Claimed Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Jane
Ihave to remind myself that Trevor kills people, he’s so gentle with me.
He’s done it for me, he’s done it just because people piss him off. The Bonanno family is dangerous, the most dangerous family that I’ve ever heard of, and I’m not only in bed with one of them, but I love it.
Trevor’s at the grill, which seems like the most normal thing in the world for him to be doing. Annie’s playing on the swingset that he had delivered the day after the two of us moved in. Men from the company crawled all over it for an entire morning putting it up, then Trevor made them test it out to ensure that his daughter would be safe.
She’s running around, shrieking as she goes up and down a slide, and I watch as my mom coaxes her onto a swing then begins to push her.
Grabbing a beer for him from the cooler, I pop the top and wander over to talk to Trevor. He has one eye on the grill, the other on Annie, but he turns to me with a grin and a kiss when I walk up behind him.
“My love,” he says, tucking a stray bit of hair behind my ear. “How are you?”
“I’m great.” It’s crazy to me to think about how far the two of us have come. Never in my life did I think that I would end up this happy, especially not with Annie’s father.
He was too scary. Too dark. Too involved in things that I didn’t want to be involved in. But I can look past all of that because I know that he’s only doing what he has to do to keep our family safe. Everything that he does, no matter how legal or illegal it is, is for Annie. And me.
I know that now. Some people may believe that he’s a bad man, but I know better than that. Trevor isn’t back and white like that. He does things that some people would be horrified at even considering, but I know that everything he does is to protect the people he loves.
That includes me. It includes the entire Bonanno family. It even includes the people of this town, who need someone to look out for them so that they don’t have to do the things that need to be done. The Bonanno men aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty and that’s the only reason why things here don’t go south.
A motorcycle gang is threatening to take over the town and turn it into the perfect place for selling women? The Bonannos shut that shit down. When there are greedy politicians looking to take over everything and destroy the local parts and community centers, our men were there to stop it.
“Hey, cousin!” A voice behind me makes me turn around. Salvatore and Marcelo, each with a wife on their arm and a pack of kids circling them, stroll across our back deck.
Giving a little wave to Airy and Tess, I pull away from Trevor to go say hi as the kids peel away from their parents, making a beeline to go play with Annie. She honestly couldn’t be any happier with her new friends and the fact that she gets to see them most every weekend. I’ve still amazed at how close the entire Bonanno family is and how much they all want to spend time together.
“Jane,” Airy says, pulling me into a hug. “You look great! When are you due?” She release me and Tess hugs me, giving me a hard squeeze before letting me go.
“Oh, I’m only halfway there,” I tell them, grinning as I rest my hand on my stomach. “But we just found out that it’s a boy.”
“Oh, Lord, I can tell you stories,” Airy says, looping her arm through mine to pull me over to sit. “I swear, God created little boys as a punishment for how much fun we have making them.”
I giggle and Tess laughs out loud. “That can’t be true. I have a hell of a lot of fun making babies with Marcelo but we only have girls.”
The three of us sit down, still laughing, and Salvatore walks over, a dark look on his face. “You three better not be having too much fun,” he says, handing Airy a glass of wine. She takes it and tips her face up to his for a kiss.
“Never,” she says, her lips lingering on his for a moment. “But if you want to get into some fun later, just let me know.”
He grins at her and then walks back to talk to his brother and cousin.
For a moment, the three of us are silent as we watch the kids play. My mom loves being out there with the lot of them, pushing them on swings and making sure that nobody gets seriously injured. I have so many questions to ask these women but I’m a little nervous.
They’ve been nothing but kind to me, but I’m still the new one to the group. Hell, I was getting knocked up by Trevor about the time that Marcelo and Tess got together, which meant that Airy’s been with Salvatore for even longer. Still, they’re the only two women in the world I know that have any idea of what it’s like to be married to a Bonanno.
“Are you guys ever scared?” I ask, twisting my hands in my lap. Both Tess and Airy look at me, Airy taking a long sip of her wine as she waits for me to continue. “Like, that the other shoe will drop and something bad will happen. It’s not like we married accountants.”
Tess laughs. “We just saw what happened when the other shoe drops, Jane. Think about it.”
I do, but I’m not sure what she means, so I shake my head. “Spell it out for me like I’m in love with a man who could easily kill me with his bare hands,” I say.
“Okay.” Airy leans forward, handing her wine to Tess, who takes a sip as she listens to us. “The three of them killed everyone who tried to hurt me, including my own father.”
I shiver but she doesn’t seem to notice and instead just keeps speaking.
“They burned everything for me and I wondered at the time if it was a fluke. If they would ever do something that terrible and dangerous again, and look at what happened when the Wicked Bastards and Dark Devils came back for more.”
