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

I kick my desk in frustration and sweep all the items on top of it to the floor.

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Donatello snaps as he walks into the room, followed by Bunny.

I pace the room in a rage, running my fingers through my hair. How could I have let Giovanni one-up me like this? How do I explain this mess to my brothers? And why do I feel so hurt that Alyssa was probably a spy all along.

“Damn!” I cry again, kicking the desk again.

Donatello and Bunny exchange glances, carefully stepping over the hundred-and-one things scattered on the floor.

“What’s up with you? The men said you went down to the basement to see the girl. Why are you in such a bad mood?” Donatello asks.

“I mean, we got the girl, didn’t we?” Bunny asks.

I inhale and turn to them. “The girl, she used to work in the club,” I say.

Donatello looks at me in disbelief. “No way!”

“Giovanni, that sly bastard, he had a spy in our ranks all along,” Bunny mutters.

I kick the desk again. It hurts my foot, but I don’t care. She served drinks in private meetings. Only heaven knew how much she had overheard and how much she had reported back to Giovanni. I trusted her enough to expose my emotions to her. I feel like an idiot.

“Wait, did she confirm that she’s his spy?” Donatello asks. He tilts his head to the side as he looks at me in confusion.

I stop and glare at him, and so does Bunny.

“C’mon, man, do you think anyone is going to admit to being a spy? Use your fucking head,” I snap.

Donatello sighs. “There’s a chance that she isn’t a spy. Just because you wanted to use her like one doesn’t mean that Giovanni sent her to work for you.”

“You’re so naïve it’ll get you killed one day,” Bunny says dismissively, and Donatello makes a face in response.

“If she is a spy, what do we do now?” Bunny asks, “Do we kill her?”

“Are you crazy?” Donatello and I ask in unison. Bunny raises his hands in surrender.

“No need to shoot the messenger, just spitballing here,” he replies.

“Look, if she is a spy, we need to know how much she knows and then find a way to get rid of her… without killing her,” Donatello says, emphasizing the last part.

“Whatever you decide, man, I’m with you,” Bunny says, placing his hand over his heart.

I run my fingers through my hair in deep thought.

“I’ll keep her here,” I finally say.

“Are you crazy?”

“Have you lost your mind?”

I turn to my brothers.

“What else do you suggest we do? I won’t kill her. We don’t hurt women, remember? I can’t let her go back to Giovanni either.”

“I don’t know, man, maybe we can ship her off or something,” Bunny says.

“I’m with Bunny on this one. Keeping Giovanni’s spy here isn’t a good idea,” Donatello says.

“My mind is made up. I’ll keep her here until I figure out what I want to do with her,” I say.

They both know it’s useless to argue with me when my mind is made up, so they just mumble inaudibly.

“But not before I teach Giovanni a little lesson,” I add.

Bunny rubs his hands and smiles. “Now you’re talking. What do you have in mind?”

I turn to Donatello. “Do we have any priests in our contacts?” I ask him.

“Of course, we do. Men like us are embraced and accepted by the church. What the fuck, man?” he snaps sarcastically, and Bunny giggles.

“Then an officiant of some other kind will do. Get one this evening,” I say.

“Yes, umm, but one quick and minor question: why do we need an officiant?” Bunny asks.

“Because I’m marrying Giovanni’s girl,” I say.

Donatello sighs, and Bunny visibly gives up.

“What are you both waiting for? Go and prepare for my wedding. And get a maid in here on your way out to clean up this mess,” I say, waving them away. “Oh, make this wedding look good, too. We’re sending Giovanni a little bit of video so he can see what he missed out on,” I add.

I admire their ability to scrape up a wedding. By the time evening comes, they have turned the courtyard behind the house into a real wedding venue.

I walk into the outdoor space that is decorated with white flowers.

“Rings?” I ask Bunny. He slides his hands into his pocket and retrieves a box. I open it and see two rings inside.

“You’ve got great taste,” I say.

He chuckles. “Wasn’t a lot left to choose from after we split up the take from when we ransacked that hideout last month, but I didn’t think these were too terrible.”

“Where is Donny, by the way?” I ask.

“Present,” Donatello says, appearing, pulling a bald man behind him.

“Who is this?” I ask.

“The only person willing to do an impromptu wedding on a Wednesday evening,” he says, pushing the man toward me.

I turn to the officiant, who is shaking in fear. “You can preside over a legal wedding?” I ask.

He nods, quaking.

“He’s a dude who owes us ten grand, as well,” Donatello adds.

“Ah, I see,” I say, straightening the bald man’s collar. “Well, after this marriage, consider yourself debt-free,” I say.

“R—really?” he asks, shivering. I clap his back so hard that he almost falls.

