The Mafia Don Fooled Me for 8 Years, I Became a Major’s Wife 8 Days Later Chapter 05

The Mafia Don Fooled Me for 8 Years, I Became a Major’s Wife 8 Days Later Chapter 05

He went still. Lily’s debit card?

Five hundred thousand dollars. Everything she had. She’d heard his family was in trouble, and without a word, she’d slipped her entire life savings into his pocket.

For the De Luca family, half a million was nothing. A rounding error.

But after his brother’s death, after his father’s stroke, everyone had turned on him. Threats, betrayals, vultures circling the family fortune. Even Aurora’s agreement to marry him had come with a price tag.

Lily was the only one who’d given without asking for anything back.

He watched her disappear down the road, and something clenched behind his ribs.

He moved toward her before his mind caught up. Then he looked at Aurora, and his feet stayed where they were.

He’d already humiliated Aurora once by going to see Lily on their wedding night. His friends were all there tonight. He couldn’t do it to her again.

“Damon.” Aurora pressed a glass of champagne into his hand. “It’s five hundred thousand. Call it a parting gift and move on.”

“She was with you for eight years. I’m not going to stoop to her level.”

“Cold-blooded, man. You wouldn’t even let the girl take the check.”

“That’s a Bianchi for you. Class act all the way.”

—

“You lucked out with this one, Damon. If you screw it up, the family’s coming for you.”

His closest lieutenant grinned, nudging him.

Damon laughed and clinked glasses with him.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“You’re still single, man. Worry about yourself.”

“Look at him showing off. All right, that’s it. Nobody goes home until this man is on the floor.”

Zara grabbed a glass off a passing tray and made her way over, smiling.

“Damon, congratulations. You two are perfect together…”

Damon looked at her. He didn’t raise his glass.

“Zara, cabs don’t come out this far. Go drive Lily home.”

Zara’s smile locked in place. Her hand, still holding the glass in midair, slowly dropped.

She’d clawed her way into this world, through every connection, every favor, every calculated move, and she still didn’t belong. And Lily? Lily never had to try.

Something bitter flashed across her face before she buried it under a smile.

“Sure. I’ll take care of it.”

She pulled out of the garage in the car Damon had given her.

—

A few minutes down the road, her headlights caught Lily walking alone, head down.

She didn’t stop. She hit the gas and blew right past her.

Back at Cedar Isle, Damon’s friends were putting him through round after round.

Aurora eyed the pile of empty bottles and cut in, keeping her voice light.

“If you guys drink him under the table, what am I supposed to do with him?”

His lieutenant held up his hands, laughing. “The lady has spoken. You’re off the hook for now.”

“Time to pay your dues, Damon. Don’t you owe your bride a proper wedding night?”

Whistles and catcalls erupted around the table.

Aurora kept her expression perfectly even, but the flush creeping up her neck gave her away.

Damon drained his glass, set it down, and scooped Aurora off her feet.

“We’re done here. My wife and I have unfinished business.”

Running off to see Lily on his wedding night had already pissed off the Bianchis. Tonight was damage control.

He owed Aurora a wedding night, and he intended to deliver.

—

An hour later, Aurora was asleep beside him.

Damon watched her for a moment, then slipped out to the terrace for a cigarette.

The cherry of his cigarette pulsed in the dark.

His brother, the one groomed to lead the family, was dead. His father’s stroke had left a power vacuum. Damon needed a partner with enough influence to hold the wolves back, and that meant marrying into the right family.

Aurora was the obvious answer.

He couldn’t give her love. But he could give her everything else a husband was supposed to.

He just had to keep Lily in the dark. Otherwise… knowing her, she’d walk away and never look back.