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

I drive until we are twenty minutes away from the mansion and in the middle of nowhere, coming to a sudden stop at the panicked cries of Bunny asking me to stop the car.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I park the car on the side of the empty road.

I see a terrified Bunny looking down at Antonio with tear-filled eyes.

“He stopped moving—he—”

I toss the seatbelt back and turn toward the back of the car, where Bunny is holding Antonio and looking at me.

Antonio’s eyes are glued shut, he is as white as a ghost, and his body is still. My hands shake as I reach out to his neck to feel his pulse.

His body is cold, but I can make out faint heartbeats. I exhale in relief as I look at Bunny.

“He’s alive.”

“He won’t be for long. We need to help him.”

“I’ll drive to a hospital,” I respond, making to return to the driver’s seat.

“Are you crazy—no!”

He is staring at me like I’m crazy.

“The hospital is going to have to make a police report for gunshot wounds.”

“So?”

He laughs bitterly. “You’re clueless, aren’t you?”

I turn to him in rage. “I know you dislike me, but we have to get your brother to safety. We do not have time for you to argue with me.”

His face softens as he looks down at his wounded brother.

“We’re criminals. The police will only take him in.”

I immediately recall the visit from the cops a week ago, and I sigh.

Suddenly, an idea hits me.

I return to the driver’s seat and pull on my seatbelt.

“Hang on, I know somewhere,” I say.

He looks like he wants to ask where, but he looks down at Antonio and seems to choose silence.

I step down on the pedal, and we zip back toward town.

We pull into the driveway of the home Laura and my mother live in.

“Wait here,” I call to Bunny, getting out of the car.

I dart to the front door and desperately knock.

“Where the fuck did you go?” Laura snaps as she opens the door, only to be silenced by the blood on my clothes.

“What is happening?” she asks, looking at me in panic.

“Is Mom home?” I ask urgently.

She turns away from me.

“Mom! Can you come here?”

My mother appears from the kitchen.

“Laura, honey, is that Alyssa?” she asks.

She also falls silent as she sees me.

“Mom, I have a dying man outside,” I say before she can start to ask any questions.

“What?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll explain everything later. He has two gunshot wounds, one to his leg and the other wound is to his upper body. Can you help him?” I ask my mother.

“No way—take him to the hospital,” cries Laura.

I look at my mom with pleading eyes. “Mom, I cannot take him to the hospital.”

My mother’s face changes from shock to sternness.

“Laura, get the first aid box and boil me some hot water.”

“But Mom!”

“Now!”

Laura murmurs something inaudible as she walks away.

My mother turns to me.

“What are you waiting for? Get him inside the house, go through the back—it’s a nosy neighborhood.”

Tears of gratitude sting my eyes as I return to the car to get Bunny and Antonio.

Antonio lies on the clean sheets that Laura spreads on the laundry room floor as Bunny calls for the doctor.

“Scissors,” she calls to Laura. Laura pulls the scissors from the scalding hot water.

With the scissors, my mother cuts through his blood-soaked shirt and pants. Because of the blood, it’s tricky to find the bullet holes, but she carefully rinses away some of the blood and presses a clean towel to the wound on his leg.

“Press here,” she tells me. I replace her hands with my own, closing my eyes at the sight of the wound. Maybe it’s the pregnancy, which makes me queasy all the time right now, or the stress, but I can’t look at Antonio’s injuries without wanting to throw up.

My mother rinses off Antonio’s shoulder next, and then she presses another clean towel against the wound. Antonio stirs a little, frowning, but he doesn’t wake up.

“How long until the doctor gets here?” she asks of Bunny.

“He said about ten minutes,” Bunny replies. “Can I help with anything?”

My mother shakes her head. “No. Unless you want to pray. That’s all any of us can do now.”

The ten minutes until the doctor arrives tick by with agonizing slowness. I’m not sure if Bunny is praying, but he’s muttering to himself and pacing around the room, combing his hands through his hair from time to time.

Finally, the doorbell rings, and Bunny races to open it, practically shoving Laura out of the way in his haste to get to the door.

“Just the two wounds?” the doctor asks as he comes to join us on the floor.

“Yes,” my mother says.

“Do you have a strong enough stomach to help me try and get these bullets out?” he asks her.

She nods firmly. “I do. Alyssa, you’d better go with your sister. You look like you’re going to pass out.”

She might be right, but I don’t want to leave Antonio’s side. I shake my head, but my vision blurs and swims.

“You both can go get cleaned up,” my mother says again without looking up at me or Bunny. “The doctor and I have work to do here.”

Laura gently taps Bunny, who gets up hesitantly to leave his brother.

“Come on, Alyssa,” she says to me, practically dragging me to my feet. I clutch onto her, suddenly dizzy.

“The bathroom is just over there,” she says to Bunny as she leads me to the room I have been staying in since Antonio let me go.

