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

“Please, you cannot tell Antonio about this child.”

The doctor looks at me. “You and I both know that is impossible.”

“Why is it so impossible? I am your patient. Can’t I request for my personal medical information to be kept secret?”

“We both know this isn’t how it works in this scenario. I answer to Antonio.”

I look at him desperately. “Please, doctor. I promise that I’ll tell him myself. I just need some time.”

He shakes his head, and I reach out to grab his hand.

“Please,” I whisper, looking into his eyes. He looks down at my shaky hands.

“You might want to get that tremor looked at,” he says, packing up.

I bite down my lip, my heart racing at a million miles per hour. How could I let this happen to me? How could I be so blind and careless?

“I’ll give you until my next consultation with Antonio. That should be by the end of the month. I believe that should be ample time to let him know.”

I bow my head in gratitude as he wordlessly leaves the room.

I get up and begin pacing, trying to gather my thoughts.

I’m supposed to kill Antonio and watch him bleed to death at my feet, yet somehow, I am carrying his child.

Was I going to kill the father of my child?

The door opens, and Mary runs in with a worried look.

“Oh, child! You’re fine,” she says, hugging me, “I came in the morning, and the news that you were sick was flying around.”

She stops seeing the tears in my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

I sniff. “I—Mary. I’m pregnant!” I burst out sobbing.

She sighs heavily, looking at me.

“I knew your nipples looked huge.”

“What do I do?” I gasp as she leads me to bed.

She inhales sharply and wipes my tears with her fingers.

“Now listen, child, there is always a choice. Do you want to have this baby?”

Fresh waves of emotion hit my body, and I begin to sob again.

“I—I have no idea; I am—I am so confused,” I cry.

“Shh,” she says, wiping my tears. “That’s okay. You don’t have to make any decisions hastily. How far along are you?”

“The doctor says three weeks.”

She nods. “That’s perfect. You have a few more weeks to decide what you want.”

I shake my head as the tears drop. “I don’t want to have a baby like this, Mary. I want my mother—I want my sister. I don’t want to be locked up in this room, in this house.”

She pulls me into her arms, and I cling to her, weeping.

“I know that I am not your mother—but as long as I am here, you’re not doing this alone.”

Her words make my sobs grow more violent as I cling to her. She soothes me by running her fingers through my hair. When I finally quiet down, she fetches me some tissues, and I try to pat my eyes dry.

“Meanwhile, we have to keep you healthy. I’ll make arrangements for some supplements to be sent here. You’re far too thin.”

I sniffle and look at my slender limbs. I’ve been so scared and stressed that I’ve barely been eating. I thought my nausea was due to being worried and scared. Now that I know I’ve been starving my baby, I feel terrible.

“Don’t worry,” she adds when she sees the look on my face. “I’ll be discreet.”

She is about to say something else, when there is a sharp knock on the door. She and I exchange glances. I nod, and she walks to the door, opening it.

“The boss wants you now,” the guard at the door says.

Mary and I exchange glances again.

“He wants me to come with you,” the guard adds.

I walk behind the guard to his study with my heart beating heavily. Did the doctor decide to tell him after all? A shiver runs down my spine, thinking of it. Would he make me keep the baby? Or would he force me to get rid of it?

The guard stops and motions me to go in.

“There you are,” Antonio says as soon as I walk in. He strides over to me and hugs me tightly.

“How do you feel?” he asks.

I close my eyes and force my mouth to work. “I—I am fine.”

He smiles tensely. “I am happy about that—here, sit,” he says.

He helps me to chair, and he helps me settle in. “Why am I here?” I ask.

He inhales deeply and lowers himself in front of me.

“You hate me, don’t you?” he asks a bit too suddenly.

I clutch the chair tightly as tears sting my eyes. “You took everything from me, my life, my sanity,” I stop.

And now you’re taking the joy of motherhood from me. I just heard that I was pregnant, and all I have felt since the minute I heard that, was pain and anxiety.

I don’t say this part out loud. I clutch tightly to the chair, staring at him.

“I am sorry for everything I have done to hurt you, Alyssa.”

I scoff. “Thank you, that means so much,” I reply between my teeth.

Something flashes in his eyes, but before I can read it, he looks away.

“I can’t give back what I have taken, but here is what I can do. You can go see your family.”

My eyes widen, and I look at him. A tear slips from my eyes, and he reaches out to wipe it away. “Don’t fuck with me.”

“I’m not.”

He straightens up to his full height.

“I’m too much of a coward to let you go completely just yet, but for a day or two, you can be with your family.”

I can’t believe him.

“What if I choose never to return?”

He looks down at me. “You don’t have a choice. You’re still mine, Alyssa.”

I have no words. I just sit still and try to figure out my next move. I place a hand over my belly, as if this will protect the tiny life growing within me. I have to think about someone else now, not just myself, or my selfish revenge.

I look at Antonio in a new light. He’s the father of my child. Can I really still be thinking about killing him? Everything feels like it’s moving too fast, and I can’t order my thoughts or make decisions.

He says a few more things that I can’t make out, and the next thing I know, Mary comes to take me to a parked car. I am ushered into the car as he stands there, looking at me.

