Mafia's Caged Poppy

I picked up the paper. The words DIVORCE AGREEMENT stared back at me.

"I leave with nothing? On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that the Rossi family is dust. Chicago belongs to the Kanes now!"

A bitter laugh escaped me. "When I first met you, you were just a punk on the street."

"Without my help, your business would never have taken off. Now you stab me in the back after everything we've been through? Are you even human?"

"Irene, I've done more than enough for you," he spat. "Letting you keep the title of Mrs. Kane was the last courtesy I could offer. But you had to pick fights with Emma. So this? You brought this on yourself."

Someone from the crowd yelled, "Boss Kane, I heard your wife is barren. You still stayed with her for ten years. I'd say you've been more than generous."

Emma covered her mouth, feigning a giggle. "Mason is just too kind. If it weren't for his gratitude for her past help, he wouldn't have put up with her for a decade."

"But luckily," she purred, "he has me now."

She shyly stroked her flat stomach. "There's a little Mason in here now. I'll make up for all his disappointments."

I couldn't believe it. She was pregnant.

"So, Boss Kane, that means we can play with your wife without any consequences! How nice!"

"Hahaha, she's a natural-born mistress! I want to take her right now!"

"Boss Kane, how about a discount? I'll take her for five million."

"Fifty million," Mason said flatly. "Not a penny less."

"Then how do I know if she's worth it?" the man shot back. "Let her take it all off so I can see the goods."

Mason's eyes bored into me. "Strip."

They thought I'd be scared. Especially Emma. Her face was already set in an expression of smug victory, waiting for me to beg.

Naked? Who comes into this world wearing clothes?

I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra.

The entire hall erupted.

"Look! She has a red poppy tattooed on her chest!"

"It's true!"

Emma scoffed. "She actually took it off. Does she have no shame? And a poppy tattoo to seduce men? How pathetic!"

"I heard the Principessa of the Romano family has a poppy on her chest," someone mused. "Boss Kane, what's your wife's connection to the Romanos?"

"The Romanos? You mean the Italian mafia that runs everything, legal and illegal, all over the world?"

"The very same."

Mason laughed dismissively. "What could she have to do with them? She's just a washed-up, barren woman from a bankrupt family."

"But the Romano princess has a poppy just like that!"

"I bet she just heard about the tattoo and copied it to feel important," Emma sneered.

Suddenly, Mason came down from the VIP section and strode toward me.