The Don Delayed Our Wedding Three Times, I Left

The news came that Raymond had been shot. I was seven months pregnant, but I flew straight across the country to the family's East Coast compound—and got detained the moment I stepped inside. “Never heard of the Don having a fiancée, and pregnant no less. You've got some nerve running a con on Carraso turf.” The barrel of a gun pressed cold against my temple. My heart was clawing its way up my throat when I caught sight of a familiar figure across the room. “Raffina,” I shouted, “tell them I'm your brother-in-law's fiancée.” Raffina gave a small wave of her hand, and the man holding the gun immediately bent at the waist. “Donna, I didn't know she was a friend of yours. My mistake.” I stared with wide eyes, unable to make sense of what I was seeing. Inside the compound, the same man crossed to where Raymond sat on the couch without a scratch on him, and gave a formal nod. “Don, she claims she's your fiancée.” Raymond took a slow sip of his whiskey and shook his head, just barely. They dragged me out, and on the way the man slapped me across the face, warning me not to try my con act anywhere near the family again. I pulled the engagement ring off my finger and went straight to International Financial Tower. Chapter 1 The CEO of International Financial gripped my hand tightly, his eyes crinkling with delight. “With you back on the team, I'd bet good money our numbers climb another tier this year.” He paused, his gaze drifting to my bare ring finger, and his tone went careful. “The Carraso family—they've signed off on this decision of yours?” I followed his eyes down to my own left hand. There was a faint indentation around the base of my finger, a small footnote left by the years. Raymond had slipped that ring on three years ago. Back then, he'd held it like a promise that would never fade. “Delores.” His eyes couldn't hide a thing back then; the moment my name left his lips, the tenderness just poured out of him. “We'll get engaged first. Once the family's fully clean and legitimate, I'll marry you properly.” His eyes had been deep as the ocean, and I'd drowned in them completely. I'd quit my position as one of the top fifty hedge fund managers in the world to manage the Carraso family's funds full-time. The first year, he told me his brother's death had been too brutal; the whole family was in mourning, and the wedding had to be delayed. The second year, he told me the feds were sniffing around the eighty-million dirty pile, and getting married now would expose me. I spent six months laundering it clean for him through dozens of offshore accounts. After that, he poured a fortune into an estate, promising it would be our home after the wedding. He planted roses for me in the garden, and the love in his eyes was like those roses, romantic and burning. I waited without complaint, right up until I got pregnant. I told him gravely, “I can wait, but the baby can't. Your heir can't come into the world labeled illegitimate.” He was quiet for a long time before he finally said, “There's one last shipment to handle at the East Coast compound. Before the baby's born, I swear I'll give you what you're owed. Just trust me one more time.” Until today, when I heard it with my own ears: the men at the compound calling Raffina Donna. And I finally understood that every reason he'd ever given me, every single one, had been just an excuse. When the fog of lies cleared, what stood underneath was uglier than I'd been ready for. Raffina was the widow of Marco, the brother Raymond had buried. Marco had died three years ago, and afterward Raffina had moved into the estate. At the time, Raymond had held my hand and explained it carefully. “Raffina was Marco's whole world. I promised him I'd take care of her, so from today on, she's family.” Marco had spent three years undercover in a rival family. When his cover was blown, they shot him fifty-two times and let him bleed out, then dumped him in an alley for the rats. Raymond had brought home Marco's body, and Raffina along with it. To make it up to Marco, he made Rafina his blood sister. She gained lifelong protection from the family and free movement across all Carraso territory. I understood him. Sicilian men bled their whole lives for one reason, and that was to take care of family. Marco had bled for the family, and Raymond was taking care of his woman. That was fair. So I'd treated Raffina like family too, sharing everything I had with her. When she was sad I listened, and when she was sick I took care of her. She wove herself into our lives. But the way she looked at Raymond kept growing softer, closer, and the way she addressed him had shifted too. She'd stopped calling him Don. Now it was always Ray, light and familiar. I'd noticed something was off, but Raymond had brushed it aside with a wave. “Del, you're overthinking it. She's looking for the closest thing she has to family, for Marco's sake.” He saw I wasn't happy and tapped the tip of my nose lightly. “Silly girl. I love you, only you, from the beginning.” I'd nodded and let it go. I'd told myself the world had stripped her of everything, and she just wanted a little more comfort from Raymond. I hadn't realized that comfort had migrated into his bed. The pain hit some kind of threshold inside me, and I made a decision. Raymond was going to be locked out of my world. Once a heart betrayed me, I was done with it. No