She stayed but he soon realised she did not trust him or any of the guardswhereas before, she had always been open and friendly with them, getting to know their families and remembering birthdays, now she kept her distance. Dante watched her drift on the periphery of their lives, she spoke only if spoken to and then in monosyllables, refusing to engage with anyone but him,‘Quando lo dirai al suo capo?’ [When are you going to tell her Boss?] Alessandro asked a few days later, as they both looked out of the office window at the beautiful lonely young woman,‘Non si fiderà mai di noi a meno che non le diamo qualcosa in cui credere di nuovo. L'abbiamo spezzata, è colpa nostra e lasciarla vivere in questo modo è sbagliato, capo.’ [She will never trust us unless we give her something to believe in again. We broke her, it’s our fault and letting her live like this is wrong Boss.]He said quietly and Dante looked away from her his hands clutchin
To everyone’s surprise, he let her go, watching with haunted eyes as she slipped into the brother's car and drove away turning to Alessandro he snapped,‘Fateli seguire, voglio sapere ogni mossa che fanno. Non la perderò una seconda volta.’ [ Have them followed , I want to know every move they make. I am not going to lose her for a second time.]Gabriella was excited, this was what she had been dreaming about she was finally going to meet her fathers, family, the SUV drew up outside a very similar villa to Dante’s,‘This belongs to you now’Emilio swept open his arms and pointed to the villa and its surrounding gardens,‘All of it is yours little Maldini, you are now the Don of this family, don’t be afraid you have us to guide you as we did for your father.’Gabriella stared in shock as they led her into a large airy meeting room filled with armed men, all of them dressed in black and all of them muscled and toned. She had to stifle a giggle it was like walking onto a movie set for M
Every single one of them was dispatched by her men, she would not listen to their excuses and their families were taken to be sold off as slaves. It was the Mafia way, and she had a lot to prove, she could not afford to be seen as weak because she was a woman, a very young and very beautiful woman at that. Word spread quickly and soon she was being visited by every unmarried Don, or elderly Don with an unmarried oldest son all of them demanding marriage to her as a way of securing their ‘families.’ She found it amusing and came up with inventive ways to turn them down without hurting their feelings and making enemies of them, she could not afford to make enemies so soon in her career as the Maldini Donna.Dante watched her reputation grow, she had worked fast to shore up her businesses and quickly replaced the traitors with men she could trust and they were all now turning a profit. What worried him was his spies had told him she had meetings with the Leaders of the Bratva and the Lea
Gabriella fumed back to her villa, she was so angry with Dante but her body was telling her another story, everywhere he had touched her tingled with desire. She gritted her teeth as she walked back into the villa there was no way she was going to let him win this time, she would not give in to her body’s demands. Emilio and Enzo followed her into her office they were now her most trusted advisor and they knew what they had just witnessed.‘Da quanto tempo tu e Dante siete innamorati, capo?’ [How long have you and Dante been in love Boss?]Emilio smirked as he asked the question and Gabriella was not amused,‘Non siamo innamorati.’ [We are not in love.]She denied hotly but her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled at the mention of his name,‘Certo che lo sei, avrebbe ucciso chiunque altro gli avesse parlato come hai fatto tu.’ [Of course you are, he would have killed anybody else who spoke to him the way you did.]Enzo added with a grin and she sighed sinking into her chair and gazin
‘Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on me without my permission again?’She snarled and spun to face Dmitri,‘What about you do I need to give you a taste of my anger?’ She was ready to kill if it was necessary and he lifted his hands to placate her,‘Hey, no way, I’m sorry my brother is such a jerk he will be dealt with.’ He indicated his guards lifting Sergi and helping away, ‘It is not how we normally do things and you have my profound apologies, please sit and we will discuss our agreement as you requested.’ He was completely overawed by this delicate beauty who had just disabled his six feet two muscled brothers, a man who most men would struggle to take do
The impossibly high heels she wore made him hard just looking at them and he knew all the men in the room felt the same way. She ignored him completely and it hurt him more than he cared to admit and he found it hard to dampen his jealousy when she allowed the other Dons to dance with her. He could only watch tight-lipped and fist-clenched as they put their hands on his woman and pressed themselves against her, as she looked up at them, and his anger grew,‘God damn it she was flirting with these ass-holes.’He growled under his breath and his men closed around him,‘Vuoi che prendiamo il suo capo?’ [Do you want us to take her Boss?]They asked and he was touched by their loyalty to him, he could see they were just as angry as he was that these jerks were touching his woman,‘Cazzo, non era più la sua donna, aveva sprecato ogni possibilità che aveva con lei approfittando del suo amore per lui.’ [Fuck, she was not his woman any more, he had blown any chance he had with her by taking ad
She studied his pictures and went meticulously through his family members, two daughters, married off at young ages to Kennedy’s, both had produced a couple of Granddaughters, and all four had been married off at sixteen or seventeen to either second or third cousins on either side of the families. None of these young women had been given any choice by Cameron Mctamany, if they had tried to refuse they had been beaten and then dragged to the alter and forcibly married, he even had Priests on his o payroll. Then she came to the two Grandsons and instantly knew what his plan for her was, they were gorgeous, spoilt and indulged and he had made it no secret he wanted them married off. It was common knowledge that the first one to marry a suitable woman and produce a male heir would be made his sole Heir. Gabriella felt sick to her stomach, she knew exactly what he now intended, she was his bait, once he had her in his power he would use her to drive a wedge between the two men and put the
Michael poured her a glass of the bubbly liquid and they toasted her,‘Welcome to America Miss Maldini and we hope you don’t mind us sweeping you away from our Grandfather like that but we’d like to show you a little of our country before you get down to business.’He said sitting next to her with Conner taking her other side, ‘Do you like champagne?’Conner asked in his soft Irish brogue, the man was a born and bred American but he had soon discovered women adored it when he spoke in his mother's native tongue. Gabriella was no different she was charmed by the accent and equally charmed by the attention of the two gorgeous men, they flirted with her outrageously and when they saw it made her blush they teased her further. The cousins kept her glass topped up and with the combination of jet lag from the flight, alcohol and their intoxicating presence she soon became merry her giggles delighting the two men. The afte