Mia Figlia

Chapter 47 ✔️

PoV Riccardo

Why were we driving to this godforsaken area? I squinted at my father, who was sitting across from us with an inscrutable expression. By now I was aware of where we were headed. To the most remote warehouse that our family preferred to use to interrogate and kill enemies. But what did this have to do with the wedding gift for my wife? I felt for Stella's hand next to me and squeezed it.

Stella's jaw muscles clenched as she looked out the window. She knew our real estate and very likely guessed we were headed to a less legal location. Gritting my teeth, I fumbled for my gun. If my father put my wife in danger, I would show no leniency toward him.

"Don't worry, il mio figlio, the package is safely packed." The right corner of his mouth twitched upward, giving him an almost haughty expression. The look of a man who would walk over dead bodies. I bit the inside of my cheek to suppress the growl that threatened to burst from my chest like a bloodthirsty tiger. I could better avoid quarreling with my father. For the simple fact that he would be running the business for me in the weeks to come.

I rolled up my jacket sleeve. Ten hours until departure. A soft sigh escaped my lips. Stella turned her head to me and glanced at me frowning. Her usually soft facial features looked angular. Did she suspect what was about to happen? I checked the fit of my weapon one more time. My gaze fell on my wife's handbag, on which she placed one hand. She tapped it with her index finger and sought eye contact with me. Relieved, I expelled the air I had been holding earlier. She was keeping a pistol hidden in the bag, I now assumed.

"We are here," Lucius called from the driver's seat as he gently eased the car out in front of the warehouse. A year ago, he would have slammed on the brakes. Only Stella's pregnancy kept him from doing so now. And by possibility the fear of a bullet in the head, which I would happily fire at him if anything happened to my wife.

On my way to the door, I examined every inch of the façade of this mousy concrete rectangle that could fit an estimated six football fields. The walls, windows, and roof designed to be so soundproof that a rock band could give a concert inside without a single sound escaping outside. Torturing someone or firing a gun was for that reason no problem. By using silencers as standard, we further reduced the risk of being detected. And this, of all places, was where we had ended up. I bit the inside of my cheek again before I took a lunging step toward the building.

My father grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me back. He glanced at Lucius and Romano, both of whom nodded in response. They led my wife a little further to the entrance and stopped there as if by chance. Inside me it was boiling, and I fought the urge to knock my father down in order to get to her as quickly as possible. I did not like this trip in the least!

"You are going to stay out of this completely. Stella has to make a decision for herself. You can't always protect her and take all her problems away. It is important that she comes to terms with her past and finally realizes that she is already the strong and independent woman we see in her since months."

My jaw dropped. As if paralyzed, without blinking, I stared at my father. He, who had kept his own wife out of all mafia affairs, now expected Stella to act like a trained mafioso? Did I just understand that correctly? I flexed my arm muscles. The vein at my temple throbbed hard. He wasn't fucking serious! I would definitely not hold back. This was about Stella's safety and that of our unborn child.

With lunging steps, I stomped towards my wife and pulled her to my side with a jerk. I gave both my coworkers and my father a penetrating look. Stella put her slender hand on my wrist. My pulse slowed its beat under her delicate fingers, and I greedily sucked in the sweet smell of her hair. This woman was mine, mine alone. No one put her in danger without punishment!