The Don’s Tainted Princess

I didn't expect to see Matteo again the very next day.The battered door flew open again. Matteo stepped inside. Camila followed on his arm, flanked by two armed guards.He had shed his coat. His charcoal shirt was rolled up to his forearms, stretching tight over his broad shoulders. He towered over the small room like a storm.I sat huddled on my thin mattress, crushing a bloody tissue in my fist. My chest burned from swallowing every cough."Our princess is getting lazier. Still in bed in the middle of the day?" Matteo stopped a few feet away, his tone lazy and teasing.For a split second, my mind slipped. I thought I was back in the days when he was still our underboss. I always stayed up late and refused to get up, and he would wake me up with endless patience. But a second later, his tone stayed smooth as he dragged me straight back to reality."Five years ago, you slapped the ring box out of my hand in front of a hundred made men. You called me a gutter rat. You had a lot more sp

Rain hammered the pier. The wind off the water was freezing, biting through my thin coat. My lips turned purple. My teeth knocked together so hard they ached.He said nine. Ten came and went. The pier stayed empty. I called his line three times. Each time, it rang once before he sent it straight to voicemail.On the fourth try, Camila picked up. "So sorry, Miss Vane. Matteo is busy right now. Do you mind waiting a little longer?""Let's go home, Sienna," Elena pleaded, pulling at my sleeve. "He's playing with you.""Just a little longer, Mom." The world spun around me. Every bone in my body throbbed. I forced a small smile anyway. I didn't have much time left. This was one of the last chances I would ever get to see him. So I stood there until one in the afternoon.A line of black SUVs splashed through the dirty puddles. The convoy pulled up in front of the rusted shipping container. A guard opened the door. Camila stepped down first. She hung off Matteo's arm, her glossed red lips cur

"The baby's heartbeat is stable. Just mild contractions. She just needs bed rest."The doctor's words echoed down the hallway. Matteo stood outside the private hospital room, nodding half-heartedly.Camila sobbed, her eyes red and puffy, begging him to make Sienna pay. He kept his voice flat: "You're tired. The guards will take you home."His mind was a complete mess. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Sienna's paper-pale face on the lounge floor. She looked fragile. One gust of wind could snap her in half.Five years ago, she crushed his pride in front of the entire syndicate. She threw away his ring. After he returned to his family, he swore to climb to the top of North America and make her regret it.He suffered through five years of hell. He clawed his way up from street soldier to Don. He never considered that hardship. He only broke down at night. Thoughts of Sienna tore his chest open.He never loved anyone else. Taking in the pregnant Camila was just a promise to his fallen

"Take you to her?" Tara let out a wild, broken laugh. She slapped his hand away. Her tears mixed with pure hatred, hitting the wet steps. "You think you deserve to see her, Matteo? You drove her into the dirt, and now you want to play the grieving lover? I'll take that grave to my own death before I let a bastard like you taint her peace!"She shoved past the frozen guards and vanished into the pouring rain.Dead silence fell over the altar.Matteo stood paralyzed. His chest felt ripped open from the inside out. He spun around, his bloodshot eyes locking onto the trembling house manager like a predator."Get over here." His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.The old manager shook violently. He scrambled across the floor, falling to his knees. "Boss... this wasn't on me! Those were the old Don's orders!""Talk!" Matteo seized him by the collar, hauling him clean off the floor. His knuckles turned bone-white. "What happened five years ago?!"The manager gasped for air, spilling every sec