Stealing the son of the Mafia King

The contract

Isabella's POV

I need a place to sleep tonight and wonder if I should stay in the Johnson Hotel, and I do not want to because I do not want the arrogant Salvatore Pistone to think I want to be close to him. My phone rings, and it is my grandmother Tammy calling. My mother's parents died in a car accident before I was born, and she was the only child.

"Hello," I answer.

"Issy, are you still in town?" My grandmother asks without greeting me.

"Yes, why?" I ask. My cousin must have told them I went to see Salvatore to buy back Harmonies.

"Why don't you stay here with us tonight?" My grandmother asks, but I am not in the mood for my family.

"No, thank you. I have already booked a hotel room," I lie. I am driving to another famous hotel, and my secretary is busy booking me a room, so technically, I am not lying.

"Can we have dinner together then?" My grandmother asks.

"Listen, grandmother. I am busy and do not have time for you, grandfather, uncle Conner, and Rosalina's nonsense tonight. Leave me alone," I say and hang up. I want nothing to do with the people that treated me like s**t my whole life. She calls again, but I do not answer. I do not want to see them. I arrive at my hotel and work until late before going to bed. The following morning I am up early as I want my business with Salvatore Pistone done and over with.

I wonder if Rosalina got to see Salvatore, but I do not think so. She is not as beautiful as she thinks, and she can be gorgeous if she dresses right and puts less makeup on her face. I do hope she got to see Salvatore and that he decided to marry her instead of me, but I do not think so. I do hope so because I can buy Harmonies from my uncle. I know he will take the money so he can gamble again. I do not think Salvatore and the rest will lend him any more money, and I do not know how he and his family will survive now that they have no income. Harmonies must be in a mess. I know the Johnson Hotel group is not happy with the restaurants in their hotels anymore, and I had to promise them that I would make sure to revamp and do some renovations as the restaurants are a little outdated. New trends in the food industry were not there when Isabella and her children ran the place. No one updated the menus, and I will have to rebuild Harmonies again to get it up to standard before the Johnson Hotel group kicks us out.

I go to the Johnson Hotel to go and see if I still need to marry Don Salvatore Pistone. I hope not, but what are the chances? Rosalina is not his cup of tea, and I know he knows I will not make any advances or try to get into his bed like most women will do when having the opportunity to marry a billionaire mafia boss. Some will try to catch him deliberately by getting pregnant, but that is not in my cards. I only want Harmonies. I do not want a man in my life. I do not think anyone can love me anyway. I seem cold and distant, but I do not trust people and do not want to open myself to getting hurt. I never had anyone that truly loved me for who I am.

I walk into the hotel lobby, and Ricco is waiting for me. My heart sank into my shoes, hoping Rosalina would make a miracle happen. I hoped for nothing because Ricco would not be waiting for me here if Salvatore accepted Rosalina's offer. Or is he waiting here for me to tell me the deal is off? I hope so.

"Good morning, Ms. Stevens. I see you are on time. Mr. Pistone does not like it when people let him wait. Everything is ready for you to sign," Ricco says.

"Good morning. I see my cousin's visit was in vain," I say.

"You knew she wanted to see Salvatore?" Ricco asks as we walk into the elevator. He looks at me suspiciously.

"She ran into me when I left yesterday and told me she is going to offer herself in return for Harmonies to Don Pistone," I say when we are alone, and the elevator doors have closed behind us. I know better than to call Salvatore Don in public.

"I told her to come back at five today, and we will no longer be here," Ricco laughs. I smile because it is funny. I wish I could see her face when she realizes Don Pistone has fooled her.

"The Don is a powerful man. I can see it in the way he carries himself. I do not want anything from him. I only want what Harmonies," I say.

"Yes, he is mighty and holds the Italian Mafia's highest title. We will fly to New York tonight and from Italy, where you will get married. If his family asks, you met in Houston when he was doing business with your family. You fell in love and decided to get married fast as you did not want to waste time. Your family name is well-known, so his family will think nothing of him doing business with the Stevens family. Also, they will believe that Slavatore will fall for someone like you as he always liked independent women. His aunt is everything he wants in a woman, and she saved him and his sister from being kidnapped when they were young," Ricco explains everything to me.

"Sounds good," I say. I do not care what he tells his family as long as he does not expect me to show affection, and I do not like to be touched.

"You will have to act lovingly in front of his family," Ricco says.

"I do not like to be touched," I say.