He nods forlornly.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Laura snaps as she starts tugging off my ruined clothing. “You practically run away from home like a dramatic, spoiled teenager, then you return home with a man who is half dead—”

“He isn’t half dead. Don’t say that,” I snap.

Laura stares at me in disbelief. “That’s the only part of my sentence that mattered to you?”

I sigh. “Laura, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

“Clearly.” Laura’s lips thin out, and she glares at me. “Things were going just fine before you came back.”

The door opens before I can reply, and my mother walks in.

“Don’t speak to your sister like that,” she chides.

“But it’s true,” Laura cries, turning to her. “The minute I tell her to come back and start over with us, she goes and brings all this chaos down on us again.”

“Laura, that’s enough. Either help your sister, or go away,” my mother orders.

Laura looks at her, then me, before she storms out of my room, slamming the door behind her.

My mom lowers herself onto my bed, and for a minute, we sit in silence.

“Don’t be hard on Laura. She’s not wrong, ” I finally say.

My mother shakes her head. “You and Antonio saved our lives. She doesn’t need to abuse you like that.”

“Is Antonio…” I start to ask, but I can’t bear to finish the sentence. I swallow the lump in my throat.

“The doctor said both the wounds were clean. The bullets passed right through. He’s calling in favor to get some blood brought over to do a transfusion, but he’s got him all bandaged up for now and he’s giving him some fluids.” She smiles a little. “The doctor is very good at his job.”

My sobs of relief choke me. I pull away from her grip and cover my body with my hands as if they can shield me from the pain racing through my body.

“What’s wrong?” she asks me, watching me with a little frown on her face.

“I’m carrying his child,” I gasp.

The words leave my mouth with such force that it feels like my heart foes with them.

My mother’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“But isn’t that good news?” she asks me.

“I don’t know, Mom. I just found out. I have no idea what to do.”

A tear slides down my mother’s face, but she’s smiling at me. “I’m going to be a grandmother.”

“I just want him to live, Mom,” I inhale.

“And the baby.”

“I’ll keep her, even if I have to raise her alone.”

My mom reaches over and strokes my hair.

“You think it’s a her?”

I chuckle through tears, nodding.

“I feel it.”

My mother laughs. “A mother always knows.”

I slowly lean over to my mother, and she holds me tight.

“You have Laura and me. You’ll never be alone.”

“Pretty sure Laura hates me.”

“She’ll get over it.”

The door flings open suddenly, and Bunny walks in, dripping wet and covered with a towel he tied around his waist.

He is holding up his phone.

“I got a call from one of my brother’s surviving guards. Donatello is after us.”

My mother looks up in shock, and I glare hard at Bunny, who finally realizes that he’s basically naked.

“Fuck! I am so sorry, ma’am,” he apologizes, returning to the bathroom.

I turn to my mother for the first time, feeling fear. She reads my mind because she takes my hands and squeezes them.

“I think we need to leave. The doctor can take care of Antonio, but the rest of us need to hide.”

My eyes well up with tears again.

“Shh, don’t cry. We will figure this out.”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to stay with him. I don’t think Bunny will leave either.”

“I know you want to be by his side. I understand.”

“It’s not pathetic?”

My mom pulls me up to my feet.

“No. You are kind, you are beautiful, and you are smart.”

She places a kiss on my head and slowly gets up.

“We don’t have any time left. I’ll get Laura to start packing.”

Her words make me wipe my tears and get up to my feet.

In just under an hour, my mother and Laura are packed and ready to leave. We stand out in the backyard, not sure what to do with ourselves.

“Here,” my mother says, handing me a key. “I rented a truck to take some things to the dump. I don’t think he can trace you guys with the truck.”

My hands quiver as I look at my mother, weakened by her kindness.

I hold her hands. “Mom.”

“You can still come with us,” Laura says, not looking at me, but I can see a hint of tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” is the only reply I can muster.

I reach over and pull my mother in for a tight hug.

“Call me. I want to know you are safe,” she whispers.

“I will.”

I look up at Laura, who is wiping away her tears.

I go to hug her, but she lifts her hands, stopping me.

“You had the chance to choose us for once,” she turns to my mom, looking ahead helplessly. “Just try to stay in one piece,” she adds before she walks away.

My mother watches as Bunny carries Antonio’s unconscious and heavily bandaged body into the car.

I look at her one last time and wave goodbye, promising to call her once we get to a safe place.

“I can drive if you’re not up for it,” Bunny whispers gently before we get into the truck.

“I would appreciate that,” I answer as we get into the car.

As we drive away, I sniff away my tears and look at Antonio, who is in the back of the truck, covered with a blanket my mother gave us. He mumbles something in his sleep.

“Your mother— the Russo’s owe her one,” Bunny says, eyes on the road. “And you too,” he adds.

“Thanks,” I said absent-mindedly, staring back at the man behind me whom I have now chosen twice over my own family.