Page 51 of Mafia and Protector

When my brother didn’t respond, I walked over to him slowly.

“Don’t, Jessica,” growled Rafael.

“He’s my brother!” I wouldn’t abandon him, no matter what.

I reached his side and could see the pain burning in his eyes—pain for me, pain for Juliana, and pain for what had become of us all.

I hesitated, apprehension making my movements stall.

But then put my hand gently on his arm, guiding him to lower it.

He didn’t fight me, nor did he take his eyes off Rafael. Gabriel lowered his gun too but kept it drawn and at his side as he led the men into the office.

I was left with my mother. “You know, Jessica, you haven’t attended a single one of my wives’ coffee mornings since your wedding.”

“Mother, I haven’t really felt like attending social functions.”

“Nonsense. This is your time to shine and show everyone your triumph. Becoming a Santino wife is one of the most coveted positions for a woman in the Società. You should be relishing your new position.”

What had happened had hardly felt like a triumph. My mother, however, was oblivious to my feelings as always.

“Your mother-in-law, Ortensia, never has time to attend my events. However, Jessica, you are a Santino now—think of the status it would elevate my coffee mornings to if I was to have a Santino wife in attendance!”

Jesus, I couldn’t believe my mother. Here was my older brother threatening to shoot my husband and start a civil war within the Società, yet all my mother was concerned about was being crowned ‘Queen of the Mafia Coffee Morning Circuit.’

I sat with my mother in the drawing room, serving her tea and listening to her rabbit on about domestic matters and the latest gossip. I kept looking anxiously at the door to the office and listening out for any raised voices.

“Do you like my new outfit, Jessica?”

“Um, it’s a bit…different from your usual choices.”

“I am now the mother of a Santino wife and I have a Santino as my son-in-law, so I have to dress accordingly. This outfit is more suited to my new status.”

She was talking like I had married into royalty—God give me strength.

RAFAEL

In the office, none of us sat down. We stood glaring at each other.

“You were supposed to look after her, not let your father have her,” Jacob spat at me.

I struggled to keep my tone calm. “I didn’t let my father do anything. I had no fucking idea what he had planned.”

“Why the hell weren’t you at the doctor’s clinic to protect her?” he questioned hostilely.

I swallowed my anger. “I didn’t even know there was an appointment scheduled. My mother took care of that side of things.”

Jacob looked exhausted, unshaven, and with dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept all night after finding out what had happened to Jessica. “Fuck, now your mother was in on it as well? Christ, your family is beyond twisted.”

“Of course my mother wasn’t in on it,” I retorted. “None of us had any idea.”

“It was your job to have some fucking idea,” Jacob shouted. “She was your fiancée, which made her your responsibility to protect and look after.”

“And where the hell were you?” I snapped as guilt needled at me, making me want to lash out at somebody else.

“Do you think I would just let this happen to my own sister? You signed the contract. She was your responsibility,” he said cuttingly.

I gave a harsh laugh, even though his words had riled me. “Just admit it, Jacob. You failed her as much as I did.”