AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Me:Go to hell. You don’t know him like I do. None of you do. If he really loved her, he wouldn’t have backed out.
Matteo:You don’t know him like we do, love. You were right to trust me. And in time, I’ll win your heart. You’ll see. I don’t love you, but I’m going to love having you as my wife. We’ll be the perfect couple, just wait. And in time, who knows…we may fall in love for real.
Me:Never.
Matteo:Tick tock. Your time is running out to be a single woman. And you better not let him touch you, or I might have to punish you when I win the fight. But don’t worry, you might like it.
I lock my phone and feel sick to my stomach. Heofficiallyasked her to marry him? Why wouldn’t he share that with me? I know last night they said he promised to marry her, but it could’ve been an empty promise—simply talking about it, not truly asking for her hand in marriage.
What in the hell else is he keeping from me? First, it’s this life his family lives and now a proposal to a woman he claims he didn’t love. Why did he ask her? What am I not seeing?
“What’s wrong? What couldn’t wait?” I ask as I trail behind Vincent into the study.
“Leo De Luca called,” Vincent grinds out.
“What did he want? He wasn’t ever mixed up in any of this,” I tell him, surprised to be hearing from any of the De Lucas.
“You’re right. Leo seems to be a decent enough guy. But he wanted to warn us. He said his brother, Rocco, knows you’re back. He knows he can’t take you on his own anymore, but he’s hired men to take you out whether you win or lose. He blames you for losing everything,” Vincent reveals.
I run both my hands down my face. “Like we need this to get any more complicated,” I mutter.
“Agreed. I think it’s safe to say you’ll be fine until the fight because he’ll want the chance to see you get beat, but then all bets are off. We’re going to need to be ready,” he says.
“It makes me wish Mamma and Wren weren’t here. The last thing we need is them getting caught in the crossfire. And Brittney…what am I going to do with her? She needs to be back home in Greendale Valley by Saturday so she can work. This fight will happen next Wednesday if Matteo is to be believed,” I tell him.
“You’ll hold yourself together. You need to focus on the fight. We can handle what happens after. You’ll be heavily guarded. And this man you’re bringing in should help. Honestly, having your mom here may help throw them off-balance because she’s not shown her face in so long. It will show the weight of power you have behind you,” he says.
“Mamma knows everything, but Wren doesn’t. I don’t want any of this to touch her. And I especially don’t want either of them near my dad.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Well, maybe it’s time she knew where she came from, Hawk. But unlike your time here, we know she’s here and we can keep her safe. As for your mamma, she can handle herself, I promise.”
Guilt surfaces. “It wasn’t Mamma’s fault. I asked her not to tell any of you I was here. I think she thought I’d be back quickly, and when I wasn’t, she called you. I needed to learn some things on my own.”
“I understand. But I wish it hadn’t put a price on your head,” he admits.
“So, Rocco has only grown angrier I suppose. How does he know I’m here anyway?”
Vincent’s eyes narrow. “You really have to ask? She’s still leading him on, Hawk. She’s playing both sides like a fiddle. If I had to guess, she told him what happened last night and made it sound like her family is forcing her to marry you. She’s with him in an unofficial capacity is what I’m hearing. When you nearly killed him, he was no longer good enough for Aldo to allow their arranged marriage to happen. The girl has issues, man. You sure know how to pick them.”
“She wasn’t like that when I met her. And I had no idea their families had come to an agreement for them to marry. I was running from my own broken heart—”
Vincent cuts me off, “You were running from the same woman you’re trying to protect now. How poetic,” he says flatly.
“It’s not like that. Back then, things were messed up and not what they seemed. We both know the truth now, and we were trying to capture a second chance and then all this happened. But before, yeah, I was simply needing a way to forget, I didn’t love Angel even if I thought I did. It was sex and stupidity. Until she said she was pregnant. The only logical thing to do was ask her to marry me. It seemed like the right thing,” I say hollowly.
I hear a sharp intake of breath and we both turn to see Brittney standing in the doorway, white as a ghost. “Fuck,” I say under my breath.
“Brittney, wait. Let me explain,” I start.
Her eyes are filled with anger and hurt as she stands there with her shoulders slumped and her brows knit together. I move toward her, and she holds up her hands, signaling for me to stop. “Don’t.
“I was coming to tell you Matteo texted me. I didn’t plan to eavesdrop,” she says with a defiant lift of her chin.
“Let me see your phone,” I say as I move closer to her.
She hands it over and I scan the messages while feeling rage build up inside my chest. When I glance back up at her, she’s chewing her bottom lip. “I didn’t have time to ask about the woman you call Angel, but I think I’m clued in now,” she says.
I reach for her, and she shrinks back. “I’m fine. I just need some air.”
