The Forbidden Prince Page 9

What did I say? How did I answer such an easy question to ask? I wanted her. I wanted a life with her. I wanted a chance to get to know the real Sofia Thompson – not the undercover agent. What I wanted all came down to what she wanted.

  Because if she didn’t want me or anything to do with me, then anything I wanted was in vain.

  Her eyes brightened as if with unshed tears and I reached out to maneuver her further away from the crowds and into a more private setting. A hallway to the side of the food court beckoned and I pulled Sofia behind me before stopping about twenty feet down the mouth of the hall.

  She glanced around, her eyes growing wide. “Are you going to kill me, Angelo?” Of course, she would think that. She’d seen what our community was like while she was undercover. Most of the information she’d gathered had been on the Bianchis, so how could she know that the Rossis and Capones weren’t as hardcore or lethal as the other family.

  We believed in hard work and loyalty. Honesty would come but only if you’d earned it.

  I blinked at her and then let my grin spread easily across my face. “Sofia, I wouldn’t kill you even if you had turned me in.” I braced my arms on the wall on either side of her and looked down into her wide eyes. “Don’t you know yet that being without you is one of the most excruciating things I’ve had to live with?”

  She licked her bottom lip, hypnotizing me with the pink tip of her tongue. I searched her face for the answer I hadn’t asked for but that I needed with all of my heart and soul.

  Could she love me?

  I’d heard once that being on the right hand of the law was something that was engrained in you. You couldn’t escape it, even if you left that establishment and tried to do wrong. Inside of you was the constant desire to do what was right.

  If Sofia chose to love me, she’d be choosing to leave that part of her behind, because while the unified families weren’t heavy into illegal activity, we were in them enough that anyone who had a case against us could put us away for a very long time.

  She studied me, her eyes wondering and bewildered. I could tell my proximity unnerved her and I wasn’t going to move away. I liked thinking I could affect her the way she affected me. Maybe that would be enough for her to realize we needed to be together. Maybe…

  Or maybe she would realize I was nothing special and she would get on that plane and go wherever it was she was running to.

  “What about when you found out I was FBI?” She took a shuddering breath like saying that to me was harder than anything else she’d had to do. How ingrained was it to not define her vocation for so long? What was the time frame she’d been expected to smother so much of her true self?

  “No. Even then I was around you. Even then you protected me. I don’t care about what you do, Sofia, so much as I care who you’re with. I want you with me.” I moved closer, unable to bear the distance between us, even if it was only a half a foot. I closed my eyes as I leaned my cheek on her silky hair-covered head.

  Sofia always smelled delicious and I couldn’t help breathing her in while she stood there in the space between my arms. I kept my eyes closed as I moved my mouth closer to her ear and whispered, “Can you love me as I am, Sofia Thompson?”

  Her body shivered and she turned her head toward me, pressing her cheek against mine. A soft sob escaped her lips. “You never lied about who you are, Angelo. I did. Can you love me without knowing who I am?”

  The question startled me and I pulled back enough to see all of her face as I spoke. “Do you think I need to know the minute details of your life to know you? Your hobbies and your favorite color don’t define you, love. They only enrich the pieces of you that are the most important.” I lifted my hand and ran my finger down the side of her face, reveling in the softness of her skin.

  She blinked back tears and not very successfully as a few sparkled on her devastatingly long lashes. “But…” She swallowed, the smooth lines of her neck moving as she tried to fight the pull.

  “Why are you fighting this? You’ve already proven yourself to me. What do you need me to do to prove to you that I love you?” She stilled but I plowed on with my declaration. “Do you want me to run through the airport with my pants down around my ankles and a cannoli under each arm, yelling your name?” I couldn’t get a smile out of her, just a smile would lighten the mood enough I could get her to relax.

  But she didn’t smile as she stared at me in wonder. “You love me?”

  She never ceased to surprise me. I blinked at her, confused. “Haven’t you figured that out yet? That’s what I’ve been saying for the last few minutes with you. Woman, you’re infuriating.” I half-growled but then bent my head and nipped at the tender skin of her neck.

  Rather than pull away, she angled her jaw out of the way and I pressed my lips more fully to her neck and breathed in the headiness of her scent.