His hands are tucked into his pockets, and his eyes are distant. He is the father of my child. The thought hits me slowly, sucking the life out of me. I look ahead as the gigantic gates open and the car starts to drive away.

I have been a prisoner for what seems so long that I have forgotten what the view beyond the gates looked like. I laugh bitterly and look down at my stomach.

Was I bringing a child into this world to become a prisoner just like I am? Why on earth can’t I bring myself to end this child’s unfortunate future before it begins?

I sniff and hold back tears. I look out of the window.

“Excuse me, I think you’re going the wrong way,” I tell the driver as I look at the unfamiliar route.

“You have nothing to worry about, ma’am. I am following the exact directions on the GPS.”

I close my eyes and inhale. Antonio is a jerk, but he wouldn’t hurt me, would he? Even if he wanted to get rid of me, he wouldn’t do it this way, would he?

Except if he found out about the baby or Giovanni. I feel the phone that I tucked into my dress. I could still use it to call his enemy.

I brush off my thoughts and focus on the scenery. After roughly an hour, we finally pull up to a strange house, and he stops.

“We are here, ma’am.”

“I told you,” I say as he opens my door. “This isn’t my home.”

I hear the sound of the door opening.

“Can we go before this becomes embarrassing? You probably have the wrong address.”

“Alyssa?”

I freeze at the sound of the familiar high-pitched voice. I turn to see Laura standing at the door.

How long have I been away? Why does she look so tall and pale? When did she cut her hair short?

She throws her head inside the house.

“Mom! It’s her!” she cries, before she runs to me.

I am still unable to move when she runs into my arms and envelopes me in a hug.

“Laura?”

“You’re so cruel! How could you leave us for months?” she sobs, burying her face in my chest.

“I—I don’t understand. Why are you here? Where is Mom?”

I look up to see my mother standing at the door, staring with tears in her eyes.

“Mom?”

I take Laura’s hand, and together we run to my mother. She is staring down at me with eyes full of tears.

“Mom, you’re standing,” I gasp, blinded by tears.

“Come here,” she says, pulling me in tight.

“You’re standing. You’re not hurting,” I gasp, holding her tight.

“Yes, baby,” she answers. “I am.”

My eyes don’t leave my mother as she walks around the kitchen, setting the table.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Laura, who is with me at the table, says.

I swallow. “I—I am just shocked, that’s all.”

“Don’t tease your sister,” she chides Laura gently.

Laura pouts. “She left us for so long. I’ve had no one to tease.”

“You’ve had me! That hurts,” Mama says, bringing dinner to the table.

“You don’t get my jokes.”

“Sorry, when did all this happen?” I cut in.

I look around at the house. It’s a huge space, almost as big as the rooms in the mansion. The living area has an expensive couch, a flat-screen TV, and a fireplace.

The kitchen is even more mind-blowing. The oven, the table, and the cutlery all look brand new.

“How can you afford all this?”

“Are you calling us poor?” Laura snaps, and I glare at her until she grins at me.

“It’s too early for you girls to fight. Let’s eat,” our mother says.

“Mom, please talk to me. How is your back?”

She smiles, settling down. “It turns out that all I needed was proper physical therapy. I don’t feel any pain these days.”

“A few weeks ago, she was hobbling with a cane, but yesterday, I caught her doing some kind of workout with a video on her phone,” Laura whispers.

“How can you afford physical therapy? Mom, don’t tell me you took out another loan,” I groan.

“You have been here barely ten minutes, how are you nagging already?” Laura says between her teeth, spooning some broccoli onto her plate.

I look down at the table. “And isn’t this too much food for just the three of us? How much did you spend on this?”

“She heard that you were coming, and she decided to cook up a storm. I, on the other hand, thought that some bread and butter was sufficient to welcome you, and it turns out that I was right.”

I inhale and turn to my mother, ignoring Laura.

“Who told you that I was coming, and why did you have the money to do all this?”

My mother shrugs. “I missed you,” she sighs. “It’s my fault they took you away in the first place.”

“No, it’s not!” Laura and I both say.

I sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but can I at least know who told you that I was coming?”

“Antonio Russo,” Laura says offhandedly.

“What?”

“Did you hurt your head there?” Laura asks, looking genuinely concerned.

“Be nice to your sister. She has been through enough,” my mother scoffs at Laura.

My mother turns to me. “Eat up first. I’ll explain it all later.”

I shake my head. “I need answers now. Why are you both here? What happened to our old place, and how are you able to afford all this?”

Laura wipes her mouth and looks up at me.

“Why does that matter? Would you rather we were still living in that horrible apartment, and that mom was still sick?”

“Don’t talk back to me.”

“Girls!”

Laura rolls her eyes. “Antonio did all this for us. He got us out of the apartment. He paid Mom’s bills and got her a decent job as a teacher. Is that enough explanation for you? Can we now have our meal in peace?”

“Laura, apologize to your sister at once.”

Their argument fades to the background, and I feel an ache around my heart.

Antonio did this? Why did he decide to help my family? And not only help them but set them up to live so comfortably?

It didn’t make any sense…unless….Antonio isn’t a monster.