She Discovered A Hidden Ultrasound Before Her Wedding—Then The Mafia Boss Came Into Her Life

Camille stared at him as if he had suddenly spoken in an ancient, forgotten language.

"What?"

"You heard me," Valentin said smoothly, his arms folding across his broad chest. "Marry me."

"Are you insane?" Camille snapped, taking a swift step backward. "I just escaped one lying lunatic fifteen hours ago! Why on earth would I marry a mafia boss I met twenty minutes ago?!"

"Because it solves every single problem you currently have," Valentin replied, entirely unbothered by her outburst. He began to pace slowly around her, his leather shoes silent against the thick rug. "Consider the facts, Miss Hunt. Your reputation in this city is currently being torn to shreds. By nightfall, every newspaper and social column will be printing stories about the runaway groom who left the respectable Camille Hunt at the altar."

Camille’s jaw tightened. She knew he was right about that much. The social circles her mother cared so deeply about were vicious.

"Secondly," Valentin continued, holding up a long, lean finger, "Trevor’s creditors won't stop with me. The Chicago Outfit doesn't care about legal claim. They know he was engaged to you. They will come to your house, they will harass your parents, and they will make your life a living hell trying to find him."

"And you think marrying you stops that?"

"Under my name, no one touches you," Valentin said, his voice dropping into a deep, absolute certainty that sent a shiver through her blood. "No Chicago muscle crosses my city line to bother my wife. Your parents will be protected. Your family's debts will be erased. And Trevor... Trevor will watch from his cowardly hiding place as the woman he tried to destroy becomes the most powerful figure in the city."

Camille stared at him, her pulse hammering in her ears. The logic was cold, twisted, and utterly terrifying—but it was undeniably solid.

"What do you get out of this?" she asked softly. "A man like you doesn't offer protection out of the goodness of his heart."

Valentin stopped pacing and looked at her. A faint, dark emotion flickered across his grey eyes before he smoothed it over with his usual cold composure.

"My board of investors—the old men who control the syndicate’s legitimate holdings—require me to present a stable, respectable public image to finalize our purchase of the city’s harbor expansion project," Valentin explained quietly. "An unmarried man in my position is seen as volatile. A married man, settled with a respected attorney's daughter, is seen as established. You give me respectability. I give you total protection and vengeance."

"A business arrangement," Camille murmured.

"A contract," Valentin corrected. "One year. We stay married for twelve months. You live here, under my roof, protected by my men. You attend public events at my side. At the end of the year, we quietly divorce. I give you two million dollars and a clean slate. And Trevor will be handled."

Camille looked at the massive windows overlooking the estate's courtyard. Her mind was spinning. Yesterday, she was a quiet graphic designer preparing for a simple life with a man she thought she knew. Today, she was standing in the lair of a mob king, being offered a deal that sounded like a fever dream.

"No touching," she said suddenly, turning back to him. "No real marriage duties. We keep separate rooms."

Valentin’s mouth twitched with the ghost of a real smile. "Miss Hunt, I am a businessman, not a brute. I have no interest in forcing myself upon a woman who doesn't want me. You will have your own wing of the house."

"And my parents?"

"They will be told we had a long-standing, private connection," Valentin said smoothly. "That you left Trevor because you realized your true feelings for me. It saves your mother's precious pride, and it gives the town a far more scandalous story to swallow."

Camille closed her eyes, taking a long, ragged breath. She thought of Trevor’s cowardly face, his forged signatures, and the ultrasound in his pocket. She thought of her mother crying in the hallway.