Page 59 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“I have to.”

“Sani has a good heart.” I closed my eyes. “He means everything to me. Please… you know how it feels to lose a sibling. But Sani is more than that to me. He’s my best friend and my protector. Until I met you, he was the only person who made me feel safe. Don’t do that to me.”

There was a long silence, and hope blossomed in my chest.

“I don’t want to do that to you.”

I leaned up on my elbows, twisting to look at his face. “Then don’t. Refuse to fight. We’ll find another way to escape together.”

“If I disobey McKenna, he’ll kill my sister, the only family I have left. If I fail her too, I’ll drop dead where I stand. I know it.”

He was a man who could never love without it costing him everything. It was so unfair.

“Before you found out about Connor, Sean said my family betrayed yours. What did he mean?”

Maddox tensed beneath me. He closed his eyes, and the muscle in his jaw pulsed as he tried to keep himself together. I knew it was bad. Really bad. A part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“My family and yours were once allies. My father and Salvatore Buccini were in business together.”

I leaned in, my lips parting. “My uncle?” He opened his eyes and stared up at me, nodding.

“He promised we had his support in the war against Sean, who was tryin’ to claim Dublin as his own territory. But then Salvatore died. When my family needed yours to help us, as we were losin’ too many men, your brother agreed to keep the alliance. McKenna had Diego Barbieri’s backing, so we relied heavily on yours. But your brother turned his back on us when it mattered most. If he had kept his word, my family might have won against Sean. They might still be alive. And this would never have been my life.”

I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to keep the horror inside, but it was too much. Too raw. That didn’t sound like something Giovanni would ever do. That couldn’t be the whole story. Yet the way Maddox was struggling to contain his pain and anger told me it was his.

“I’m so sorry. I–I don’t even know what to say.”

“There’s nothin’ to say. What’s done is done. But I won’t forgive or forget. If I’d known your name the first night you were put down here, I would have killed you.”

I tensed at his confession. “And now?”

He lifted his fingers to my face and traced the scar beneath my eye. “And now… I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you.”

“Even kill my brother.”

He exhaled heavily. “Yes.”

I dropped my head to his chest as a furious sob tore up my throat.

“I’m not a forgivin’ man, Soraya. There’s no light left in me. I can’t be the man you wish me to be.”

“Then kill me.”

He frowned. “What?”

“My family owes you a blood debt. A life for a life. Kill me instead. Spare my brother.”

He exhaled and ran his hand down his face. “No.”

I was on my feet, pacing back and forth, before I let out a rage-filled scream.

“This is all because of that son of a bitch! Sean needs to die! Today!” I yelled at the steel door. Maddox was behind me in seconds, telling me to be quiet or they’d hear me. He tried to pull me to him as I fought him off, but soon I gave in. His heavy arms wrapped around me, and I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his scent.

“If it’s my last day on this shite planet, I’ll make sure it’s McKenna’s too,” he whispered into my hair.

Footsteps echoed down the bunker steps, and I wiped my bloodshot eyes, stepping back from him. Maddox inhaled deeply, as if drawing invisible strength from the air, and his muscles tensed. The door opened, and Sean walked in with six men, including two I recognised from my abduction and Nolan.

Sean tossed a bag of clothes onto the chair and nodded at me. “Time to get dressed. Can’t have your family thinkin’ I haven’t been lookin’ after you, Princess.” I frowned, clenching my fists. “Oh, did I forget to mention? You’re comin’ too. You’ll get to watch Monster tear your brother to pieces in front of your entire family and his wife. Arianna will need a shoulder to cry on.”