The Mafia Protocol

d never fe

at the phone Riccardo had left for her. The weight of it in her hand felt like an

him. Not now. Not

e free to leave. But if y

What had her father gotten them into? What was the full extent of the

k at t

ced through a dozen possibilities-maybe Riccardo had returned, maybe it was just another servant-but

ion. She didn't seem fazed by the tension in

m her. "Thanks," she murmured, and the mai

l a billionaire would give someone they didn't know how to treat. She wasn't hungry-could barely s

r eye-a small folder on the edge of the table. It hadn't been there a mom

ignatures, numbers that meant nothin

he paper was blacked out. She squinted, trying t

g that tied Riccardo's name to her fa

h of heat to her face. They couldn't leave h

gather her though

f the door ope

car

how he affected her. She heard him approach, the faint scent of col

aid, his voice smooth like melted

d. She stood up and faced him, defian

tion. He stepped closer, his eyes glinting with

the folder down on the table. "I want t

as a pawn in a power struggle? I've built empires on the backs of

lt, her heart in her thro

sed me a daughter. A bride. The debts he owed could've been wiped clean, but he-

, the words sinking

ive you a choice. But your father made it clear that you

r throat. Her father had... sold her? This wasn't just debt

take you because I wanted you. I took you because you were the only thing your fathe

. And they burned deeper than a

to show him ho

save me, Riccardo. You trapped me. You thought you could make me

e. Riccardo's eyes bored into

"that when you play with fire, you e

never wavered. She wasn't a puppet,

ad left her in silence, Camilla sa

to, and why her father had made this sacrifice. Because there was someth

at. But this... this was more than debt. Th

thought about the myste

be his pawn, he had another thing com

going to lie dow

going

eeded ans