The Mafia Don Fooled Me for 8 Years, I Became a Major’s Wife 8 Days Later Chapter 07

The Mafia Don Fooled Me for 8 Years, I Became a Major’s Wife 8 Days Later Chapter 07

Damon texted me.

Of course he had. The newly crowned head of the De Luca family. Tracking down my new number and where I’d gone was nothing to him.

The message read:

[Lily, wait for me for six months.]

[This time, I’m coming to you. For real.]

I deleted it without a second thought.

Two weeks ago, the night I’d stumbled away from Cedar Isle, my mom had called.

A man named Ethan Cole—the guy my mom had been trying to set me up with—had wired five hundred thousand dollars to the hospital just in time. My sister got the transplant.

I’d booked the first flight home.

The surgery went well. By the time I landed, she was out of the operating room and resting.

She looked so small in that bed, her face pale and drained. I broke down the second I saw her.

“The doctors said everything went great, Lily. She’s going to be okay.”

Mom’s eyes were red, but she rubbed my back like I was the one who needed comforting.

—

“You look exhausted, sweetheart. Ethan, would you take her to grab some coffee? She needs to sit down.”

The man standing by the window, tall and composed, nodded and offered me his hand.

“Hi. I’m Ethan.”

His dad and mine had served together. He was the guy my mom had been nudging me toward for years.

Navy lieutenant commander. The kind of résumé mothers bragged about over dinner.

He’d just saved my sister’s life. The least I could do was be honest with him.

“Thank you for the money. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“But I just got out of a really toxic relationship, and I’m not looking to date right now. I’m sorry.”

Ethan paused. Then a quiet smile crossed his face.

“No rush on the money, Lily.”

“And as for dating… I didn’t wire those funds to buy a date.”

“Let’s just start as friends. Sound good?”

I felt something loosen in my chest for the first time in weeks.

We grabbed food at a diner down the street. I barely ate. I just wanted to get back to my sister.

The story had followed me back home. Zara’s interview was

—

everywhere, and the whole neighborhood had seen it.

Not one person believed her.

Our bakery regulars were furious on my behalf. “You’re too trusting, Lily. You’ve got to stop giving your heart to people who don’t deserve it.”

“You brought that girl into your family. Your parents treated her like their own. And this is how she repays you?”

My parents had run the neighborhood bakery for as long as anyone could remember. Everyone loved them.

They’d watched me grow up.

Havenport felt like another lifetime. I didn’t rush to look for a job. I just helped Dad at the bakery.

Ethan was on leave and started showing up to help whenever he could. Slowly, without either of us forcing it, we got comfortable around each other.

My parents weren’t exactly subtle about pushing us toward each other.

“Lily, find someone who already has his life together. Someone who doesn’t need you to save him.”

My throat tightened. They weren’t just talking about Ethan. They were talking about Damon, and all the years I’d wasted.

I’d walked away from my family, my hometown, everything, for a man who’d been lying to me from day one. Eight years with nothing to show for it.

—

When Ethan and I finally went on a real date, he came prepared.

He slid a manila folder across the table. “My driver’s license, Navy service record, credit report, and the deed to my house…”

“Whatever else you want to know, ask. I’m an open book. No secrets, no lies.”

“You probably don’t remember this, but I saw you once before I shipped out.”

“I’ve been thinking about you ever since. You’re the reason I asked my dad to talk to yours.”