exceptions. I squeezed the CEO's hand firmly and gave him a clean smile, my voice crisp. “No need for Raymond's approval. He doesn't speak for me, and the decision is already made.” Chapter 2 The CEO blinked, then his face lit up with surprise and pleasure. “Even better. I'll announce it to the board immediately.” His eyes peered at me over the rim of his glasses with a touch of something wistful. “Three years ago, Chairman Vincenzo was determined to keep you here. Pity Miss Delores had a better offer at the time.” He paused. “Would you like me to arrange a meeting? Old friends catching up, nothing more.” I lifted my brows, then shook my head with a small bitter smile. Three years ago, Vincenzo had pulled every string he could to keep me at his side, and in the end, I'd chosen Raymond. After everything that had happened, I couldn't look him in the eye. The CEO walked me out personally, and as we parted he offered one more compliment. “Three years gone, and Miss Delores is exactly the same. Sharp as ever.” He made a slicing motion with his hand. “The world is butter, and you're the hot knife. Cuts clean through with that satisfying sizzle.” I smiled and waved him off. I'd barely stepped out in front of my hotel when a familiar voice stopped me cold. “Delores!” It was Raymond. He was darting across the street with one hand thrown out to stop traffic, the horns and shouted curses from drivers chasing him all the way to my feet. I took a deep breath and slapped him across the face with everything I had. My hand throbbed and stung, the same as my heart at that exact moment. The blow turned his head sideways. He held there a second, then slowly straightened and adjusted his tie on the way back up, his face dark as a thundercloud. “I rushed all the way here to explain myself, and you hit me?” His voice was quiet, almost gentle, like the air right before a storm breaks. “There's nothing to explain,” I bit out. “That slap was for the lying.” “I heard them clearly. Your men were calling Raffina Donna.” He lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke straight into my face. “And? It's just a title.” “The estate is in your name. I've given you full authority over the family funds. You control everything.” “Raffina is alone out here. She needs the protection. What's the harm in a title?” “The family's a ship. I steer, you run the sails, you keep us supplied. What difference does a title make?” I was so stunned by his nerve that I just stood there, unable to get a word out. He stomped his foot hard, like he was crushing something underfoot. “Del, we're both reasonable people. Reasonable people look at substance, not surfaces.” “The substance is that I love you, and you know it. So don't throw a little-girl tantrum at me.” He let out a small laugh and tilted his chin up, looking down at me from on high. “Besides, I handed you the entire Carraso fund portfolio. That's trust. You really want to pick a fight over something this small?” What a joke. Three years of loyal service, three years of bleeding for him, and to everyone else I was nothing but his dog. The promised wife's position had been handed to someone else overnight, and now I was the one being unreasonable? I held my hand out, palm up. “Fine. Three years of work for the Carrasos, and I didn't take a single cent.” “Now I'm taking back what I'm worth.” I turned to go. His eyes flickered, then his hand shot out and seized my arm, his face going gray. “Where do you think you're going? I'm not letting you leave.” “What gives you the right? Are we legally anything to each other?” My eyes traveled across his face, flattening every last trace of his arrogance. Irritation crawled up his face like vines, slow and spreading. He took a deep drag on the cigarette, and the ember flared bright, throwing shifting light across the side of his face. “I know you have a temper. That's why I made up the story about getting shot, so I could stay here and handle this mess.” “I already told you I'd give you what you're owed before the baby comes. Can't you wait even three more months?” I shook his hand off and smoothed the wrinkles he'd put in my sleeve, my face cold. He watched me, his patience visibly fraying. “Del, I'm a Don. Everything I do is for the family. I have my reasons.” “Just three more months, okay?” I'd heard this speech too many times. And the end of it was always the same: another woman with the title of Donna. I gave him a small, dry smile. “Raymond, you can have your reasons, and I can have my choices.” His jaw locked. He didn't say a word, but he didn't move out of my way either; he just stood there like a wall. That was when a small boy, maybe three years old, came toddling over. He launched himself at Raymond's leg, wrapped his arms around it, tilted his head up and called out, sweet as honey, “Daddy.” Chapter 3 I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. My eyes traveled past the boy and found Raffina. She was walking toward us with two ice cream cones in her hands, smiling. The world spun around me, and the ground felt like it was sinking under my feet. Raymond and Raffina had a child. I'd already braced myself for the breakup, but I hadn't been ready for a bullet like this one. I staggered back a few steps, my voice shaking. “She's Marco's widow, the woman you swore to protect like family. This is how you take care of her?” I pointed at Raffina. “So these three years, all that talk