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I turn around and throw my arms around him, resting my forehead against his, breathing him in.
“Tiero, I love you with everything that I am,” I whisper, willing the tears threatening to fall behind my closed eyelids to stay put. “That hasn’t changed. But I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, and I just can’t see how we can make this work.”
I pull away and go to sit on the bed, hanging my head.
“None of our obstacles have moved. Everything is as it was.
“I refuse to live in your dark world with a target on my back for the rest of my life. And I most certainly won’t bring a child up in the Mafia.
“I’m not raising the next Don, and if we have a girl, I don’t want her to grow up with all the restrictions that come with being a Mafia princess. As you told me before, women mean nothing in your world, and I want everything for our daughter.
“As much as it’s going to hurt both of us, you need to let me go.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ella
Tierostaresatme,his hands clenching into fists.
“Ella, I will never abandon you or our child. That’s not an option.”
Of course he’d say that. He’s always seen me as his.
How can I make him see reason?
He kneels in front of me, placing his hand on my stomach, the warmth of his touch seeping into me.
“I won’t be kept away from my child. We’ll find a solution. I promise.”
“How can you promise that? You’re still the Don. And I still can’t stand what you do. I can’t live by your side with a clear conscience.”
I let out a dejected sigh. “How can our relationship possibly work? Please Tiero, just let me go,” I plead.
“Never,” Tiero declares with a finality that both frightens and exhilarates me.
“Ella, I will never give up on us. I love you. We can make this work, we can—”
“How Tiero? The only way I could be happy with you is if you weren’t in the Mafia. But you said it yourself, you can never leave. You’re born intola famigliaand you’ll die in it.”
He rises to his feet and sits down next to me on the bed, his hand never leaving my belly.
I look him in the eye, wanting him to understand just how serious I am about this.
“I’m not returning to Sicily,” I say firmly. “And if you make me, I swear you’ll regret it forever.”
“Please, princess, be reasonable. I’ve had a bedroom converted into an examination room. Doctor Agosti got an ultrasound machine and hired an obstetrician to care for you. It’s the best place to be for us while we work on a solution.”
I gape at him, open-mouthed. He hasn’t heard a word I said. Typical.
And an examination room just for me? Who does that?
The gesture is kind of sweet if it wasn’t bulldozing all over what I want once again.
The all-too-familiar surge of anger reignites, a reminder of the times I’ve been maneuvered like a chess piece by this man.
He’s never treated me as an equal partner. From the moment we met, Gualtiero, true to his name, has ruled every aspect of my life. My running away was probably only a rebellion in his eyes. One that ended with my capture.
I tear his hand off my abdomen and stand to pace. The echoes of his past behavior resound loudly in my thoughts. His watchful eyes follow my movements. I can feel them searing my skin.
