AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Can I be safe here, though? Do I have any right to stay while my family is killing the Italians just to get me back? I bite my lip, hugging my shoulders tighter, and walk closer to the windows, mindlessly looking at the peaceful scenery outside. Damn it. I shouldn’t be here. I have to—
“Are you scared of them?”
In the reflection on the dark window, I see Paolo step closer to me, but he keeps his distance and stops a couple of feet behind me. He’s studying me with a frown, and only when I look at my own reflection do I realize that my body is still trembling. My grip on my shoulders is painfully tight, and I have to force myself to breathe out and relieve some of the tension before turning to Paolo.
“No. I’m scared of what we left behind.” I chew my lip again, feeling it getting sore, and walk away from Paolo with the urge to pace around just to make myself move. “Dad is gonna kill as many of your people as he can just to get me back. You already know that, right? Your men wouldn’t bring me there for—”
“I didn’t plan to bring you there,” Paolo interrupts me with surprising passion, making me stop and look at him. His eyes are dark and intense as he meets my gaze and steps forward. “I’d never do that.”
Wouldn’t he? I look at him with surprise, and something in my chest grows with warmth—but the turmoil of my mind is even stronger, so I shake my head and turn away.
“It doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is that…god, we’re starting a war just by being here!” I run my hand through my hair, feeling a tight knot of nerves in my guts. “It’s gonna get so much worse. Dad is gonna go crazy, and—damn it. Your family may get killed, and for what? For keeping me here, for allowing me to—”
“Wait, wait, Jacinta, calm down.”
At the same moment, I feel Paolo’s hands on my back and shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I gasp for breath and, biting back my tears, follow his hands, allowing myself to be weak in his embrace. I close my eyes, breathing in his scent, and it feels so good that I clutch his shoulders and bury my face in his neck, soothing the quivers running under my skin.
“You are thinking too low of me and my family.” Paolo chuckles a moment later, stroking my hair and making my worries melt away one by one. “The Messina Clan has been holding the throne of Chicago for decades. Do you think we can’t stand for ourselves? Do you think we’re gonna let someone like your father win?”
“But—”
“But you should trust me.” He pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes, and I see the confidence that always makes me trust him. “The Messinas never step down—and now, you are a part of my family. You are a part of me.”
My mind is too fuzzy to understand the meaning of his words right away, but when Paolo slides his hand down my arm and to my stomach, I realize it immediately with a warm wave of shyness. Wait, does that mean he wants to…? No, no, that’s impossible, I shake my head and push myself out of his arms, turning away.
“You probably feel obligated to take care of me,” I say in a low voice and walk away, mindlessly pressing my palm to my stomach. God, is there really a baby inside of me?Paolo’sbaby?
I still need time to fully realize that this is happening, but…I purse my lips and gather the fabric of my shirt in a fist. I can’t explain it, but I already feel protective of the tiny speck of life inside of me. Would Paolo want to protect and take care of it? Would he want to spend the rest of his life with someone like me?
My biggest fear is to give birth to a child with a father who doesn’t know how to love it, so I take a steadying breath and turn to Paolo. “But you don’t have to. Really. If you don’t want it, I can raise it by myself. I have enough money, so—”
“What?” Paolo exclaims so loudly it makes me startle and strides toward me with his fiery gaze set on me. “No, that’s not—we are raising our child together, do you understand? I’m gonna take care of you, ofbothof you, no matter what. God, Jacinta, how could you even think I’d let you go?”
He grabs my shoulders, forcing me to look at him, and I can’t escape the burning passion of his dark eyes. Is this real? Does Paolo actually…no, he can’t love me, but maybe he actually feels something. Maybe he sees me as a woman, as a lover, as someone to cherish and admire—and for some reason, the thought makes something in my chest explode.
“I—” I try to say something, but my throat tightens around the words, and I feel too close to crying. So I look to the side, avoiding his gaze, to clear my mind and calm down the frantic pace of my heart before I can properly speak again. “I didn’t know if you’d want to…be with me? I’m still not sure. I mean, why would you? Emilio said no man would ever look at someone so fat and ugly like me, and I know it’s true, I—”
“He saidwhat?”
Paolo’s hold on me suddenly turns to steel, and something in my chest tightens when I hear just how deep and dangerous his voice is. Shit, I didn’t mean to make him mad, but at the same time, I can’t help the odd feeling of relief. It’s the first time someone has actually gotten angry on my behalf, and I finally feel like I’m not alone in the pain and sorrow of my past.
But still, I don’t want to make Paolo angry—he’s already taken his revenge on my cousin—so I clear my throat and try to sound calmer. “He said…many things. In the past. But it was all just childish bullshit!”
“What was it?” Paolo repeats, glaring me in the eyes, and I swallow. He looks angry, intimidating…and really hot. Damn it. “What did he say?”
Ah, whatever. It’s not gonna do me any harm, right?
“Well, Emilio is my cousin, so I can’t remember everything he’s ever told me, okay?” I purse my lips, trying to direct my sudden arousal into frustration, and demonstratively look away. “He just said that I’m too disgusting to have any friends and that I’ll never have a boyfriend because no boy would ever want me. There, you have it. Are you happy now?”
Shit, why does this stuff still hurt?
“That fucker,” Paolo growls and releases me with so much force I stumble backward—but he isn’t looking at me. He turns around and suddenly kicks the decorative plant on the floor, knocking it over with a loud shatter.
“What—Paolo!”
“He should be happy he’s already dead.”
“No, stop!”
