“There was never anything you could do.” Mia had never confronted her mother about her failure to protect her children from Papà’s abuse before, and she was shocked at her own bitterness.
Mia’s mother tugged her around the corner, and pain flickered across her face. “I felt every scream like a knife through my heart. I know you thought I wasn’t there for you, that I was weak, and maybe that is part of the reason you are so committed to empowering women. But women can be strong in many different ways. Every obstacle doesn’t need to be met head on. There were times I burnt a meal or broke a vase so he would turn his anger on me instead of you. I tried hard to keep him happy to keep you safe. Every minute of the day I spent trying to think of ways to keep you out of the house, to dissuade you from doing something I knew would anger him, to protect you the only way I could.”
Shocked, Mia could only stare. “You could have taken us away. You could have stood up to him.”
“If I’d taken you away he would have found us. You know that,” Mama admonished. “And if I’d stood up to him, he would have killed me. After you all were born and I started to age, I was of no real use to him except to entertain his guests. I thought about it many times, but who would have protected you when I was gone? I stayed for you, to protect you, to help you find a way to be free.”
Mia’s heart sank to her stomach, and her words came out in a horrified whisper. “I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t want you to know.” Her mother twisted her bracelet around her wrist. “I’m not telling you to make you feel bad. I did what any mother would do. But never think a woman isn’t strong because you can’t see her fight. There is as much strength in enduring as there in engaging. There is strength in picking your battles and knowing when to walk away. There is strength in accepting your limitations and letting someone help you. A strong woman becomes strong because of the pain she has faced and won, because of the battles she has fought that no one sees, by falling down and getting back up again, by smiling in the morning like she wasn’t crying last night. My biggest regret is that I didn’t teach you that. You thought I had abandoned you when, in fact, I was behind you, supporting you, every step of the way.”
“Mama…” Mia’s voice cracked, broke, and she wrapped her mother in a hug.
“If this is real, then I’m happy because you’ll be safe,” Mama murmured in her ear. “But don’t push him away. Some battles we can’t fight alone.” She kissed Mia on the cheek and pulled away. “I’ll go make a little something for your guests. If we don’t have a chance to talk before you leave, let Kat know I miss her.”
“I will, Mama.” Her anger subsided as quickly as it had flared, the empty space filling with admiration instead. “She misses you, too.”
She joined Nico in the foyer and led him down the hall to her father’s study with his men, and her father’s guards taking up the rear.
“It’s going pretty well,” Nico whispered. “Maybe afterwards we can see your bedroom.” He pinched her ass and Mia slapped his hand away while Luca and Frankie chuckled behind them.
“Behave. We still have to deal with Dante.”
Nico’s smile faded to be replaced a scowl. “He won’t touch you. No one will touch you. No one will hurt you. You are my wife, and I will protect you with my last dying breath.”
Mia laughed despite her anxiety. “You should be in the movies. Who talks like that? We’ve only been married for three days.”
“I do.”
She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I like it. Despite my commitment to empowering women, part of me still likes the whole alpha male gonna-protect-you thing. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But save it for when you mean it.”
“I mean it now, bella. Have no doubt you are safe with me.”
Mia knocked before pushing open the door. Dante sat alone at her father’s desk, a stack of files in front of him. Rev, stood nearby, his pumped, muscular body straining his blue silk shirt, short thick neck circled by a heavy gold chain. He gave her a lascivious look as she walked across the room, his leering gaze travelling down her body and back to her breasts. Nico growled softly behind her, and she cleared her throat in warning in case Nico pounced.
Dante looked up and his face twisted in a snarl as he registered the Toscani crew standing in front of him. “What’s he doing here? What the fuck are the Toscanis doing in our house?”
Rev yanked Dante from his seat. “Behind me, Mr. Cordano. I’ll rid this house of the Toscani scum.”
“It’s okay.” Mia held up her hands. “We’re not here to cause problems. We just came to let you know we’re married.”
“Married?” Shock, then horror crossed Dante’s face and his voice rose to a shriek. “What the fuck do you mean? You were supposed to marry Tony Toscani. That was the agreement. Are you stupid? How did you marry the wrong man? Or is this just a sham marriage to get out of the agreement with Tony?”