  Carefully, she reached up and took my face in her hands, moving me around until she could look directly in my eyes. I’d never felt more vulnerable than right then with her fingers holding me hostage. “Angelo, I love who you are. I love your loyalty and your frankness. I love the pieces of you that you hide from the rest of the world, like your kindness.” She brushed her thumb along my cheek, sending a torrent of emotion flooding through me that I could neither define nor deny. “If you want out, say it now, because I love for life and I won’t let you go once we commit.”

  Loyalty. Sofia’s dedication to loyalty had proven itself many times over. If we committed to each other, there would be no question as to the outcome. We could only find success, if we sought it with each other.

  I inhaled deeply, grateful for the chance at a new beginning. I inclined my head and then raised my eyes to hers. “Let’s be clear, I’m in line to be the next dom.” Did she have any idea what that meant? “Do you… do you plan on returning to your job?” Her career had to be important to her. I didn’t want to ask her to leave it for me.

  She smiled, lightening the heaviness inside me. “I can’t go back there. Can you imagine what I would have to tell my co-workers at holiday parties? They’d be tapping themselves.” She arched an eyebrow. “Are we doing this?” She lowered her hands from my face to rest on my shoulders, already stretching herself up to position herself for a kiss.

  I studied her. After a moment, I nodded, my own grin uncontainable. “Yeah, yeah, we are.” I moved forward, placing my lips where they belonged and deepening the connection with the slightest motion.

