never mind at a Mafia dinner. I mull her face over, trying to decide if she’s real or if I’m just filling in the blanks because she was familiar. If there’s a chance—any chance at all—that she’s a part of this world, then I’m not safe—not in the slightest.

“I don’t care what it takes!” Marco yells suddenly, making me jump as his voice slices through the silence of the room. “I want security doubled and I want eyes on Leo. He doesn’t breathe or take a shit without me knowing about it, understand?”

While my mind wandered, Marco had discarded his suit jacket and belt, leaving him in just a crisp white shirt that threatens to burst at the seams each time he heaved a deep breath.

Would he protect me?

If I told him the truth, would he even care? Or would he decide I’m no longer worth the hassle and just do away with me?

Marco grunts sharply. “No. I’ll do it. I’ll reach out to him once I’ve made sure we have no holes to plug. The guy’s bragging about my deceased sister, of course I’m fucking concerned.”

He ends the call and slams his hand down on the desk. I rise slowly and pad barefoot toward him.

“Marco?”

He’s glaring down at the wood, panting harshly and his muscles are so tight that each line is defined even through his shirt.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No one knows,” he murmurs tightly. “I make sure of it. All these years, I’ve made sure of it. No one knows. And yet he says these things …”

“Maybe he’s lying?” I offer softly. “I don’t know how he works but maybe he’s lying to get a rise out of you? Throw you off your game while he plans something bigger?”

Marco lifts his head and his eyes lock on to mine. “You’re right. You don’t know how he works.” He straightens up further and sighs with a rasp. “I need to find out if he knows anything. If he doesn’t then he can rot. If he does, then I will kill him. Fastest way to keep him quiet.”noveldrama

“That would start a war, son, and you know it.” Dante appears at the door, back from wherever he rushed off to. “The Simone family is bigger than ours, Marco. Stronger too.”

“They’re bigger sure, but not stronger. They’re like chickens scattered in the wind, lost and headless. They use their numbers to swarm but how many times have we pushed them back, hm? They mean nothing.”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Dante says.

“What would you have me do?” Marco bellows suddenly and I flinch, my heart racing. “You know exactly why I have to stamp this out. I will not have these past decades mean nothing because Leonardo fucking Simone thinks he has all the information!”

Dante doesn’t reply. He looks between us and shakes his head. “Then let us hope that Gianna is right and he is merely trying to mess with your head.”

What a night. Exhaustion weighs down my limbs as I climb the stairs and my mind races. Emilia’s survival might no longer be a secret, and a ghost from my past haunts me. Could things get any worse?

A few steps from the top, Marco suddenly scoops me up into his arms and I don’t have the energy to be indignant. I wind my arms around his neck and cling to him with a soft noise of appreciation. He carries me the rest of the way, all the way to my bedroom, where he then sets me down on the bed.

Being apart from him after such a whirlwind night isn’t something I’m ready for so when he tries to step away with a grunt, I catch his wrist.

He turns to look at me, clearly as tired as I feel, but there’s something so insanely attractive about his half-open shirt dotted with blood and the rough mess of his hair.

I don’t speak. Honestly, I’m not even sure what I want from him other than his presence. He holds my gaze for what feels like an eternity, then suddenly surges forward and our mouths collide. He kisses me like he’s trying to consume me, and I am here for it.

My mind goes quiet, and nothing exists but the plush press of his lips, the rough scratch of his facial hair, and his large, hot hand on the side of my neck.

Right now, I am his.

Marco breaks the kiss and shoves me back down onto the bed, then he disappears down between my legs. My dress flashes up and Marco is completely out of sight.

But I can feel him. His rough hands as he caresses up my legs, his hot mouth as he presses open-mouthed, biting kisses up the inside of my thigh, the rough prickle of his stubble against my sensitive thighs, and then the wet drag of his tongue. He moves up between my legs and his broad shoulders force my thighs apart around his bulk.

He breathes hot against my panties, sending a curl of heat through my core and every muscle clenches in anticipation. Marco growls softly and a flush of tingles like pinpricks dance over my limbs, sending a shiver through my spine.

He pulls my panties to the side, then buries his face against my pussy like some kind of animal.

I squeal and immediately melt into moans as Marco utterly devours me. He grips my thighs tightly to stop me rocking away from him and presses his face deep between my folds. His tongue licks from my oversensitive, aching clit, down to my hole that throbs for anything and everything he can give me.

Marco licks with purpose and his tongue weaves through me like he’s writing music. No part of me is untouched and just like a musician, he seems to quickly learn exactly how to play me. I’m more sensitive on the right side of my clit, and each time he favors his attention there, my moans pitch.

Then he doesn’t leave me alone. He lavishes attention inside and out, moaning and growling faintly against me as he drags me closer and closer to orgasm.

My whole body is on fire, stoked by the flames of his enticing tongue and I clutch at the soft fabric of my dress. Suddenly, it’s too soft and smothering. I want to feel Marco everywhere. I want to taste him, to run my fingers through his hair, and trace the scars on his body. I want to feel the safety of his thick arms.

That desire, along with his constant attention throws me over the cliff and I come with a long, loud scream. My shoulders and torso jerk upward from the bed with each powerful pulse of pleasure that draws through me and Marco doesn’t move. He eats me out like a man possessed and doesn’t stop until my orgasm has passed and I’m left a whimpering puddle on the bed.

Only then does he pull back and kiss the inside of my thigh.

“Get some rest, Gianna,” he says.

I lazily stare up at him and for a moment, it feels like he might stay. I want him to offer as much as I try to will myself to ask but the words never come.

Instead, Marco leaves and I fall asleep the moment I slip out of my dress.

Marco’s attention wasn’t enough to keep my dreams trouble free, and I woke groggily. It’s too early for anyone to be awake, but that woman is on my mind, and I can’t stand it.

Turning on the bedside light, I stretch across the bed and locate my laptop from the floor where I left it. Hauling it up, I create a nest with my pillows and yawn so widely that my eyes water.

“Fuck,” I croak, regretting not brushing my teeth before falling asleep. As I shift to get comfort, my pussy throbs from contact and I bite back a whimper. Marco well and truly left his mark.

Laptop on, I immediately google a case from four years ago. Multiple news articles pop up onto my screen, and my heart begins to pound.

Four years ago, two con artists were arrested for a theft that resulted in someone dying. Both culprits were sent to prison based on the statement of a third person present that night.

I was that third person.

My picture was kept out of the paper as part of the deal I struck with the police. I was young and stupid, and the other two were juicier arrests, so no one cared about me. I had to provide information, and I got my life back—not that it was much of a life.

Those two responsible for that man’s death should still be in prison but seeing her face again in these articles only makes me certain that I saw one of the women at the dinner tonight.

“Shit,” I murmur, dragging one hand down my face.

If she’s out of prison, that means she definitely knows who put her away.

Me.

And if she’s with Leonardo, it can only mean one thing: she’s coming for revenge.