by Sam Crescent
She needed to understand that it didn’t matter to him where she went; he would always find her.
Standing in his father’s office, he listened to the latest coke deal, silently waiting for the meeting to come to an end. They offered the chain, taking forty percent of the profits so the coke could be distributed around the city.
They didn’t touch the stuff, but provided safe passage for it to their shores. It didn’t cost them a cent, but earned them a great sum of the profit. Of course, if anyone died, there was also a nice little crew to pin the deaths on, so it was a win-win from all angles.
With the call ended, he stood before his father.
“I need to go to the hospital,” he said.
“Son, you don’t need to do any such thing. I will have your mother present.”
“I want to go.”
Antonio sat back. “And why would you want to do that?”
“I hope to be part of my son’s life.”
“You don’t know if it’s a boy yet.”
“I still want to be there. Didn’t you?”
“No. Once I knew you were a boy, I left all the other nonsense to the women. I dealt with you when I needed to, and look at what a fine boy you’ve turned out to be.” His father picked up a cigar and took a long puff. The tip glowed as he smiled. “You may go. I have no use for you, but the moment you find out the sex, we want to know.”
“We?”
“Yes. It’s important the fortune stays with us. Not only did the empire belong to us, but on your marriage, certain … paperwork of a delicate nature was given back to us, and we can’t allow our secrets to be exposed. There is no way we would allow ourselves to be weak again. I must know. Understand?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Good.”
Marcus left his father’s office and made his way to the hospital. He didn’t know what kind of mood Laura would be in, but he would hold Lucas for ransom if that was really necessary. The dog had been his only connection to his wife in these past couple of weeks. His father had yet to deliver a new dog, and he had given up on relying on the old bastard.
He would find a dog for Laura.
He had to win his way back into her heart.
As he got to the hospital, he paused.
Win his way back into her heart? There was no guarantee he’d been in her heart in the first place. Their relationship had never been an easy one.
In fact, it had been really fucking hard.
He’d bullied her.
She’d been a bitch.
Neither of them had really gotten on well at all. Half of the time, he had found her annoying. But even as he hated her and she hated him, they had shared moments together. That couldn’t have been in his imagination, and the attraction between them was off the charts. No one could make that up. Against all odds, they wanted each other, and he wasn’t going to let Laura get away from him.
He didn’t mind her thinking there was an escape from him, so long as she knew the truth. There was no way he’d ever let her go. Not now. Not ever.
Having the wealth and power he possessed as the capo’s son, he walked right into one of the private rooms where his wife was already sitting, waiting for him. Her shirt was pulled up, and he didn’t see much of a bump.
“Can you even tell the sex or if it’s even alive at this point?” Laura asked.
The doctor offered her a smile, and Marcus moved toward Laura. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away from him.
The doctor saw too much, and Marcus didn’t give her a chance to pull away again. He took hold of her hand, and made sure she didn’t have control; he did.
This time, she didn’t fight him as he took her hand and locked their fingers together.
“We won’t be able to determine sex today. Your little baby has a little more growing to do before we can do that. We’ll be able to hear a heartbeat, and maybe see something small on the screen.”
Marcus didn’t let her go as the machine was set up.
“This will be a little cold.”
“It’s fine,” Laura said.
She let out a little gasp as the ultrasound wand was placed on her stomach. For several seconds neither of them spoke, and then he heard it.
The sound of a heartbeat.
He had never in all of his years heard anything quite so precious as he did from her stomach.
It was beautiful.
His child.
“I don’t know if you can see anything, but it’s right there. Strong heartbeat already.” The rest of the doctor’s words faded away as he marveled at what they’d created together.
This was beautiful.
Sweet.
Their baby.
Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “I will protect you and our child at all costs.”
He meant it.
Every single word.
Chapter Eleven
One year ago
Marcus sat at the dinner table in the restaurant as men and women continued to make their speeches. None of them were important, all of them complete bullshit, and he was fucking bored.
Glancing down at the time, he knew there was no way of getting out of this. No way of finding the time or the space to be free of the lies and manipulation.
“When do you think you’ll be getting married?” Laura asked.
He didn’t know why she was always around during these events. It wasn’t like her family was even important, and seeing her now pissed him off.
She was supposed to be a civilian, but he knew more about her than most of the fucking bitches he protected.
Laura offered him a smile, and it wasn’t a mocking one either. Just a smile. There were times he didn’t know if Laura was a bitch or just a pain in his ass.
Either way, it wasn’t going to stop the way he felt about her. He hated her, but his feelings weren’t always directed to hatred either. She was a source of contention between him and his father.
He had to protect her, but he wasn’t told why. As his father always liked to berate him, it’s not his job to know why. It’s his job to do as he was told, and if he didn’t follow instructions, he would be punished for it.