  Sofia sank into my embrace and I folded my arms around her. This. I could get used to this.

  ~~~

  In what could have been days but was, in reality, only a couple hours, Sofia and I stood in the hallway of my home on the upper east end of Little Italy. As an underboss, I had one of the nicer homes in the area, only a couple blocks from my father.

  When I found out Sofia had been staying at a motel, I offered my home to her. Not only for safety but because it was where she was going to end up anyway.

  I pushed open the door to one of the bigger guest rooms and looked down at her. “Here’s your room until we get married.” Once we were married, I’d move her into the master with me faster than she would know what had happened. I couldn’t wait for that day. I was finally understanding Leonardo and my sister’s need to get married so fast.

  She blinked and then looked up at me. “Are you sure you want to wait?” Sofia bit her lower lip as she watched me.

  “No. I don’t want to wait, but you deserve better than that. I’m never going to treat you with anything less than the respect you deserve. You’re going to be my wife, Sofia, I think you should get used to be treated like a princess.” And one day, my queen.

  Leaning up, she pressed her lips to mine and then murmured, “I get to kiss you, though, right?”

  Laughing, I bent down and wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her closer to my chest. “You have no idea how much we get to kiss.” I growled.

  If I had my way, we’d never stop. Thankfully, we had fo
rever ahead of us. Maybe one day we’d grow sick of loving each other, but I doubted that day was in the next few eternities.

  Epilogue

  Stephenie

  “We’re having guests over tonight for dinner.” Giovanni Rossi motioned toward the table as he thundered past, his expression anything but excited for the guests he warned his daughters about.

  Stephenie cocked her head to the side as she grabbed out more forks. “Is this a good thing, Papa?” As far as Stephenie had been aware, they were only having Angelo and Mia with her new Capone man at the house. Wasn’t having family over a good thing? Isn’t that way Stephenie was there? To visit her siblings and her father and step-mother?

  “Angelo… Angelo is getting married. He decided this without speaking to me.” Her father spun around, his eyes wide as he threw his arms in the air. “All of you upstarts getting married. Do you even know what it means to marry someone? How do you know if you can trust the person or not? I don’t know how we’re supposed to welcome this woman into the family.”

  “Why? You accepted a Capone, Papa. If you can do that, you can have anyone for a daughter-in-law.” Stephenie smiled at her younger brother, Alessandro, sitting at the table sipping a glass of wine. He’d only recently been coerced into joining the Sunday evening family meals.

  “He hasn’t told you?” Alessandro chuckled and arched his eyebrows. “By all means, Papa, tell Stephenie what’s worse than a Capone.”

  Stephenie looked between the two men, her brow furrowed. “Bianchi? Did he hook up with a Bianchi?” There really was nothing left. The rival families were as bad as it could get. She hadn’t heard anything about a Bianchi pairing and Stephenie would have been the first one to hear.

  “No. I would be grateful for a Bianchi at this point. A Bianchi…” Giovanni sputtered, as he stormed back and forth in a shortened pace back and forth in front of the table in the expansive dining room. “This… This woman is a… She’s Sofia Thompson.”

  The revelation didn’t do much for Stephenie. Was she supposed to know who that was? “Sorry, who?”

  Alessandro leaned forward, trying to smother his humor as he wrinkled his nose at her. “Come on, sis, you know who she is. The woman in charge of the Thompson Corporation that Dad has been working on a deal with for almost a year? Turns out she’s a Fed.” Complete satisfaction smoothed the lines from his face.

  Anytime his father was one-upped or inconvenienced, Alessandro took on the demeanor of the cat who ate the cream.

  Her blood running cold, Stephenie paused for the slightest second and then leaned forward, placing forks at each place setting. A Fed. Then maybe Stephenie would know her, which would only make things extremely uncomfortable.

  “The last time I had an agent in my house, I had to wait for them to release me forty-eight hours later. How am I supposed to enjoy my children while wondering what she’s going to report on? This is a disaster. And Angelo wants to marry her. He can’t be dom with that kind of baggage. There’s no way the family will allow it.” His face grew redder and redder as he paced, working himself into a frenzy.

  Stephenie had to keep her calm. She approached her father, placing a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, Papa. Trust Angelo. If he trusts in this woman, then she’s probably worth trusting. Just take a breath and let it happen. You can talk to him as well. Tell him your concerns. I don’t think she’s going to be a problem for the family. Nothing we can’t handle.”

  Her father calmed considerably as she spoke. He had no idea that the bigger threat to the family had her hand on his arm and that she stood before him, offering condolences and consolation.

  Giovanni nodded, patting her fingers with his own. “You’re right, Stephenie. There’s no need to worry. The only real secrets are already protected. Thank you, dear.” He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her temple.

  A knock at the door pulled his attention and everyone in the dining area stood to welcome the newcomers to the house. They walked through the hallway and into the foyer.

  Stephenie veered off before reaching the foyer with everyone else. She ducked into the bathroom, shutting the door and pressing her back against the panel. Taking a shuddering breath, Stephenie closed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists at her sides.

  What was she doing? Why was she acting as an informant against her father? Maybe because he’d cheated on her mother? Maybe because he wasn’t a good man? Maybe because she was privy to all kinds of information since her father believed she was a stupid female and thus didn’t hide anything from her. She even knew things Angelo didn’t.

  She shared information with a man every few weeks at the western style gym on the northside of Seattle, just outside of Little Italy. They spoke on the treadmills as if they just stared at the televisions set up on the walls.

  There was no way she could hide her actions much longer. When her father found out, his revenge would be unpredictable.

  No matter what, Stephenie had to be long gone. Not only would the Bianchis suffer from the information she was letting out, but the Capones as well.

  She wasn’t just screwing her father over, she was potentially destroying the future of every Rossi for generations. All of Little Italy would be changed and she’d already taken the steps to complete it. What kind of a daughter was she?

  Stephenie closed her eyes and nodded her head. She took a deep breath. She could keep going. All she had to do was get through dinner with her family. The focus would be on Angelo and Sofia. Even Mia and Leonardo would get a break tonight.

  There was so much at stake on both sides of the game. Stephenie didn’t want to ruin everyone, but she had to get revenge for what was done to her mother. She owed it to her mother to fix what was wronged.

  She could do that. She was a Rossi. The family took revenge very seriously.

  ~~~

  I’m so happy for Sofia and Angelo? There is so much fun coming for the Rossi family. Check out book 3 – The Forbidden Mountain Man and find out what happens to free Stephenie from her fear!

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  Copyright © 2019 Bonnie R. Paulson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  The Forbidden Prince

  Chapter 1

  Angelo

  Chapter 2

  Sofia

  Chapter 3

  Angel
o

  ~~~

  Chapter 4

  Sofia

  Chapter 5

  Angelo

  Chapter 6

  Sofia

  ~~~

  Chapter 7

  Angelo

  Chapter 8

  Sofia

  Chapter 9

  Angelo

  Chapter 10

  Sofia

  Chapter 11

  Angelo

  Chapter 12

  Sofia

  Chapter 13

  Angelo

  Chapter 14

  Sofia

  Chapter 15

  Angelo

  Chapter 16

  Sofia

  Chapter 17

  Angelo

  Chapter 18

  Sofia

  Chapter 19

  Angelo

  ~~~

  Epilogue

  Stephenie

  ~~~