The Mafia's Princess

Chapter 24

The men look around at each other anxiously while Sebastiano stares at the warm blood that is trickling down my body. He cautiously holds his hands out to me. I shake my head, "We need to find her." Sebastiano grabs my hands, worried about my sanity. He pulls me into a tight embrace as I start to break down.

My chest tightens and my body shakes, tears threaten to fall but they don't. I take a deep breath, calming myself before pulling away from Sebastiano's muscular arms. I look towards the men lined up at the door, "This is good," my eyes travel back to Sebastiano, "Do you have a gun for me?" He sighs loudly before handing me a small pistol. I groan in annoyance but don't argue.

We head out of the door and I begin walking in the direction I saw Paolo exit. Belmont and Sebastiano are right next to me, their men trailing behind. After walking down a long hall, we get to the lobby.

Sebastiano speaks first, "We need to split up." Belmont shakes his head, "How do we even know the bastard is here?" Lucian pops into the conversation, "Confidential information," he looks around the room, "but we know he's here and so is the baby."

"Palatina," I interject, my heart breaking as I speak my daughter's name. The three men look over in my direction, Lucian nods, "Palatina." Then they face each other and begin arguing over plans. I groaned and headed towards a hallway. I peek into the small windows on the bulky doors, looking around. Suddenly, a man who looks familiar enters that hallway making me duck.

Slowly, I raise my head to look again. There were three men, carrying large guns, talking in a group. I put my ear to the door, hoping to listen in. Their voices were a little louder than a whisper, making it almost impossible for me to hear them. I turn my head to look back at my brother and baby daddy arguing and I decide to go without them. Taking a deep inhale, I push through the doors, pulling my gun out and shooting each one of them, not missing a shot.

The gunshots echoed down the hall, alerting Paolo, making me hurry. Once all three were on the ground bleeding out, I ran down the hall. Loud crying made me stop in my tracks. A laugh belted out from behind me, making me turn around in a quick second.

Paolo was cradling my daughter, laughing at the sight of me. There were about twelve men surrounding us, making my body go cold. Thankfully, loud footsteps could be heard from down the hall. Sebastiano and Belmont came around the corner, stopping behind them. Paolo turned around and laughed once more, "Oh how lovely. My fiance's whole family is here." Sebastiano growled and stepped closer.

Belmont and I made eye contact, he nodded at me, signaling me to start shooting. A second went by and I began taking shots at the men, one by one they fell, screaming. Soon they began firing back, making Sebastiano's men jump in. Loud shots were ringing in my ears, making me think of my poor baby's ears.

Once all of Paolo's men were down, and we had a couple casualties, Paolo pulled out a pocket knife and held it to Palatina's throat. She wailed around, making me nervous. Tears began dripping down my face as I tried to think.

"Wait!" Paolo looked at me, impatiently. "You want to marry her, right? You can have her-". Sebastiano interrupts, "Excuse me?!" I continue, "After we care for her until she's old enough, that is. You don't want to take care of a baby, do you? You have fun until she's 18 and then you can have her."

Sebastiano yells, "No! Not happening!" Paolo hesitates, thinking. He clears his throat before responding, "Fine. But we're signing a contract on our future marriage." I nod quickly, "Of course!" I run to him and he hands me my baby, making me release a breath I didn't know I was holding.

As I walk away, I nod to Belmont who quickly pulled out his gun and shot Paolo in the head. Paolo dropped to the ground in a pile of blood, almost making me gag. I kept walking, cradling my daughter in my arms.

Once we got to Belmont's, I sat in the rocking chair snuggling my daughter. She was fussing a little, making me believe she was hungry. I pulled out a breast and let her little lips attach to my nipple, making her calm down.

I was so busy whispering endearments to Palatina that it took me awhile to realize Sebastiano was leaning on the door frame, watching us. I lifted my head, observing him. His eyes were full of hope and love that I felt guilty for ever believing his unkind words about our child.

Clearing my throat, I begin to speak quietly, "You're being kind of creepy." Sebastiano let out a laugh, making my lips curve upwards. He shakes his head, "It's not creepy if I'm staring at my daughter and her mother." I inhaled deeply.

"Is that all I am? Your baby's mom?" He groaned, "Do we have to start on this topic?" I scoffed, "We haven't ever touched on it, so yes." I stood up slowly, making my way to Palatina's beautiful wooden crib. After laying her down and tucking her in, I pushed Sebastiano out the door.

Grabbing his shirt, I aggressively pulled him along. Once we reached my bedroom, I shut the door behind us. He walked around my room, examining things. "That's not what we're here to do. We're talking-." He interrupts, impatiently, "So talk."

"You were sleeping with women while I was living in your home. You got me pregnant, isolated me-." Interrupting me again, he points out, "I never knew you were pregnant so, that's your fault. And, you cheated on me first." I screamed, "No! Actually, it's your fault for never giving a shit about me! I never cheated on you, I did not kiss him back or let him get me in bed! You don't deserve me or Palatina!"

I let my voice become softer, "Not after saying you didn't want her anyways. You can't do that to people. You can't push them away and pick them back up whenever you want. It's hurtful and inconsiderate." His eyes were trained on mine as I tried to avoid eye contact. My chest tightened, "You hurt me. I'm not going to let you hurt my daughter, too."

Sebastiano makes long strides, reaching me quickly. He takes my hands in his and drops to the floor on his knees. "Madeleine, I am so sorry for hurting you. I need her. Please bring our daughter to live with me, in my home. In our home." I sigh, "Are you going to continue fucking women in the home while our daughter rests her head at night?" He violently shakes his head, "No, I promise!" Looking up at me, pleadingly, I get butterflies as I stare into his beautiful eyes. Groaning, I look away, letting myself think.

Pulling away, I nod. "Fine. But we're going to need a nursery."