Page 65 of The Gangster King

“You look beautiful, darling.” She kisses Adelina.

“You do know I’m still your son’s prisoner, right?”

The hell?

That’s not exactly being a good girl. If she needs me to spell out my expectations, I’m happy to do it.

“Of course dear. But you do look beautiful and make quite an impression together,” Mama replies, her hand on Adelina’s arm.

I smile at both of them.

Adelina glances between us both, frowning. “You are both fucking insane, you know that, right?”

Mama pats her arm. “He’ll come around.”

“Oh, my god.” Adelina shakes her head, and I squeeze her hip in warning.

“That’s enough.” I rumble.

Tonight she asked me to fuck her. Took the head of my cock inside her and nearly made me lose complete control.

If I had, she would’ve hated me for it.

It would be just like Adelina to claim she was coerced.

Which, fine, yes, I’ve kidnapped her. So technically there is that.

But she’s warming to the idea of being my wife. I can tell. She loves my touch. Craves it. Demands it, as she did today.

Overall, her resistance is much less than what it was when she first came to live with me.

One could call it Stockholm syndrome.

I like to call it...fate.

I’m considering moving her into my bedroom.

We will see how tonight goes.

“Congratulation on your new position,” Dominic De Luca, a fellow don, says, reaching out his large hand adorned with one of the chunky gold and diamond mafia rings.

Mine is now on my hand.

The government returned my father’s body, and I slid the Baldassare ring from his fingers while he lay in state in our home.

Soon we will bury him.

“Thank you.” I nod, accepting the respect of the man.

“And commiserations for the loss of your father,” he adds. “Frank was a great man.”

Then he turns to my mother and says the same to her.

None of them are sad.

While there is respect, there’s no love. All of them would kill one another if the situation arose. It was one of the first thingsFrank taught me when I was old enough to understand how things worked.

One by one, the heads of the family come by, shaking my hand, expressing their condolences, and chatting to Adelina and my mother.