about her being family, it was an act? You two are disgusting.” The words had barely left my mouth when my cheek exploded into fire. The crack rang out sharp, and Raymond's hand hung suspended in the air after the slap. “Shut your mouth.” His forehead was sheened with sweat, and his face was contorted like someone had just punched him in the gut. “You don't understand anything—” He scooped the boy up. “Del, look at him. Look at this child's face. You really have the heart to leave a boy this sweet without a father?” The kid looked at least half like Raymond. A wave of nausea rolled through me, and I stared at him in disbelief. For three years Raymond had spoken to me only with tenderness, and now, not only had he fathered a child with someone else, he'd hit me for that child's mother. What a joke. The baby inside me seemed to feel my grief and kicked. I laid a hand over my belly and straightened my spine, burning every tear off with rage as I locked my eyes on the two of them. “You can be that boy's father,” I said with a cold laugh, “but you'll never be the father of mine.” Raymond's head jerked up, his eyes red, and he spaced out his words like nails. “You really are a cold-blooded woman.” I gave him a small, contemptuous laugh and said nothing. I had always been this way. I said no to what I didn't want, straight to its face. Raffina suddenly started weeping, soft and broken. “You're the Don. I never thought Del wouldn't even let you have another child.” “Ray, she must hate me. That's why she hates this baby.” “If I've caused her so much pain, I can leave. I can make it on my own.” Raymond set the boy down and turned to comfort her. “Don't worry. I already told you, the Carraso family is your home.” He whipped around to glare at me. “Raffina is family. I won't allow you to insult her or her child. Apologize. That's family rule.” I was about to hurl sharp sarcasm at them. But Raffina got there first. “Del, don't be upset. I was the same way when I was pregnant. Hormones, probably?” She tilted her head, putting on a thoughtful little frown. “Yesterday the accounting team mentioned something. Even Del, someone so sharp, made a mistake on the family books.” Then she stuck her tongue out and added, “Oh, I don't really understand any of that. It just slipped out.” Raymond looked at me and clicked his tongue impatiently, his voice going cold. “Del, when did you become this petty? The family accounts are not your toy for tantrums. Can't you act like an adult?” I stayed calm in the face of the smear. “Don't underestimate my professionalism. The accounts are in perfect order, and you can audit them anytime.” Raffina wrapped both arms around Raymond's elbow and pressed herself against him, her voice going soft and clingy. “Ray, I believe Del's professional, but she needs rest in her last trimester. Let me go over the books with you instead, just for now.” Raymond's eyes lingered on me a long moment, then he said flatly, “Fine.” And just like that, the two of them turned and walked off together, back to the compound, without me. I reached into my purse and took out the sapphire engagement ring. I smiled. Then I dropped it straight into the storm drain. Chapter 4 There was a knock at the hotel room door. I opened it to find a man in a suit. He said he was there to take me to the audit, and I went willingly. But twenty minutes in, something felt wrong. The compound was on the edge of the city, but this road kept taking us further out. The car finally stopped in front of an abandoned factory, and I hadn't even gotten both feet on the ground before the driver yanked me out and shoved me inside. Seven or eight built guys I'd never seen before were waiting in there. They stood around with the cruel look of men ready for ugly work. Raymond wasn't with them. A bad feeling started rising in my chest. The driver wrenched my arms behind my back and bound my wrists with rope. While he was tying, he murmured into my ear, his voice low and ugly. “You had the nerve to move family money. You damned rat.” “My orders are to crack you open before the Don gets here. Start talking.” He yanked the knot vicious-tight. “Where did you put the money?” The rope crushed against my belly. I struggled against it. “Let me go. I never moved a cent of the family's money.” “I'm carrying the Don's child. If something happens to my baby, not one of you has a life worth enough to pay for it.” His palm cracked across my face, and he grabbed me by the collar. “The family's never heard of anyone like you. You really think you can run that con on me?” He patted my belly with a sneer. “Where did you get that bastard, huh? Trying to pin it on the Don? Why not say it's mine?” The men around us roared with laughter. My belly tightened slowly, and my heart kept dropping with no bottom in sight. Then the door opened and Raymond walked in, with Raffina at his side. She had her arm hooked through his and was leaning up to whisper in his ear, whispering low but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Raymond, look. I was right after all.” “Thirty million is missing from the family accounts. Who else would have done it?” A muscle twitched in Raymond's cheek, like a volcano stirring. He walked straight up to me, caught my chin in his hand, and looked into my eyes. “If you wanted money, you ask me. Why pull these little stunts?” I shot back, furious. “I didn't touch it. Look closer. Trace where the money