The Mafia Temptation

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focating, like the weight of his gaze was pressing down on me from all sides. Every step I took was like a reminder of how small and powerless I was

him. There was no escaping it. His presence was overwhelming, and despite my resolve to resist, every par

ghts pressing on me. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and my palms were clammy. I wanted to

d to break it. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him to leave me alone, to stop playing this twisted game with my l

y managed to say, my voice shaky, but firm. I met his gaze

t was the kind that sent a chill straight down my spine. "Control you?" he repeated, as if s

He was right in a way. The moment he pulled me from my home, fro

ice a little stronger now. "I don't

o me. "Oh, you will," he said, his voice low and dangerou

ld my ground, even as my heart threatened to b

re stronger than the weight of your own bloodline, Isabella? You think you can

ch. "I'm not my father," I said, my voice hoar

ceptible-and for the briefest moment, I saw something other than cold calculation. It was fleeting, but it was there. Regret? Guilt?

shifting just slightly. "You're

se? How could I p

se, sweetheart, you have no idea what you're about to face. Your father's sins may have been unforgivabl

out my father, about me? He didn't know me, not really. He didn't know the pain I carried, the struggles I'd faced. But I h

ake. "You don't get to tell me who I am," I spat, my voice gainin

y took a step back, but he was quicker. In a heartbeat, he was in front of me, grabbing my w

ve a whisper, but the edge in it made me shiver. "You're not.

use. "I'll never accept this," I said, my

s inches from mine, his breath hot against my skin. "You'll accept it because you have no

out him-the way he looked at me, the way he moved, the way he spoke-was designed to break me.

f he were done playing his games. He stepped back, cro

didn't obey. With a mixture of defiance and exhaustion, I slowly lowered myself bac

make me feel any better. I had no control over this situation

as though he were speaking to himself. "And you're going t

ears that had been threatening all along began to fall, o

like a dark cloud. And in that moment, I realized something terrifying: I had no idea what kind of man