"Well, you better start liking it if you want to go ahead with this plan," Ricco says.

"Come on! Couples today do not hold hands and show love in public. Especially power couples," I say.

"We are Italian, and you have Italian blood in your veins. Italians are affectionate people," Ricco says.

"Well, I am not," I say.

"You better learn fast," Ricco says, looking at me as if he wants to ask something. I keep my eyes cold, not inviting him to ask about my personal business. I know he must wonder why I am as I am, and I will not tell him my sad excuse for a life story. I do not want sympathy, as my past only strengthened me. I do not need love. Love makes you weak, and I do not want to be vulnerable. I feel that I am stronger without love. Many women became worthless because of a man.

As we enter the room, I walk to the table where the contract is waiting. I read through it, and when I am happy with everything, I sign it. Salvatore is nowhere to be seen, and I think he is busy working or does not want to see me. Maybe he is having second thoughts about the whole wedding thing, and I will be happy if he does and will only sell me Harmonies.

"Everything is signed. I will leave now and see you in New York," I say. Salvatore comes walking out of the study.

"What is the rush? Have breakfast with me, and we can talk," Salvatore says.

"I am in a hurry and need to return to New York. I do not have time for breakfast," I say.

"Sit down, Miss Stevens! You will fly with me, and I have already sent your jet back to New York. So if I say we are having breakfast, we are," Salvatore says.

"What the hell? Who gave you the right to send my plane back without me? And why would my men listen to you?" I ask.

"They know what is good for them and you," Salvatore says.

"You are full of yourself," I say. I wouldn't say I like that someone I hardly know takes over my life.

"Miss Stevens, there is one thing you should know about me: that I do things my way. If you want to be happy these five years, you better start listening to me and do as I say," Salvatore says. Isabella does not like that Salvatore is trying to play boss over her. She understands he is used to everyone jumping when he says jump, but she is not everybody. She is a person on her own.

"I will only fly with you because you sent my jet home, but do not try something like this again. I am a busy woman with places to be," I say.

"You do not know me. You will become part of my family and have to learn to listen to your Don. You will be Donna Pistone, and your life can be in danger if you do not listen to me. I am not doing things because I want to play boss over you and your life, but as my Donna, I will need to protect you," Salvatore says.

"You are making me wonder if Harmonies is worth selling my soul to you. I can take care of myself. Besides, no one in the states will know I am your Donna. You said we would stay in New York, and I do not want to stay at your house. I want to stay at my house and be free to come and go as I please. It would be best if you did not touch me, not even in front of your family. I hate being touched," I say.

"I am sorry you feel that way, as it will not work. My family must believe we are in love, so you must tolerate me touching you. What hurt you so much in life that you can not stand to be touched?" Salvatore asks.

"None of your business. My life has nothing to do with you," I say.

"You know I can find out your whole history with a few phone calls," Salvatore says. I do not like him digging into my past.

"Leave my life alone. I do not want you to know me and my struggles," I say.

"I only wanted to fly with you to learn more about you. I will need to know about your past. I will tell you mine on the way to New York and Italy, but you must also be open with me. It will look funny if we do not know anything about each other. Did a man hurt you? You know I can kill him for you," Salvatore says. I frown. This man is crazy. What the hell did I let myself into?

"I never had a man in my life, and I am planning on keeping it that way," I say.

"It is a little too late for that now. You already signed a contract with me to become my bride," Salvatore says.

"It will only be in name," I say. Ricco walks with a file in his hands and hands it to Salvatore. He looks at me, and I swear I can see sympathy in his eyes.

"Oh no, you did not! You investigated me, didn't you? Well, our deal is off," I say and jump up as the chef brings in the breakfast. Of course, he will have a personal chef and must fear being poisoned.

"Sit down. I knew you would not tell me about your past, so I researched your history. I see your parents died when you were young, and you were put in a boarding school. No wonder you are a bloody Ice Queen. You do not know how to be loved or how to love. You better not have children one day. I do not think you will be a good mother," Salvatore says. I am relieved that there is no sympathy from him.

"My past only made me stronger, and I am not planning on having children. After our little five years together, I plan on living alone," I say.

"Such a shame that so much beauty must go to waste, but I respect your decision as I do not think you will make a good lover, wife, or mother. Eat your breakfast so we can go," Salvatore says. I eat automatically and do not even taste what I am eating. I am relieved that he is so uncaring. I do not want someone to feel sorry for me and be nice to me because of my past.