went.” “Enough.” He cut me off rough, his voice rising into a roar. “Thirty million. I don't care about thirty million.” “See this? You said you wanted to leave, to prove your worth. Funny, isn't it? One day away from me and look where you are.” “I told you, I don't allow you to leave me. That's an order, not a request.” “I've put up with your stubbornness, but my patience has limits.” “Listen to me. Stay. This isn't just for me; it's for you. Have you figured that out yet?” I lowered my head and bit down on his finger as hard as I could. He jerked his hand back and stared at the blood welling up, something dark and dangerous moving in his eyes. “Del, don't push my limits. Can't you just listen calmly—” “Not interested. Untie me, now.” I cut him off with a scream. “I don't want to look at you and that bitch. I don't want to dirty my eyes.” Raymond put his bleeding finger in his mouth and sucked at it, the line of his jaw hard as carved stone. His eyes had gone half-lidded, showing more white than iris, and his laugh came out cold. “All right, Del. Looks like I need to reason with you again.” He took a deep breath and was about to start in on me when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and his face shifted as he picked up. A sharp, low pain rolled through my belly. I called after him, frantic. “Raymond, make them untie me. If this keeps up, the baby will be in real trouble.” He was already turned away on the phone, walking out with a careless wave at the men. I tried to call out again, but the driver clamped his hand over my mouth. “Shut up. I saw the caller. That's Don Falcone. Don't interrupt the Don's business.” The driver's eyes held a strange mix of respect and fear. It made sense; Vincenzo Falcone was the Don of one of the Five Families. He was also the current CEO of International Financial. In the world of the Five Families, he was the man who set the rules. I jerked my head away from the driver's hand, and my eyes lit up again. Raymond had just been on a call, and Vincenzo had to have heard me crying out. He would come for me. He owed me this. Chapter 5 The ropes still bit into my arms. The dull ache in my belly was sharpening into something stabbing. Every time I opened my mouth, the driver's palm flew at my face. He didn't want to hear anything except where the money was. The hired men sat on the floor, drinking and talking among themselves. “You think this deal between the Don and Don Falcone is gonna land?” “Hope so. Falcone's one of the Five Families. He backs us, we're set.” “I hear he's got no heir. His old man tried to make him marry and he refused outright?” “You don't know? Story is he went crazy in love with some woman and couldn't have her. Now he won't even look at anyone else.” “What kind of woman turns down a man like that? Has to be an idiot.” I shouted at them, “Vincenzo Falcone, that's who you mean, right? I want to see him.” “I'm the woman you just mentioned. The one he couldn't have.” “If anything happens to me or my baby, the Carraso family is going to pay in blood for it.” The men exchanged looks, then burst out laughing. The driver stood up, mocking. “What, you know every Don in the world?” “Changing your story? The bastard in your belly is Don Falcone's now?” “You want to suffer less, you tell me where the money is.” I went pale trying to explain, but no one believed a word. I'd talked myself hoarse when Raffina's voice came from behind me. “The one paying in blood, I'd guess, is going to be you.” I whipped my head around and met her eyes. She tilted her head, looking me over slowly, drinking in my pain and humiliation with no attempt to hide it. “Raymond gave me clear orders on the way over. I'm here to persuade you to stay. Just one thing.” She paused and spaced the next words out, one by one. “Before you stay, you tell us where the money went.” I spat in her face. “This is a setup. Let me go. You're going to regret this.” She wiped the spit off hard, and something vicious flashed in her eyes. “You've been shamelessly trying to seduce the Don for years. You sleep around, get pregnant by god knows who, and now you want to pin it on him.” “The Don still remembers what little you've done for him over the years. He let you save face in public and pretended he didn't know you, and you turn around and steal from the family.” “Looks like you need a little encouragement to be honest.” She picked up a rag off the floor and stuffed it in my mouth, then she gave the driver a look. He picked up a leather whip and started swinging at me, no rhythm, no pattern, just hitting. The whip came down like rain, tearing at my skin. Every scream got buried in the rag. My eyes felt like they'd split open from the pressure. Tears mixed with blood ran down my face, but I kept my eyes locked on Raffina. She stood there with her arms folded, smiling at me. Her index finger tapped lightly against her arm, as if she were counting for me, counting how many lashes I'd taken. I thrashed, and then a tearing pain ripped through my belly. Something warm slid down between my thighs. The driver hesitated and looked over at Raffina. She frowned, displeased. “Did I say stop? Keep going.” He raised the whip again. Blood had run into my eyes, and the world in front of me was nothing but red. Then someone kicked the door open with force. A voice I hadn't heard in years exploded against my ear. “Raymond. You're going to pay for this in blood!”