Page 29 of Stolen Bride

My eyes go wide when I see my mother behind my sister. “Sorry. You know damn well I couldn’t tell your father no,” Gabe says. Of course, he wouldn’t dare, and I couldn’t either. I may be the Don, but my father is still a powerful man and a man we all respect.

“Of course,” I mutter. “Where is my father?”

“Waiting for you in your study.”

I set down the suitcases and wrap my mother in a hug. “Welcome back, Mother.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re glad I’m back, Son.” She slaps me in the chest. “Married?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“No? You don’t have a wife?”

“It’s not like we got married for love. That would never happen.” She frowns and then looks around my shoulder at my door.

“So, are these for me?” Stella’s voice comes from behind me. My eyes slam shut because even if I know the words are true, it still makes me an asshole. Then I remember why everyone is up here. Stella’s only dressed in my robe—a robe that is practically falling off her perfect body that belongs only to me.

A seething anger full of possessiveness engulfs me. I spin around to see her in the white robe again, looking even more enticing, and I want to destroy that thing. “What the fuck are you doing out of the room in that thing?” If I didn’t have my family standing around, I’d rip it right off of her body just to prove a damn point.

“What the fuck do you care?” she snaps, snatching the luggage from the ground and turning on her bare feet.

“We’ll be in here,” Grace says, sneering at me before following Stella and slamming the bedroom door.

“Oh, wow, Damiano. You have your hands full.” My mother shakes her head at me, smiling so damn wide. I tilt my body back to my bedroom door, wanting to go in there and straighten her ass out. My mother grabs my bicep. “How about you go talk to your father while I check on your bride?”

Gabe steps in front of me and says, “Your mother has a point, Dame.” I know he does because I’m not in the right frame of mind to do anything but teach my wife what happens if she ever wears another man’s clothes again. Why the fuck does that bother me?

“Fine.” I need a fucking drink or ten right now.

“Gabe, keep him from drinking too much.” Did I say that aloud?

He nods to her. “Yes, ma’am.”

I’m having a motherfucking breakdown. What is this woman doing to me? There is no way any woman has had this effect on me.Ever.I don’t like it. She’s nothing more than a beautiful face and a great distraction. I might not need sex, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want it. She’s a convenient way to have it regularly. That’s all. I won’t let that look on her face get to me.

We enter my office and Gabe goes to my bar, pouring me a drink and handing it to me before standing guard over it. Quickly, I send it down my throat, letting it burn, but it’s not enough. He gives me a warning look and fills the next one with a little less. He’s fucking lucky my guns are tucked away, but if I get around my desk, my best friend might have a problem if he doesn’t refill this motherfucker. I toss it back and set it on the table before taking a seat on my leather sofa with my feet kicked out.

My father has already taken the spot behind my desk like it’s his. He must have been reading my damn mind about the guns, but I have others. “Son, explain what the hell has transpired and why the man who told me a month ago he would never marry has a wife.”

“I had a point to prove.”

“A point?”

“Yes, a bastard owed me money, then he had something I wanted. A fair deal. In fact, I’ll be dealing with him soon. He’s waiting for me in the special location, but since I promised a dinner, it will have to wait.”

“You couldn’t have just fucked the girl and sent her on her way?” My nostrils flare, and for the first time in a long time, I want to fight my father. Why was I pissed about my father’s words?

Instead, I control myself because I’m not a ballsy teenager with temper issues. I’m the damn Don, and I do what the fuck I please. “Nope, I wanted to humiliate him and add insult to injury. Now I have a pretty, temporary toy until I grow tired of her. Will you be joining us for dinner?”

“I suppose your mother will definitely want to stay. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t I always?” I brush off his concerns because I have more important things to handle, like getting my hands on Stella’s stepfamily and destroying them.

“You’re in uncharted waters.” The housekeeper knocks on the door to inform me that dinner is ready.

Chapter Fifteen

Stella