“Of course, I mean it. What kind of man lies on his wedding day?” I ask.

I turn to Bunny and Donatello. “Bunny set up the cameras. Donatello, bring my future wife to be with me,” I say.

Bunny enthusiastically runs off to take care of his chore, while Donatello looks at me.

“Antonio, are you sure you want to do this? We can deal with Giovanni some other way,” he says.

I smile. “Get my bride, Donatello. We can’t make her late for her own wedding.”

“There is no getting through to you,” he sighs, leaving.

Giovanni played with fire when he decided to plant a spy in my club. I’m going to let him know that nothing gets past my eyes.

This is a clear message to him, and it’s okay if my brothers don’t understand.

Bunny appears with a camera, adjusting the lens. “I’m no professional cinematographer, but I think this all looks great,” he says happily, adjusting and changing a few more things.

He looks at me. “You’re dressed like that for your wedding?” he asks.

I look down at my black suit and shrug. It’s a designer label. Surely that’s good enough for a wedding.

You look like you’re going to a funeral,” Bunny says to me.

“Might as well be,” I shoot back, smoothing my hair. “It’s the funeral of Giovanni’s attempt to take control of my empire.”

“Which is as good a reason as any to get married,” he mutters, still shaking his head. I doubt that he agrees with my plan any more than Donny, but he’s less likely to raise a fuss.

Donatello soon appears, and behind him is Alyssa. My heart skips a beat at the sight of her, just like it did the first time I saw her in the basement, tied up and helpless. I mean it when I say that we don’t hurt women, but if they happen to like being hurt, well that’s another story.

I imagine a future situation where Alyssa might enjoy me tying her up very much and smile a little. I have so many plans for her that are still formulating in my mind.

She’s still tied up, and Donatello is pulling her by her arms. Her big green eyes that used to twinkle are now dull and sunken. There are also circles under her eyes, and her face is still stained with tears.

“Can we get this over with? I bet on a hockey game that’s coming on in about twenty minutes,” Donatello says as he brings her closer.

I see our kidnapped officiant shoot Donatello a sharp glance, but when he sees that I am looking at him, he clears his throat and looks at his shoes.

“This won’t take long,” I say, looking at my bride. I can see her scanning my face like she’s trying to figure out what I’m planning. I expected to see fear in her gaze, but instead, I just see a calculated and thoughtful look on her face. This gives me some pause, but I always knew she was smart enough to be dangerous to me. Why should that change now?

“Untie my bride, will you?” I ask Donatello.

He sighs and starts to undo the rope around her hands.

“You know what? I might prefer her to remain tied up,” I say, stopping him halfway. He sighs and rolls his eyes.

I look at her and smile. “She might have thought about giving us the slip, running back to Giovanni to report to him. We can’t have that.”

She snorts at my words, and the flare of anger in her eyes does something to me that’s not just physical. I find that I want her to be tied up just to let her know that I can and will control her. I control everything around here, and she’s not going to be any different.

“Hello, spy,” I say. She doesn’t speak. “Today, you and I will be getting married. What do you think?” I ask.

She looks like she’d like to spit in my face, but then she looks away.

I chuckle. “I know. It’s not like you have much of a choice,” I say.

She sniffs, and I realize that she’s crying.

“Oh, she is good. She even has me fooled,” Bunny says.

My lips harden. She really does think she can make a fool of me, doesn’t she?

“I’m not going to fall for the act,” I tell her, reaching out and grabbing a hunk of her silky, red hair and giving it a yank. “You’ve earned this and so much more. Be grateful that I’m only going to marry you as punishment for tricking all of us.”

Her top lip curls into a little snarl. “I thought you were different,” she hisses at me.

I wing my eyebrows in surprise. “Different than whom? All the thugs in my employ? All the bad men that you served in my club? Did you think I was a knight in shining armor despite my black suit, and dangerous friends?”

The anger in her expression softens, and she shakes her head a little. I feel the movement in the fingers that are still holding her long hair. “I should have known better,” she says quietly.

“Bunny, start recording,” I say, and I turn to the bald officiant. “Start the marriage,” I say to him.

The man wipes his hands on his jeans and starts stuttering out the marriage ceremony from memory.

I turn to Alyssa and smile. “Aren’t you special? By the time this is over, you’ll be Mrs. Russo,” I say as Bunny hovers between both of us with his camera.

A tear slips down her cheek, but when I wipe it away, her jaw is firm.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she says through gritted teeth.

I lean over to her and whisper, “Because you have made me look foolish, and I always get even with people who try to harm me.”

I lift her face and smile down at her.

“Now smile. It’s your wedding day,” I say.