Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 02

Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 02

I looked down at the ring on my finger.

Just a year ago, he’d jumped in to save a few kids from drowning and sank to the bottom of the lake himself when his strength gave out.

He’d been in a coma ever since.

My chest tightened, and I let out a bitter laugh. “Mr. De Luca, that’s a beautiful speech. You think you’re already being generous, don’t you? But just because you’re offering, what makes you think I have to accept? Just because you’re giving, why do I have to want it?”

Dante froze.

“I never wanted revenge on anyone,” I said. “And Mr. De Luca, you’re willing to give up your own marriage for Juliet. I’m not willing to give up mine, and I don’t accept this deal. If you really want to buy off whatever grudge you think I’m holding, then do me a favor. Use your connections and find out about a cop named Nathan. FBI, went undercover in your family. See if he left anything behind.”

Dante’s eyes went sharp. “You know him? He caused us plenty of trouble. Though, he was too small-time to actually shake the De Luca family.”

I knew that already. That undercover job had gotten him demoted.

The De Luca family had cleaned up its image well. They ran a legitimate company now.

I wasn’t interested in digging up old grudges. “What he left behind matters to me. If you find it, hand it over.”

I meant it.

But Dante clearly didn’t believe me. He figured I was playing hard to get, and it only made him look down on me more.

I didn’t care.

I went back to the Moretti estate. Laughter rang out from the main hall.

Turned out Juliet had brought her twins over for a visit.

Two porcelain-doll toddlers were climbing all over my mother’s lap. She couldn’t stop smiling.

Juliet looked a little uncomfortable seeing me.

But she still smiled and greeted me, had the kids call me “Aunt Clara.”

Juliet brought up the gowns my mother had gotten her, gushing, “I’ve tried all of them on. Mom, you really do have great taste, they fit me perfectly. I wore one to a gala last time and everyone was shocked. That dress is impossible to find. People said you couldn’t buy one even if you had the money.”

My mother beamed. “Of course. The harder something is to get, the more it belongs with our girl. That gown was from your Aunt Vivian, over in Europe. She said it was meant to be Clara’s welcome-home gift. But Clara doesn’t have the poise for it yet, it’d just go to waste on her. I figured it suited you better.”

Juliet’s smile slowly faded.

The room went dead silent.

My mother finally realized what she’d said and turned to me, embarrassed.

I let out a soft laugh. A welcome gift from Vivian, an aunt I’d never even met, and my mother had handed it straight to Juliet without a second thought.

Juliet kept apologizing to me, then scooped up the kids and left.

My brother came home and looked confused. “I just ran into Juliet. Her eyes were red. Did somebody upset her?”

He looked at me like I was the obvious suspect.

My mother explained the whole thing.

My brother relaxed and smoothed it over. “Mom’s got a point, Juliet really is the better fit for that dress.”

He shrugged it off, all easy. “Fine, I’ll send you some new pieces from this season tonight.”

He kept his word. The clothes showed up that night.

Bad timing, though. One of Juliet’s people ran into the delivery.

The messenger brought every single gown Vivian had given me straight to my room and said, “Mrs. De Luca said she’s already taken twenty-eight years of Miss Clara’s life. She won’t take anything more. These need to go back to you.”

I didn’t even get a chance to refuse before the messenger hurried off.

I looked up and found my brother’s face gone dark.

That night, he blew up.

Everything he’d sent me, everything Juliet sent back, he took a pair of scissors and shredded it all to ribbons.

He pointed at me. “You have to fight for everything, don’t you? Mom already gave it to Juliet, I already made it up to you. And you still want a few dresses? Is there a limit to how selfish you can be?”

I watched him lose it, ice cold. Thirty years old, throwing a tantrum like this, ridiculous.

I explained, “I never asked for them. I never accepted them either.”

“And you’re still making excuses!” His voice turned vicious. “Juliet’s sensitive, she picks up on things. If you hadn’t made it so obvious you wanted them, why would she have done that? Typical. You’ve never had any class to begin with.”

He slammed the door on his way out.

In the mansion, the maids quietly cleaned up the wreckage.