Evelina

(vii)

Evelina

I reluctantly sat at the dining table, feeling the tension simmering in the room. My biological father, Draven Morrigan, sat at one end with Lucian to his right. Tony was directed to sit to his left, and I took the seat next to him, feeling the heat of their stares.

"So, sweetie, what have you been up to?" Draven asked, his tone laced with condescension.

I forced a smile, completely fake. "Nothing much. I just kill, torture, and fight. The usual, you know."

Tony placed his hand on my thigh under the table, rubbing small circles, trying to calm me down. His touch was grounding, but it didn't diminish the anger boiling inside me.

Draven raised an eyebrow, while Lucian looked shocked, his eyes wide. "So, the darling princess learned how to use a gun?" Draven asked, his voice dripping with mockery.

I laughed, a cold, empty sound. "No. I learned how to kill without thinking twice about who the person is."

Draven leaned back in his chair, seemingly intrigued. "So, would you kill this Antonio Giannino if you were asked to kill him?"

I smirked, locking eyes with him, unflinching. "I kill for him, not against him. My loyalty is with him, and if I kill him, it's like I killed myself."

Lucian suddenly interjected, his voice quieter but insistent. "What if he orders you to kill him?"

I turned to him, the smirk still on my face. "I wouldn't dare. Like I said, it's like I'm killing myself, and I treasure my life too much to do that."

Suddenly, my biological father stood up, pulling a gun and aiming it at Tony's head. A part of me wanted to react, but another part knew better. I laughed, this time genuinely amused by his pathetic attempt to intimidate me.

"You idiot," I said, shaking my head. "You think a gun with no bullets can kill?"

His eyes widened slightly as I continued, my voice dropping to a deadly calm. "If you touch one hair on his head, I, along with the Italian Mafia, won't hesitate to send The Queen to kill you."

The room fell into an eerie silence. I knew they wouldn't believe I was The Queen. That was my advantage. Draven's eyes narrowed, clearly trying to gauge if I was bluffing.

"The Queen... That's who you use to get rid of people like me," he said slowly, trying to intimidate me. But it was clear he was starting to realize he no longer had power over me.

"Of course. I only take care of people like Aiden. People like you? Nah. It'd be a waste of my talent," I replied, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.

Before Draven could respond, the door opened, and Dante and Blaze walked in. Dante's eyes widened in recognition. "Eve?" he asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

But I wasn't going to acknowledge him. Not now. "Who's she?" Blaze asked, looking to Draven and Lucian for an answer.

"Evelina Giannino, Donna of the Italian Mafia. Don's equal." I introduced myself, my voice steady. "And this is my husband, Antonio Giannino."

Draven's fist slammed down on the table, his face contorting with anger. "You are married? When? Why wasn't I invited?"

"Maybe because you weren't on the guest list," I shot back, my voice sharp as a blade.

"Eve Morrigan, you will respect your father," he snapped, his tone dangerous.

I stood up, feeling the fire inside me rise. "Father? I see no father. The only father I know is the one in Italy. The one who took care of me like I was his own. The one who took off a day every month just to take me to places where any normal girl would go. The one who learned everything about girls just so he could help me. The one who took my side over his own biological kids because he loved me like I was his own. The one who couldn't bear the fact that I was hurt and helped me every time. Not you, Mr. Sperm Donor."

Draven's face turned red with fury. "What did you call me?"

I huffed, unafraid. "I called you, 'Mr. Sperm Donor.'"

The room fell silent, everyone stunned by my words. Tony tried to defuse the situation, his voice soft. "Eve, calm down."

I rubbed my forehead, trying to think of a way out of this mess. "Hubby, why don't we go to the safe house Deck of Cards use every time they comes here?" I suggested, needing to get away from this suffocating atmosphere.

Before Tony could respond, Draven interrupted, "No. Either you stay here or go back to Italy."

The audacity of this man. "I am not going to sit around in this mansion while my brother is kidnapped by someone willing to do anything to get power. Makes me think... Is the American Mafia so bad that they don't know what's going on under their noses?"

Draven's eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

"Aiden Russo, Papà's ex-right-hand man, came here to America claiming there was a mole. The thing is, he is the mole. But how is he getting the manpower to do all of this? Men from the American Mafia and somebody else are helping him build the American-Italian Mafia."

"You're lying," Draven spat out.

"Then how do you explain the tattoo of the American Mafia I saw on the man when I killed him? Or the tattoo on the man I knocked out who is currently in your holding cell?"

Draven turned to Lucian, seeking confirmation. Lucian nodded, his expression grim.

Tony intervened, his voice practical. "Instead of fighting, can we interrogate the man in the cell and find Vincenzo?"

Draven, surprisingly, agreed. "We'll help. But you have to stay here with us."

I was about to protest, but Draven cut me off. "Or you can forget about Vincenzo and go back to Italy."

I sighed, feeling trapped. "Alright."

Lucian, of course, chose that moment to bring up the one thing I didn't want to discuss. "Are you really pregnant?"

Seriously, Lucian? Now of all times? I simply nodded, trying to maintain my composure.

Draven's jaw literally dropped. "On second thought, you will stay here while Antonio, I, and the others take care of it."

Is he bipolar, or is it just me? "Exactly what I was saying," Tony agreed with him.

I sighed deeply, feeling more trapped than ever. Someone help me, please.