Undressed By The Mafia God

She got to her feet, suddenly unable to sit still. Her palm rubbed slowly over her belly in a circular motion as she walked a few steps away from him.

This was no longer about Marco. Agreeing meant deciding what kind of childhood their daughter would have before the poor girl had even taken her first breath.

And there might be other children after her.

Vee had spent her entire childhood trying to protect Valentina from pain.

Now Luca was telling her that if they took this path, some pain would have to be deliberately introduced into their children’s lives because preparation might one day be the difference between life and death.

"Bambola..."

The fear in Luca’s voice made her turn.

He looked terrified of losing her because of this decision.

"Is there anything that we can do differently?" she asked.

Luca thought about it. "Well, the difference is there will be no evil stepmother in their lives."

Vee stared at him.

Of all the moments to make a joke.

"I’ll kill everyone who even dares." Vee pointed at him. "Do you understand me?"

His lips twitched. "Yes, Donna."

"I am serious, Luca."

"I know."

"I have lost too much, bled too much and gone through entirely too much nonsense with you for you to suddenly bring some mistress home."

"What mistress?"

"I swear to God, Luca..." Her pregnancy hormones clearly decided this hypothetical woman was now a genuine threat. "If I spend years helping you raise tiny mafia psychopaths and then you bring another woman anywhere near my house—"

Luca got to his feet immediately. "Babe."

"I will kill her."

"Vee."

"And then I will kill you and then kill myself."

He caught both her shoulders. "Babe, hey... You aim the fucking gun at me. I told you once before, Marco will help you hide my body."

Her shoulders finally relaxed beneath his hands.

"The only way out is death, Bambola. That’s how it’s always been." His thumbs moved gently over her shoulders. "That is how it will always be."

Vee looked up at him again. "Do it. Do what you have to do."

Luca searched her face. "Are you sure, love? I..."

"I’m not Carol."

That stopped him.

Vee reached for his hands and held them between hers. "I’m not going anywhere. I love you too much to do that. Whatever you have to do, however much it may hurt, I’m there. I choose this. I choose you."

His hands tightened around hers.

"But when you become Don, you have to try to make things less frightening. Change things where you can. Make it better for the next generation."

Luca frowned slightly. "The next generation?"

"Yes. Ours, and the ones after them."

"You mean when I am a grandfather?"

The look on Luca’s face suggested she had just informed him of an incurable disease.

"Yes."

His mouth twisted. "I’m not letting anyone close to my baby girl."

Vee gave him a dead look. "You’re so silly."

"No one is touching my baby girl."

Vee’s brows climbed. "So what exactly is your plan? Follow her around with a gun until she is forty?"

"For the rest of her life if necessary."

"Put her in a cage, then!"

"If that’s what it takes!" Luca looked completely serious.

"Are you listening to yourself right now?"

"I can’t even stomach the thought."

"The thought of what? Her someday liking someone?"

"Yes."

Vee groaned. "She is going to grow up."

"Unfortunately."

"She may date?"

"No."

"She may fall in love?"

"Hell no."

"She may get married."

Luca’s entire face tightened. "We can revisit that when I’m dead."

"You’re an idiot!"

"I’ll gladly be one!"

Vee sighed and rolled her eyes.

It was absurd that they could go from discussing the future of the entire famiglia to Luca having a premature breakdown over a daughter who had not even been born yet.

But that was them.

They could stand in the middle of hell and still find something ridiculous to argue about.

Vee’s smile faded slowly. "I need Val prepared."

"For what?"

"I don’t just want her gone, Luca. I want her to feel it, to understand what she has done. I want her to regret it before this ends."

He shook his head slowly. "Babe, it’s not going to happen. She’s set in her ways. The only mercy right now is death."

"Still, I want her prepared," Vee said with conviction.

There was no changing her mind tonight. He knew that look. Veronica had already decided what she needed before she could let Valentina’s death settle properly in her head, and arguing would only make her dig her heels in deeper.

"I’ll see what I can do," he said. "But no one in the famiglia can touch her. She is still Marco’s woman."

Vee frowned.

Even after everything, that rule remained. As far as the famiglia was concerned, she was still his wife, which meant allowing one of their own men to brutalise her would cross another line entirely.

"Then find someone outside of the famiglia."

"You know what?" A slow thought settled into place. "I think Renato may still be useful after all." Luca slipped his hands into his pockets. "And a little heads-up, babe. Once we get to Italy, we are going to war. It will be the first thing."

"Why?"

"Because I cannot leave New York without killing Renato. He still has to pay for my Nonnina. I sat across from him tonight," Luca continued, "and all I wanted to do was squeeze the breath out of him."

Vee placed a hand against his chest. "Doing so would leave New York secure anyway. No major threats unless one sprouts while we are gone."

If Luca was going to step into something bigger in Italy, he was not leaving an old enemy behind with enough power to take advantage of his absence.

Especially not Renato.

And most especially not after Nonnina.

"What about anything that comes up while we’re away?"

"I’m sure it can be handled."