The family didn’t have room for questioners, and he didn’t like it.
“Why are you here?” he asked, not in the least bit interested in the wedding around him.
Staring into Laura’s dark brown eyes, he felt himself drawn to her. No matter how much he hated her, he couldn’t allow anything to happen to her. He often spent a great deal of time thinking about her at the most inappropriate moments. It didn’t help how she invaded his thoughts when he least expected it.
Pushing those feelings to one side, he waited for her response.
She took a bite of her strawberry and shrugged. “I don’t know. I was told I didn’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, well, it would seem you and I have something in common.”
“You don’t have control either? You’ve got to do as you’re told.”
“Every freaking day,” he said.
“Look at us, talking like normal people.”
“There is nothing normal about us.”
“You got that right.” She smiled at him, raising her glass. “To forced weddings.”
****
Four months pregnant and Laura felt sick to her stomach. She put a protective hand on her child and took several deep breaths.
Her baby was a little girl.
Marcus had been there with the announcement, but the moment the doctor told him the sex, he’d been gone.
One of his loyal drivers had taken her home, and now she was all alone in the big, scary house. She hated this place more than anything. It wasn’t a home, and no matter how many times Marcus told her to find the means of making it a home, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This wasn’t a home for her.
The house was more of a prison.
She couldn’t go anywhere without anyone’s say-so.
If Marcus wasn’t around, the
guards on duty had to call him.
She didn’t have a life.
Sitting in the guest bedroom, she felt so alone.
Afraid.
This wasn’t the sex Marcus’s father wanted. They wanted her to have a boy, and now, she didn’t know how far her husband was willing to go to satisfy the men in his family. Would he hurt their daughter?
The door to the bedroom opened.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Marcus said. “I don’t want you sleeping here anymore. You’re my wife, Laura. You won’t be staying in here.” He walked over to her closet and started to pull out her clothes.
“You’re not going to talk about what happened at the doctor’s office? You haven’t got some mad confession to make about how we’re going to have a little girl?” She hated how emotional she got as she got to her feet, pushing the shirt down.
She wore larger clothes, always had, but for some reason, it only seemed to enhance her pregnant state.
“Your father is going to try to hurt my baby,” she said.
Marcus moved toward her. “I will not let anything happen to our daughter.” He cupped her face. “I know I haven’t given you a single reason to trust me, and I don’t blame you. I will never harm our child.”
“But you’ve always said you will follow your father’s orders. How can you not?”
“I will not hurt our baby.” He sank to his knees on the floor before her.
She gasped as he pressed his face to the fabric of her shirt, kissing her. It was the most they had touched in the past four months. She had been too afraid to even allow herself to get close to him.
Unable to resist touching him, she put her hand on his head, running her fingers through the strands of his hair.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“No. You don’t have to be sorry. I am.” He kissed her stomach again. “I promise you, Laura Giovanni. Our daughter will live, and we will raise her to be a good woman. You and I. No one will ever take her away, or cause you harm.” He stood up and staring into his stark blue eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. She had no reason to doubt him.
“I … I want to come back to our bed.”
“Good, because that is where you’re supposed to be. With me, in our bed.” He pushed some hair back from her face.
“I’m bloated.”
“You’re beautiful. I won’t have anyone else tell you differently. You’ll always be beautiful to me.”
She paused as he tried to lead her out of the room. “Beautiful?”
He stopped.
“You think I’m beautiful?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve never said that to me before.”
“I mean it.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “You think I’m beautiful.” It seemed to strange to think of him as seeing her beautiful.
“You’re not used to having a compliment?”
“I’m not used to you being the one to give me one.”
He cupped her face with both of his hands, tilting her head back. “Then you’re going to be in for many surprises, Laura. I do think you’re a beautiful woman.”
“I bet you say that to all of the women.”
“No. I don’t tell women what I think of them. It’s not my place to do that.” He ran his thumb across her lip. “But with you, you’re my wife, and I will tell you the truth.”
“You want me to believe you haven’t been to see another woman? We haven’t touched … or done anything.”
“I took my vows seriously when I married you, Laura. I haven’t been to see any other woman. I won’t lie to you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Now, let’s get you back into my bed, where you belong.”
****
Three days later, Marcus wasn’t happy when his wife didn’t pick up the new cell phone he’d given her. There was no reason or excuse for her not to be picking up. He called the house line, only for it to keep on ringing.
Snapping his cell phone closed, he drove toward his home, seeing the car parked outside. Entering the gate, he knew something wasn’t right. The man on the front door was dead, bleeding out across the steps.
He didn’t put a call out to his men in case of Laura’s safety.
