She Begged for a Husband by Morning, Never Knowing the Mafia Boss in the Shadows Had Already Chosen Her

The ride back to the penthouse was deafeningly silent. Clara stared out the window, tears of shame prickling her eyes. She had ruined it. She had shown Dante that she was exactly the kind of mess Beatrice had accused her of being.

When they walked into the penthouse, Dante took off his coat and threw it over a chair. “Enzo is fired,” Dante snapped. “He let you out of his sight.”

“No!” Clara shouted, stepping between Dante and the door. “It wasn't his fault. I snuck out. Don't punish him for my stupidity.”

Dante glared down at her. “Your stupidity? Clara, you tried to pay off a blackmailer with a pawned bracelet. Do you have any idea the danger you put yourself in?”

“I was protecting our deal!” Clara yelled back, tears finally falling. “You said I couldn't be a liability! If he went to the press, the judge could take Leo away. I didn't want you to think I was useless!”

Dante’s anger vanished, replaced by something much deeper and infinitely more dangerous. He closed the distance between them in two long strides, backing her into the kitchen island.

“Useless?” he growled softly, planting his hands on the marble on either side of her hips. “You think I married you because you’re a prop?”

“I’m just a baker, Dante,” Clara whispered, looking down at her hands. “I don't belong in this world. I’m not skinny, I’m not glamorous, I’m just… me.”

Dante placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up into his fierce, burning eyes.

“I have watched you for a year, Clara,” he confessed, the truth finally spilling out. “I bought that bakery just so I had an excuse to sit in the corner and watch you smile. You are soft where this world is hard. You are fierce where this world is cowardly. I didn't marry you to use you. I used this situation to finally make you mine.”