Forced To Be The Mafia King's Bride (by Oma Green) novel Chapter 169

Gianna's POV

Arielle leaned back in her chair, acting all innocent. "What did you think I was going to say?"

Dante's scowl deepened. "And how would you know what newly married couples do?"

"Books." She shrugged and picked up her orange juice. "Movies. The internet exists, you know. I'm not living under a rock."

"The books I specifically told Selene not to give you."

"She didn't give them to me." Arielle's smile turned sweet. "I have my ways."

Dante set his fork down. His knuckles went white against the table.

"Those books are filling your head with nonsense. Ideas you're too young to..."

"I'm fourteen, not a baby."

She crossed her arms. "And they're just romance books. Love stories. Happy endings. Nothing inappropriate."

"They're not age appropriate. And when I give an order..."

This was going to turn into a fight. I could feel it.

I tucked my hair behind my ear. "I used to read them too."

Both of them turned to look at me.

Arielle's face lit up. "Really?"

I nodded and wrapped my hands around my coffee cup.

"My aunt would sneak them to me. My father had the same rule as your dad. She'd hide them in her purse and slip them to me when he wasn't watching."

"See?" Arielle pointed at me, then at Dante. "Gianna gets it. We have stuff in common. This is bonding, Dad."

Dante looked at me. His eyes held confusion, maybe disappointment. I couldn't tell.

"Don't encourage her."

I held up my hands. "I'm just saying I survived reading romance books as a teenager. It's not the end of the world."

"You're supposed to be on my side."

"I'm not on anyone's side." I picked up my cup and took a sip. "I'm just being honest."

Arielle grinned. "See why I like her, Dad? She's cool."

"She's not cool, she's..." He stopped, rubbing his hand over his face. "Arielle, eat your breakfast. No more talking about books or what newlyweds should be doing or anything else."

"But..."

"Now."

She huffed, stabbing her fork into her eggs. She shoved a bite into her mouth, chewing like the food had personally offended her.

I stole a glance at Dante and found him already looking at me. Our eyes met for half a second before he tore his gaze away.

Silence settled over the table.

I barely touched my food. I just pushed eggs around my plate. Dante did the same. His fork scraped against his plate, but nothing made it to his mouth.

I glanced up again. He was looking at me. Our eyes met. He turned back to his food again.

From the corner of my eye, I watched Arielle watching us. Her gaze moved from me to Dante and back. Her forehead creased.

Her fork clattered against her plate.

The sound echoed. Dante and I both looked up.

She sat back in her chair, arms crossed.

Dante set down his fork. "What's wrong, princess?"

"You two are being weird."

My hand froze. I dropped my fork, cleared my throat, and tucked my hair behind my ear.

Beside me, Dante shifted in his seat.

I forced a smile. "Your father and I are fine, Arielle."

"No, you're not." She leaned forward. "You've been sitting here for ten minutes and you've barely looked at each other. You're both just staring at your food like it's the most interesting thing ever. But then you're not eating it."

"We're eating." Dante picked up his fork. "People generally look at their food when they eat."

"And when you do look at each other," she kept going, "you both look away really fast. Like you're afraid of getting caught or something."

I took a drink of water. It went down wrong. I coughed, pressing my napkin to my mouth.

"That's not..." I started.

I reached across the table. My fingers barely touched hers.

"Arielle, I understand you. But maybe in the future. Your father and I just need..."

"I've learned in this life I was born into, all you have is today." Her voice cracked. "That future might never come."

She was absolutely right. Tomorrow wasn't promised. Not in this world. Not in her world. She had learned that lesson far too young.

But a baby. I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility.

"Arielle, you need to be patient with us. Having a baby is an important decision that we must carefully consider."

"I don't mean to pressure you both." She wiped her cheeks. "I just want to have someone to talk to when you're all doing grown-up stuff."

Dante pushed his plate away and reached for her hand.

"Come on, princess. Gianna just means soon. We only got married a few days ago. Like you said, we need time to enjoy being together first. But we heard you."

"Promise?" The word came out small.

"I promise." He reached across and covered her hand with his. "And when it happens, you're going to be the best big sister ever."

Heat flooded my face. Not the embarrassed kind. The angry kind.

He had no right to promise Arielle something he couldn't deliver. Something I wasn't ready for. My body. My choice. Not his. Not his place to decide when or if I'd have a baby. Not his place to make promises about my womb like it was a business deal he could negotiate.

I dug my nails into my palms under the table.

"I will be." The tears kept coming, but she smiled through them. "I'll love them so much. I'll read to them every night and let them sleep in my room when they're scared. I'll teach them things and protect them from everything bad. I'll make sure they know they're loved every single day."

Warmth spread through the anger. This girl had lost her mother. She had spent years locked away. She had no one but a father who was barely around and staff who were paid to care.

She just wanted to love someone. To be needed. To not be alone.

The words spilled out faster. Her whole face changed, lit up with hope.

"We get it." Dante smiled, a real smile. "Best sister in the world."

"Exactly." She wiped her face with her napkin. "So you two need to hurry up."

My face burned as I looked up at Dante.

This time he didn't look away. His eyes held mine, intense, like he was trying to tell me something without words.

But I couldn't read or understand what he wanted me to see.