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

Donatello leans over my body with a grim smile on his blurry face.

“W—where is Bunny?” I ask, but no words come out.

“I want the details for the account, Antonio.”

“Alyssa, where is she? Did you hurt her?”

He kicks at me in rage, digging into my side, but I feel nothing but a dull pain.

“I see you’re still thinking about that bitch. All right, I’ll fix that!”

He aims his gun at Alyssa, who appears out of nowhere. There is no hint of alarm in her eyes as he points the gun at her.

“What are you doing? Run, Alyssa!” I cry, struggling to get to my feet.

But I feel like a stranger in my own body. I have no control over any of my limbs.

I am stuck to the floor, forced to watch as he pulls the trigger.

“No! No! No!” I scream, bolting upright.

A sharp pain shoots through my body, and I fall back, groaning.

A door squeaks open, and Alyssa’s face appears.

“Antonio, oh my God, you’re awake!” she cries, running to me.

With my only free hand, I reach over to her and stroke her face with a shaky hand.

“You’re alive,” I gasped, feeling her soft, silky skin. Her eyes are bloodshot as if she hasn’t gotten proper sleep in days, but they are still big and beautiful.

“I’m fine, Antonio,” she whimpers, staring at me tenderly.

I stroke her tired face, and she puts her arms around me.

“You should lie down. I’ll get you some water,” she says, making me lay back down.

As she leaves the room, my eyes scan my environment. I am not at the mansion, so where am I?

The room is small, and apart from the wooden bed underneath me, it has nothing else in it save a table, a chair, and a wooden closet.

There is a big window at the extreme left of the room that is shut, probably to stop the sun’s rays from directly hitting my face.

There is a smaller window above my head as well.

I can hear the faint chirping of birds outside, and I can see a view of trees.

It hits me that we are in the woods.

The door opens, and Alyssa enters, holding a glass of water. Bunny is with her.

“You’re awake,” he says in disbelief, walking over to me.

His eyes are bloodshot, just like Alyssa’s. He has bandages on both his palms as well.

“What happened to you?” I ask as he walks over to me, pulling me in for a hug.

“I thought you weren’t going to wake up again,” he says, holding me tight.

I pat his back with my good hand, and behind us, Alyssa smiles softly.

Later, I sit on the airy wooden veranda, watching her as she takes care of my wounds.

“Does it hurt?” she asks.

I shake my head.

“We had no idea you would wake up. We should have cleaned them while you were unconscious,” she says, dabbing at my wounds.

“It doesn’t hurt,” I reply to her.

As she carefully cleans up my wounds and starts wrapping them up with new bandages, Bunny appears again.

“I just got off a call with your mother. She reminded us that we need to get you started on your antibiotics,” he tells me.

“You speak with her mother now?” I ask.

He and Alyssa exchange looks.

“You should bring him up to speed. I’ll go get the antibiotics.”

She nods at him.

“Hey,” she calls out to him.

“Do you think you can go into town later and get some more food for us?” she asks him.

“Yeah. Anything else?”

She stops and thinks. “Maybe get some fresh clothes for all of us. Oh, and get some lemons so I can make lemonade.”

“I hate lemonade.”

“Oh—well then, more for me,” she says, returning her attention to my wounds.

He rolls his eyes and gives me a little wink before disappearing inside. He comes back with a bottle of large, white pills, then nods at me and goes back inside.

I hear the sound of a car engine start before the sound veers away.

“There,” she says, looking up at me.

I look down at my freshly wrapped leg.

“Now for your shoulder,” she says.

She picks up a fresh bandage and walks up to me, leaning over.

I ignore her familiar scent as she leans over me to wrap my arm.

I look away and bite my inner lips to hold in the pain until she finishes wrapping.

“You’re all done,” she says.

I mutter an almost inaudible thank you, fighting the demon that says I should focus on her nipples, which are poking out from under her tank top.

“We can’t make any real food until Bunny returns, but I could make you a ham sandwich. Just hold tight for a few.”

“Forget it,” I say.

She stops, and the light in her eyes slowly fades.

“I thought you would be hungry. You haven’t eaten anything in days.”

“I’ll make it myself.”

She looks down at my bandages.

“I think it’ll be easier if I do it for you.”

“I don’t want you to do it. Could you just let me know where we are and why we are here?”

“I was going to tell you. Why do you sound so angry?”

“I asked a question.”

She exhales like she is holding in tears.

“This is a cabin that Bunny said would be safe, and we are here because—because,” her voice falters.

“We are here because it’s the safest place to hide from your brother who wants to fucking kill you.”

The pain in her eyes is like stab wound to my chest.

“Alyssa, I didn’t mean to snap at you—”

“Of course you didn’t.” I reach out to her, but she pulls away.

“I’ll be inside if you need anything,” she says, walking away quickly without making eye contact.

I sigh and watch her leave. I look down at my bandages and the memory of Donatello returns. Who would have thought that of all the enemies I gathered in my treacherous life, the one who would send me into hiding would be my brother?