Tess picks up the story. “They moved us out. Us and the kids, moved us out like that.” She snaps her fingers. “The only thing that mattered to them was keeping us all safe so that they could take care of the problem. So that they could protect us. Trevor would have moved you and Annie, too, but you fought it. So when they took you, when they were going to kill you, what did they do?”
“They killed them all,” I say, my voice quiet. I know that they were willing to do that, that they were willing to put themselves at risk to save me, but it still blows my mind. “I just never thought that I was worth saving like that,” I say, and the two women nod.
“Been there,” Airy tells me. “My dad was willing to sell me off to the highest bidder just to protect my little brother and Salvatore killed them all. Trust me, Jane, if there are any people in the world who understand how you feel and what’s going on in your head, it’s the two of us.”
They’re right, and I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes and resting my hand on my stomach. They’re right. I have to listen to these two women because they know more than anyone else in the world how life can change so quickly and what it’s like to be loved and protect by a dangerous man.
“Mom!” Annie runs up and my eyes fly open. I scan her body, looking for blood or a broken bone sticking through the skin, but she looks fine. Excited, but fine. “Dad wants to see you.”
Glancing over her head, I see where the three Bonanno men are now standing out in the yard. Trevor sees me looking at him and waves, beckoning me over. Salvatore and Marcelo do the same and the three of us all stand up. Annie takes my hand, pulling me across the yard.
“Everything okay?” I ask, greeting Trevor with a kiss. His hand spans my back and he pulls me close to him, deepening the kiss before finally letting me go. “What’s going on?”
“Everything is fine. Annie?” Trevor looks at our daughter, who pulls something out of her pocket and hands it to him.
In the bright sun I swear that I see it sparkle, but I still have no idea what’s going on. What could she possibly have stashed in her pocket that he wanted to call me over here to see? It’s confusing and I chew on my lower lip while I wait for someone to explain to me exactly what’s going on.
“Jane,” Trevor says, turning and taking my hand in his. He links our fingers together and they fit easily, like we’ve been holding hands like this for our entire life. “You are everything to me. You and our daughter have completed my world and made life worth living. I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you. I’ll always do whatever you need me to do, no matter what that is.”
A flush warms my chest and I look from him to my mom. She’s got her hands on Annie’s shoulders and the two of them are grinning at me like a pair of damn fools.
“What are you doing?” I manage to ask Trevor, but he doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he gets down on one knee in front of me, holding up a huge diamond ring for me to see. “Oh, my God,” I breathe, clapping both hands over my mouth.
This isn’t happening. It’s the one thing that I knew would make our family more permanent, more whole, but I never saw it coming. I had no idea that he was ring shopping or even that our daughter was in on it all My stomach flips, but not in the bad pukey way.
I’m so happy that I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m also in shock and I stare at the gorgeous man on his knees in front of me.
“You are everything to me,” he says. “You and Annie complete my world and make me into the man that I want to be. I can’t imagine a single day without the two of you at my sides and I need to do whatever it takes to make sure that you’ll always be mine.”
I want to speak but I can’t. All words that I want to say flit out of my head and the only thing I can do is stare at the man in front of me. The father of my daughter. The man I love.
“Jane, marry me. Make me the luckiest and the happiest. Become my wife and let me worship you every single day. You’re everything and I can’t live without you.”
Swallowing hard, I nod, but it still takes me a minute to get my tongue to work. “You already have me,” I tell him. “But I’ll marry you. Of course I’ll marry you.”
My breath catches in my throat as he slips the ring on my finger and then stands up, taking me by the hips and pulling me to him for a kiss. Our lips crash against each other, the passion in the kiss the same that I feel whenever I touch him. As much as I want to keep kissing him, I finally pull back.
Everyone around us starts clapping and I feel Annie slam into the two of us, her arms wrapping around our legs. “Do I get to be the flower girl?” She asks, her voice going higher and higher as she speaks thanks to the excitement coursing through her body.
“You get to be whatever you want,” Trevor says, leaning down to pick her up. He rests her easily on his hip and then stares at me. “As long as I have your mother, you can be whatever you want.”
Time stands still. Yep, I know how ridiculously cliche that statement is, but I also know that at that moment it feels like everything around us stops and it’s just the three of us looking at each other. Annie doesn’t wiggle to get down from her dad and I just can’t stop looking at the two of them.
This is all I’ve ever wanted, but I honestly thought that I’d never get it. Someone like me doesn’t get the fairytale happy ending, or so I thought.
But I did. When I look at Trevor holding Annie and I reach down and feel the swell of my stomach, I know that I have everything I could ever want. Never did I dream that I’d have all of this, and now that I do, I’m never going to let it all go.
Want more amazing mafia romance? Check out Buying His Bride for free in KU! Read the first chapter here:
Party balloons fill the front entrance of the house, bumping against each other every time someone opens the front door to come in. They match the ones that I begged my dad to tie to the mailbox so that nobody would miss our house. Bright pink and silver balloons tug at their strings out in the open air and I worry each time a gust of wind blows down from the mountain that they’re going to break free from their strings and disappear.
