Omertà The Don's Prodigal Heir Who Came Back

I hid my identity and lived as an ordinary husband with Lola Marchetti.

The day I learned she was pregnant, she said it without warning: "I'm marrying the heir to the Crane family in three days."

"I'm actually the legitimate daughter of the Consigliere's household. He and I are a proper match. The betrothal gifts have already been delivered to my family's estate, and... he and I have already consummated our relationship."

When she saw me frozen in place, she added, "I'll set you up with a residence. You'll never want for anything."

I stared at her in disbelief. "So I'm to be a kept man, hidden away for the rest of my life. Is that it?"

Lola turned her face away. "He's a kind and respectable husband. As long as you don't cause a scene in front of him, I can give you everything except the title."

A sharp sting hit the bridge of my nose. I never imagined I meant so little to her.

"What if I told you... that I could match your status?"

——

Lola froze for a moment. The silence between us stretched until I could hear the wind pushing through the trees outside and, somewhere far below the mountain, the faint drone of a car on the coastal road. When she finally spoke, her voice carried the flat certainty of someone who had already run every calculation.

"Alaric Valente, I know it was wrong of me to hide my identity and marry someone else. But the world doesn't run on 'what ifs.' Among all the Five Families, the only man who matches my standing is the heir to the Crane syndicate."

"We've been husband and wife at the foot of this mountain for three years. I know exactly who you are."

But she had hidden her identity. How could she be so sure I hadn't done the same?

I looked around. The cabin we had built with our own hands. The fields we had tilled together. Three years of a life so far from the compound that I had almost forgotten the weight of the Valente name. I refused to believe any of this was real.

"Lola, you're carrying my child. Can't we just go back to the way things were? Please don't marry him."

My gaze locked onto the woman in front of me. If she would just say yes, I was willing to forgive everything.

But all she did was press her lips together and say, quietly, "He and I have already been intimate. I have to take responsibility for that."

My eyes burned red. My body wouldn't stop shaking. "And what about me? Don't you owe me that same responsibility? What about our child?"

Lola reached out and wiped the tears from my cheek. Her eyes were full of ache.

"Alaric, I'm only getting married. I'm not abandoning you."

"There's a property on the outskirts of the territory. Three bedrooms, walled garden, private security. I've already purchased it. If you like the country life, I'll have someone plant fruits and vegetables in the yard for you. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen. Trust me."

I stepped back, shaking my head over and over.

"I won't be locked away as your dirty secret. I won't let myself and our child live in the shadows for the rest of our lives."

But Lola simply walked up to me, her expression unchanged, her voice calm. The same voice she must have used at her father's table, negotiating things that had nothing to do with love.

"I've never thought of you as a kept man. As long as you don't make trouble in front of my husband, you'll still be mine. Isn't that enough?"

I kept shaking my head. "No. It's not. I'm not leaving this place."

This was where Lola and I had spent three years of love. I wanted to be here when our child was born.

"Alaric, you know my alliance ceremony cannot have a single flaw. I have to erase every trace of our past. It's the only way to keep you safe."

Before the shock had even settled, she raised her hand. The soldiers behind her stepped forward with torches and set the entire homestead ablaze.

In an instant the fire roared to life, swallowing the cabin, the fence, the courtyard whole. The heat pressed against my skin like a living thing, and the smell of everything we had built turned to char and ash on the wind.

I gripped the fence and screamed. "No! Stop! Stop it!"

Lola pulled me away and pressed my thrashing body against her chest.

She held me there while I struggled and howled.

"Alaric, when the time is right, I'll make you my secondary husband. Our child can carry the title of a legitimate heir. We can be just like before."

But Lola, I am the Young Don of the Valente family. How could I ever be your secondary husband?

The homestead was gone. There was no going back.