Revenge Vows: A Forced Marriage Mafia Romance (Ruthless Mafia Sinners)

“I’ll be back,” I tell the doctor, who nods.

“I kind of have my hands full, Donatello. What do you want right now?” I ask as I step outside.

“Giovanni is at the gates.”

“What? Why is he here?”

“Bunny and I are holding him off. He isn’t leaving until he sees you, though.”

“I’ll be there.” I strap on my gun, and I walk outside the mansion and down to the gates.

Several of my guards are gathered with their guns aimed at me. They step aside as I approach the gathering. Giovanni’s face appears out of the crowd, and behind him are his men, who are also aiming their guns.

I walk up to Donatello and Bunny, who are staring down at him.

“Finally, the man of the hour,” he calls as I arrive.

“Antonio, your men are the absolute worst. All I asked for was two minutes of your time, and everyone went berserk,” Giovanni babbles.

I sigh. “You’ve been here too often lately.”

He shrugs. “Maybe I missed my old friend?”

“You missed me so much that you sent the cops to see me?”

He sighs mockingly. “You know that I only did that because I was mad that my friend kicked me out of the club we founded together after fucking my girl.”

I pull out my gun and cock it. “Say one more word about her, and I’ll blow your brains out,” I say through clenched teeth.

He chuckles. “My friend, I would love to banter with you all day. You know how much I love teasing you. But that’s not what I am here for.”

“I’m not giving you anything that belongs to me, you psycho.”

“Belongs to you?” he asks me with seemingly idle curiosity. “You might think that she belongs to you, but she’s her own woman. Surely you don’t think everyone around you is your possession.”

I glare at him. I hate that he’s making sense to some small part of my brain. I briefly think about letting her ride me less than an hour ago, and know that he’s not wrong. The fact that Alyssa cannot be entirely controlled is one of the things I love the most about her. But I’m not going to debate her virtues with this lunatic.

“Get to the point, Giovanni,” I rasp out.

He laughs. “I love it when you’re angry at me. It does something to me. But that’s not why I am here. My offer was unreasonable, to begin with.”

“Glad you got the memo. Now get the hell out of my home.”

“I’ll do that, but I’ll offer a deal before I leave.”

He meets my eyes. “Announce that you are stepping down as the head of this family.”

“You’re insane,” Donatello says.

Giovanni sighs. “Hey! Only Antonio can call me names, okay?”

“Get out, now! I won’t say it again,” I growl.

He chuckles. “Always the hothead! Anyway, I will give you forty-eight hours. Let the underworld know that you are no longer the head of the Russo mafia family or suffer the consequences.”

“Not happening,” I answer.

“You’ve answered too quickly, my friend. Think about the benefits of my offer. Or you could just split your territory with me like I asked for in the beginning. After all, you owe me that much, don’t you think?”

I glare at him. “Why would I give up everything my family has worked so hard to get?” I ask him. “You haven’t even earned my trust. You certainly haven’t earned the right to take what’s mine.

“But I do know that you can be hurt for the first time,” he says to me with a sly grin.

I blink at him. I don’t follow. “What are you fucking talking about?” I ask with a laugh.

He grins at me. “The girl…she means something to you, right?”

I frown at him, and I hear Donatello suck in his breath next to me. I don’t answer him, and he starts laughing loudly.

“See? Leverage for the first time. Something you’re willing to bleed and die for. You might want to discuss that little fact with your beloved brothers. They might want to know why you don’t care enough about them to die for them.”

“That’s not true, you bastard,” Donatello spits at Giovanni.

“Tell him it’s not true,” Bunny says to me, his tone mocking.

I remain silent, processing Giovanni’s words with some shock.

Bunny snorts and crosses his arms over his chest.

“A little family dissension is what I love best,” Giovanni crows, turning his back on us. “Forty-eight hours, your time starts now!” he calls over his shoulder as he and his thugs leave.

“That fucking nut job!” Donatello curses under his breath.

Bunny turns to Donatello. “I told you that our big brother was getting weak on us.”

“What does that have to do with anything? You know you are starting to fucking get on my nerves, too,” Donatello snapped.

“If you didn’t have your head up your ass, you would see how unreliable he has become.”

“That’s it, I am beating both of your asses,” Donatello says, moving to swing, but I put my hands in front of him, stopping him.

“He’s right,” I say.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Donatello sighs.

I turn to Bunny. “You’re right. I have grown complacent. I’m sorry if I have disappointed you.”

Bunny looks away.

“Giovanni has something up his sleeve. He’s sitting on a checkmate. We need to prepare.”

“Say the word and I’m at your service,” Donatello says.

I look at Bunny. “I understand if you don’t want any part of this. I haven’t been the best brother, and if you want out, I understand.”

He looks at me with cold eyes. “Glad you understand.”

He whips out his gun, throws it to the ground, and walks out the gate.

“You ungrateful brat,” Donatello hisses, making to go after him, but I stop him again.

“He’ll come around. We can handle him later. For now, we need to prepare for the worst. Shut down the club and double the security around our turf. No more deals for now. All of our stock should be put in the emergency room, and you need to have all our files in the system backed up.”

“I’ll get on that.”

“I’ll join you in a moment. First, I have to get Alyssa to safety.”