No one had ever tried to attack him at home, and as he made his way inside, he saw Rosa was also dead, shot to the head. A tray had fallen from her grip, and it looked like she’d been coming downstairs.
He heard the sounds of screams, his wife’s, and he rushed upstairs.
Without waiting for backup, he went straight to his room where he saw Laura being pinned down. Three men held her down as she screamed at them to leave her alone, and their baby. She was a fighter, but he caught sight of a man he had seen many times.
A doctor.
“I have my orders, I’m afraid.”
Without another word, Marcus fired his gun at the men and took all three of them out before the doctor could even run. As he tried to make his escape, he shot a bullet into the man’s knee.
The doctor screamed out, the pain echoing around the room.
Laura sobbed and he rushed toward her side, pulling her into his arms.
“They were going to hurt my baby. They killed Rosa. I tried to run. I tried to hide.”
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” He held his wife close and stared at the doctor, who was screaming in agony.
There was no need to question the man.
His father had sent his private doctor in order to hurt his baby daughter. He had told his father there would be more children, and he wanted to keep every single girl and boy. There weren’t going to be any accidents or abortions.
It would seem he had a visit to make to his father.
Only last week, he’d reduced the number of men walking the grounds because their soldiers had been needed elsewhere. He now knew his father had intended to kill his unborn child, and had manipulated him in order to make Laura vulnerable.
He would never make that mistake again. With Laura in his arms, he called for backup. His soldiers, his men, were quick to respond.
“Don’t leave me,” Laura said, holding onto him. “Please.”
“My men are here, and I promise you, nothing will happen to you. You’ll be safe and protected always, but I’ve got to go and deal with something.”
“Really? Right now? Our baby was about to be killed. I know that injection, he was going to harm her.”
“I know, and I will deal with him. I promise you.” He held her face. He could have lost her today. “But right now, I need to make sure this can’t happen again, and while he’s breathing, he will.”
“He?”
He stared into her eyes so she had no doubt as to whom he was referring. There was only one person he needed to take care of.
“But, it’s against the rules.”
“I don’t care.” He stroked the tears away from her cheeks. “I will be back, and when I do, we will need to talk.”
He kissed her lips, needing the closeness with her. There was no way he would have been able to handle her being gone. This marriage, it had started out as a forced one, bringing them together through an arrangement, but now, he couldn’t be without her. Didn’t want to be.
Marcus made sure his best man stayed by his wife’s side.
“If anything happens to her, I will make you wish for death long before I deliver it. I’ll kill every single person you hold dear and make you watch as I bathe in their blood.”
His solider knew the dire consequences of what would happen, and Marcus, with only two men, traveled to his father’s house.
No one suspected a thing, and Marcus was brimming with the need to do violence. To see his father die before his eyes.
When he climbed out of the car, his men stayed at the door as he entered the home he’d despised since he was a child.
There was no one in Antonio Giovanni’s office, other than the man himself. His mother was probably passed out somewhere fro
m drink or drugs.
Stepping into his father’s office, Marcus stared at the man he’d protected most of his life. The man with the title of capo, and the person he should protect.
“Ah, Marcus, you’re here. I want to talk to you about a new space we’ve just acquired. It has all the necessary building regs to be a bar, but I’m thinking something bigger.”
“You sent a doctor to my house today to end my daughter’s life,” Marcus said. He’d already put the silencer on the gun, and as he stared at the man before him, he wanted to watch him beg for life.
There was no way he was going to get any enjoyment out of this.
“You need to understand, son, you must have a son. You think I didn’t take care of matters myself? Women make you weak, and when I heard your mother was having a girl first, I knew there were means to secure your future. I was thinking of you. One day, you will thank me.”
“You stopped Mom from having more children?”
“I killed the first one. A daughter means nothing to me. It makes everyone look weak, having to find a suitable husband, drawing together power, when you don’t need it. Women are nothing more than to be used, and I have no use for them. You should thank me. Now with the brat out of the way, I will provide you two additional weeks. You will fuck her until you breed a son. Nothing more.”
“I shot the bastard’s knees before he could get close to my wife.”
Antonio looked up, shocked. “You stopped it?”
“Of course I stopped it. My wife will be giving birth to my daughter. There is no way you will be taking either of them from me.”
Antonio burst out laughing. “Well, this is certainly something I didn’t take into consideration, isn’t it? You falling for your fucking wife! Tell me, Marcus, you think your feelings will make you strong, is that it? You look at her, and you can’t see yourself being with another woman. They make you weak. They’re a cunt to take pleasure in, and the right one is to give you the brat you want, not anything more.”
He stared at his father.
The hatred he’d buried down all of his life slowly rose up, coming to the surface. He had always hated this man, but he’d used his feelings to fuel his need to kill. To eliminate him.