But before I can worry too much about that, the stream of people arrive, all of them bearing gifts for my birthday. I don’t recognize most of the people, but there are some kids my age and we all peel off from the crowd to run outside. I kick off my shoes and run barefoot through the grass, leading the pack to my hidey-hole in the azalea bushes.
We crouch back there, the hem of my dress dragging in the mud, and watch as adults stand around drinking wine and eating fancy little appetizers from passed plates.
“Today’s your big day,” a boy with a bright blue bow tie tucked under his chin tells me. “I heard that you’re getting married today.”
“I’m eight,” I tell him, scoffing. “There’s no way that I’m getting married. You can’t get married at eight.”
“Maybe most people can’t, but you can,” he insists, and I roll my eyes at him. “That’s what my dad says.”
His dad is talking to my dad. I watch them through the leaves in the bushes, squinting to see if I can manage to read their lips. They both look serious and I feel my stomach drop a little.
There’s no way that I’m getting married today, right?
You can’t marry when you’re this young. Besides, who would I marry?
The boy with the bow tie elbows me hard in the side. “You’ll see. You’re getting married!”
He takes off from behind the bushes with a yell and the other kids all run with him. They scream and carry on like they’re being chased by something terrible, but our parents hardly look up at us. They all know that we’re safe.
I start to sweat and smack away a mosquito trying to land on my arm. My dad does look more serious than usual. He’s gotten incredibly thin and has lost most of his hair, which my mother says is thanks to the medicine that he’s on.
She appears at his side and takes his elbow, tugging him towards the house. For a moment I pause, wondering if I should just stay where I am. They don’t know that I’m watching them and if the boy with a bow tie was right and I am to get married today then I don’t really want to go to my house.
No, I decide, that boy has no idea what he’s talking about. If my parents wanted me to get married then they’d tell me. I stand up, my dress catching on a briar and tearing a little bit, and push my way out from behind the azalea bushes. They’re in full bloom and loaded with blood red flowers. Absentmindedly, I pick one and tuck it behind my ear before walking up to the house.
My friends have all disappeared, probably to eat some cake, but I’m much more interested in what’s going on with my parents, so I turn away from the living room. Shrieks of laughter pour out of the doors and I pause for a moment, wanting to join them.
But, no, this is more important.
My bare feet are silent on the wood floor as I walk to my dad’s office. None of the adults still standing around pay me any attention. They’ve all had at least three glasses of wine by now and don’t really care about a little kid walking around her house.
My dad’s office door is shut and I lean up against it, carefully pushing my ear as hard against the thick wood as possible so I don’t miss anything being said. At first, all I hear is my heartbeat, then I hear the low rumble of voices.
I recognize my dad’s. Even though he’s sick, he still has a low voice that makes people stop talking and pay attention to what he’s saying. Just hearing him talk even though I can’t make out the words gives me a sense of calm.
He wouldn’t make me get married to someone I didn’t know. Not at eight. Not ever.
My daddy loves me.
Carefully I turn the door knob. I’m going too far and I know it, but I want to see what’s happening inside. The door swings open silently and I pause right inside it, watching the scene play out in front of me.
My parents are bent over his desk taking turns signing something. When my dad finishes, he hands his pen to a strange man who clicks it once and then slips it into his breast pocket. He looks huge next to my father, his shoulders broad and his face strong and tan. My dad used to be that big but has gotten so small recently.
The bigger man turns and sees me standing in the door.
“There she is,” he says, and everyone in the room stops to look at me.
I don’t know the strange man and I don’t know the boy standing next to him. He’s much older, with thick arms crossed on his chest and a scowl that makes me swallow hard and want to take a step back to get away from him.
The air in my dad’s office suddenly feels hot and stifling and I reach up to the collar on my dress to tug it down to get some air on my skin. Nobody moves for a moment, but even if they did, I don’t think that I’d see them.
I can’t take my eyes away from the tall boy. His dark gaze locks onto mine, his eyes boring into me.
They’re cruel.
“Amber, what in the world did you do to your dress?” My mother breaks the spell, hurrying towards me like I’m a speck of dirt that she needs to hide from view before anyone else happens to see it. “You look a mess, and on such an important day.”
Like a mother hen, she spreads her arms out wide and starts to usher me from the room. I step backwards, trying to get out of her way, but I keep looking around her at the boy.
I’ve never seen him before and I hate the way he’s looking at me. He watches me like a hawk, like I’m some little plaything that he’s going to see later.
Surely the boy with the bow tie was wrong. Even if my parents were going to make me get married today, there’s just no way that they’d make me marry someone who had eyes that cruel.
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