The Seat Beside The Mafia Heir Chapter 06

The Seat Beside The Mafia Heir Chapter 06

She stared at me. Her expression shifted from shock to something like approval.

“So she steals your fiancé, and you sleep with her stepbrother? Gia, you finally learned to fight back.”

I didn’t call Lorenzo after that.

I saw him again three months later.

He was waiting outside my office. The second I stepped out, he pulled me into his car.

I thought I was being kidnapped.

He handed me a black-and-gold invitation.

“Tomorrow. Don Vittorio and Lucia’s wedding reception.”

I frowned.

“We’re not close. Why would I go to your father’s wedding?”

Lorenzo held my wrist.

“Serena will be there.”

I stopped.

He looked at me.

“And a file she doesn’t want Milan to see.”

That was more convincing than “you’ll enjoy the show” ever could be.

I took the invitation.

Before I got out, he cupped my chin and kissed me. Brief. Firm.

“9 a.m. I’ll pick you up.”

Then he drove off.

I was left standing at my office entrance with my coworkers staring.

When I told Nina about it, she was busy with her new boyfriend, Luca Moretti.

They were feeding each other fruit. It was too much to watch.

When Luca stepped out for a call, I leaned in.

“Which Moretti branch? Is his record clean?”

I looked at Nina.

“If he treats you right, I’m fine. If he hurts you, I’ll make his family answer for it.”

Nina laughed and called me paranoid.

Then she analyzed Lorenzo seriously.

She said she’d had him checked out: thirty-four years old, Valenti Family heir, head of Valenti Holdings, quiet private life, no serious relationship history.

Women liked him, but he never played games.

More importantly, the Valentis weren’t just rich. They’d built themselves up from Palermo over three generations, cleaned up the

old debts, and combined old money with legitimate fronts.

Don Vittorio was the boss. Lorenzo was the heir.

But the real power behind him came from his mother, Donna Isabella, and her Greco bloodline.

Nina looked at me meaningfully.

“Clean background. Sharp mind. Good-looking. Gia, you could do worse.”

I stared at her.

“So you think I should get involved with him?”

She squeezed my face.

“I think the timing of this baby is pretty convenient.”

Yes.

I was pregnant.

One night with Lorenzo, and somehow I was pregnant.

My first reaction was pure shock. My second was that I couldn’t keep it. My third was looking at the ultrasound and realizing I couldn’t give it up.

Nina asked what I really wanted.

I said I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. But I didn’t want to give it up.

She said to let fate decide.

If I still had contact with Lorenzo within three months, it wasn’t over.

If not, then I could let it end there.

On the last day of those three months, Lorenzo showed up.

The next morning, he picked me up for Hotel Principe di Savoia.

On the way, I asked about the file.

He only smiled.

Then he asked, “Have you made up your mind? Will you marry me?”

I looked at him.

“Is this a proposal, or a family deal?”

“Both.”

He kept his eyes on the road.

“Valenti needs a wife the family will recognize. And I need someone who can stand beside me.”

That sounded too calculated.

“That doesn’t sound like love.”

“Love changes. Loyalty doesn’t.”

He stopped at a red light and took my hand.

“The first time I saw you ruin Serena’s dinner, I knew you weren’t meant to stand behind any man.”

He met my gaze.

“Gia, I’m not asking you to disappear into Valenti. I’m offering you my name, my position, and my protection.”

My heart skipped a beat.

He kept going.

“This isn’t impulse. It’s a choice I’m making.”

I didn’t say anything. I just stared out the window.

Great. Even his proposal sounded like he was claiming territory.

I was done for.