The Mafia Daddy's Lost Little Bride
(2026)(Book 45 in the Mafia Daddies Ruthless Possession series)
A novel by Jess Winters
I couldn't breathe in the back office. He knelt on the linoleum and held me until my hands stopped shaking.
Gabriel Romano: six-foot-two of disciplined shirts, hazel eyes that read me like a blueprint, a pale scar on his forearm and a family's name that opens and closes doors. He watches risks the way other men watch stock reports. He protects with the quiet of someone who can make calls that get answered.
He straightened my ribbon at a charity brunch, slid me a plate when I hadn't eaten, then found me curled on the floor with my heart about to break. He made warm milk, hummed me calm, and called me "baby girl" like it settled something inside me. He gave me a drawer—chubby socks, a storybook, Chopper—and negotiated rules: Green, Yellow, Red. He taught me to say what I needed. I taught him how to hold without owning.
Then the leak hit. A photo, a rumor, his mother sharpening questions. Isabella wants assurances. The club wants appearances. I want to be seen. He has to choose between family alliances and the woman sitting in his lap.
He says he'll stay. He promises me safety and a life that isn't hidden. Will his vow survive the gala at noon tomorrow?
Gabriel Romano: six-foot-two of disciplined shirts, hazel eyes that read me like a blueprint, a pale scar on his forearm and a family's name that opens and closes doors. He watches risks the way other men watch stock reports. He protects with the quiet of someone who can make calls that get answered.
He straightened my ribbon at a charity brunch, slid me a plate when I hadn't eaten, then found me curled on the floor with my heart about to break. He made warm milk, hummed me calm, and called me "baby girl" like it settled something inside me. He gave me a drawer—chubby socks, a storybook, Chopper—and negotiated rules: Green, Yellow, Red. He taught me to say what I needed. I taught him how to hold without owning.
Then the leak hit. A photo, a rumor, his mother sharpening questions. Isabella wants assurances. The club wants appearances. I want to be seen. He has to choose between family alliances and the woman sitting in his lap.
He says he'll stay. He promises me safety and a life that isn't hidden. Will his vow survive the gala at noon tomorrow?