I look out to the deep woods and stare at the green trees and bushes. I shut my eyes tight and mutter a prayer that this was all a dream. But it isn’t, so I open my eyes and stare at nothing until the afternoon turns into sunset, giving way to the evening.

I hear the sounds of the engine as the car pulls up again, and I hear Bunny’s heavy steps as he walks onto the wooden deck. He appears to be holding a large paper bag.

Our eyes meet, and he looks at me, confused. “Why are you out here? You should be resting,” he says.

Alyssa appears and walks up to him. She mutters a thank you and relieves him of the paper bag, then walks inside. Her face is swollen, and she makes a visible effort to ignore me.

Bunny watches as she disappears, then turns to me. “What in the hell did you say to her?” he asks fiercely.

I sigh and look away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I reply.

He scoffs. “I’m stuck with you because you’re the only family I have. She has no reason to want a jerk like you.”

“Exactly!” I reply, looking away. “Why is she here? She has no reason to be.”

Bunny sighs and takes the seat before me. “You’re mad at her for being with you?” He asks.

I think of how much I hate myself for all that I have done to her; that’s enough guilt as it is. But the memories of her risking her life to pull me to safety when all I did was keep her locked up and chained is more than I can take.

“At first, I didn’t get it either. I mean, I don’t get anything about your relationship with her; it truly confuses the heck out of me.” Our eyes meet, and he smiles fondly at me.

“So what changed? Why do I wake up, and you’re all chummy with her?”

Bunny chuckles and replies “You sound angry that she likes me more than she likes you.”

I clench my fist, and his eyes widen. “Easy, tiger that was just a joke. Relax, will you?”

“Make your jokes funnier,” I spit back.

“I don’t know, man,” he says, returning to the topic at hand. “All I know is that, for some reason, she cares about you.”

“She hates me; she told me to my face many times.”

“You deserve it. You kidnapped her and forced her to marry you.”

I sigh. “Gee, thanks, I was starting to forget.”

He chuckles. “You’re a person who has done a lot of things right. I think since this is the one time you’ve messed up, you might want to cut yourself some slack. Or not, maybe. You did mess up pretty badly.”

“I don’t think I have done a lot of things right. If I had, I wouldn’t have kicked you out, and Donatello wouldn’t be trying to kill us.”

He shrugs. “What could you have done to change that? Donatello chose his path.”

“I should have seen his discontent.”

“Hey, I was discontented, too. That didn’t turn me into a murderous psycho. I can’t believe he shot you.”

I turn to him. “Did you mean it, when you said I didn’t have what it takes to lead?” I wince.

“I was pretty brash with my words back then.”

“You were.”

“Antonio, you changed. I can’t explain how, but you were starting to act differently. Plus, you hit me,” he lowers his voice. “That hurt. Not just physically.”

I swallow and look at my legs. “I am sorry, I—I wish I hadn’t done that.”

“I had it coming. But I think I understand why you started feeling different.”

“Why is that?”

He scans my face with hidden amusement in his eyes. I stare back, waiting for an answer to my question.

“You’re asking for the truth?” Bunny says looking at me seriously.

“Yes,” I answer.

“You fell in love with her.”

His answer takes a dreadful amount of time to sink in. And when it does, I throw back my head, and I laugh. “Don’t mess with me, Bunny,” I say, cackling.

He watches me silently as I let out spurt after spurt of laughter. “That was rich,” I cry, wiping my eyes.

“Are you done?” he asks, unimpressed.

“You’re funny.”

“If you think that’s funny, wait until you hear this. For some weird reason, she is in love with you too.”

It’s my turn to watch him throw back his head and laugh.

“That’s enough!” I snap, and he stops laughing immediately. I sigh. “She can’t love me, she hates me.”

“If it helps, it confuses me too. She should be with her family, but she’s out here with us in a stupid cabin that could be attacked by our crazy brother at any time.”

“What do you mean by, she should be with her family?”

“When we left the mansion, you were pretty banged up. Her mother and the doctor pretty much saved your life. Before we left, her mom asked if she was willing to go run away with them.”

“She refused?”

“I told you it beats me. There can only be one explanation.”

My lips quiver, and I feel a sting in my throat. “I hurt her so much, Bunny. I hate myself.”

He sighs sharply. “You’re not alone. We’ve been in here for three days, and I can barely bring myself to look her in the eyes.”

I turn to my brother. “What do I do? How do I make it up to her?”

“For starters, you can stop being so hard on yourself. If she still loves you after all you put her through, maybe she sees you for the man you truly are.”

“An asshole.”

“An asshole who protects the people he loves fiercely. An asshole who is fair and just, and an asshole who would give his life ten times over for his family.” Bunny stands and looks down at me. “Don’t get so consumed by guilt that you lose touch with the goodness in you.” He taps my good shoulder.

“You should have some food now.”