All Chapters of The Mafia Kings Stripper: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

I stared at the two pink lines until they burned into my eyes.Then I made a decision.I was not keeping this baby. Not his. Not a child that would grow up in blood and threats and auctions where people were sold like cattle, I would find a way to end it and he would never know. That was the only clear thought in my head while I sat on the bathroom floor.The rest of my life was already a mess, Noah still thought we were just taking space. Sarah kept sending soft messages I never answered. Ben asked every night when I was coming home for real and now this, a secret that could destroy everything if Alessandro found out.I wiped my face, hid the test at the bottom of the trash under old makeup wipes, and walked out like nothing had changed.Alessandro was waiting in the living room. He looked at me once and seemed satisfied that I had stopped crying.“Sit. Eat,” he said.I forced down a few bites of whatever the cook had made. My stomach still felt wrong. Every time the food hit it I th

The money under the floorboard wasn’t enough and I knew it.Five hundred dollars could get me into a cheap clinic but not the kind that stayed quiet after. I needed more time and more cash and neither of those things were easy to find when every move I made was watched.That morning Alessandro left early. He kissed the side of my neck and told me not to go anywhere without Marco. The second the front door closed I went upstairs, locked the bedroom, and pulled out the burner phone. Sarah had sent three messages since yesterday.I called her.She picked up fast. “Kate, I swear to God if you hang up on me again—”“I need another favor,” I said quietly. “Big one. Can you meet me tomorrow at the old library on 5th? Just for ten minutes. Bring whatever cash you can.”“You’re scaring me. Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”“You can’t. If you try, people get hurt. Please just do this one thing.”She was quiet for a few seconds. Then she said, “Okay. Noon. Don’t disappear on me.

The ride back to the townhouse was the longest of my life.Alessandro didn’t speak. He didn’t look at me. He just sat there with his jaw locked and his hands clenched on his knees while I cried quietly against the door. When the car stopped he got out first and waited. I followed him inside on shaky legs.Marco stayed outside. The door closed behind us with a heavy sound.Alessandro walked straight to the living room, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one go. Then he turned and looked at me for the first time since the clinic.“Upstairs.”I went. There was no point fighting him right now. He followed me into the bedroom and closed the door. For a long moment he just stood there staring at me like he was trying to decide what to do.“You tried to kill my child,” he said finally. His voice was quiet but it still cut. “You lied. You ran. You took money from your friend and walked into that place ready to erase what belongs to me.”I wrapped my arms around myself. “I was scared.”“

The days after the miscarriage passed in a strange quiet.Alessandro barely left the townhouse. He stayed close, sometimes too close, like he was afraid I might disappear if he looked away. He didn’t talk about the baby. Neither did I. The doctor came once more to check on me and left pills on the nightstand. I took them without asking what they were for. Everything felt heavy and hollow at the same time.On the fourth morning the quiet broke.Alessandro’s phone started ringing before the sun was fully up. He answered in short, sharp Italian, then switched to English when he saw I was awake. His face changed as he listened. When the call ended he sat on the edge of the bed with his back to me for a long time.“What happened?” I asked.“Volkov hit one of my warehouses last night.” His voice was flat. “Two of my men are dead. Three more are missing. He left a message.”I sat up slowly. “What kind of message?”He turned his head just enough for me to see his eyes. They were colder than I

The new house felt more like a fortress than a home.Men walked the grounds day and night. Cameras covered every angle. The windows were thick enough that I couldn’t open them. Alessandro barely slept. When he did, it was with a gun on the nightstand and one arm locked around me like he expected someone to try and take me in the dark.The killings didn’t stop. They got worse.On the second day at the new place, news came that Volkov had burned one of Alessandro’s legitimate businesses to the ground. Two workers who had nothing to do with the mafia died in the fire. Alessandro listened to the report without blinking, then walked outside and made a call that lasted less than a minute. That same night three of Volkov’s warehouses went up in flames. No workers this time. Only men who had chosen the life.I found out because I overheard Marco talking in the hallway. When he saw me he went quiet, but the damage was done. I already knew the shape of the war now. It was no longer careful. It