Chapter Two
Ella left her picture underneath the magnet on the fridge right at home, in her apartment.
There was no point in carrying it around with her all the time.
Arriving at work, Bernie was already behind the bar.
On Friday nights they always had two or three people manning the bar, including her.
The bar wasn’t open yet, and she gave Bernie a wave.
“Ella, the boss wants a word with you,” he said.
This made her stop and turn to look at Bernie. “What?”
“The boss said to tell you as soon as you come in, that he wanted to see you.”
She nibbled her lip and then glanced back over at Bernie. “Did he say why?”
“No, and I didn’t ask, seeing as he is the boss, and so what he says, goes.”
She tried not to wince, but it was hard not to. This wasn’t good, was it?
She didn’t drop her stuff off at her locker, and instead went straight to Mateo’s office. The door was closed, and she lifted her hand and knocked.
His call to come in came almost immediately after.
Her stomach felt incredibly tight. She had no idea why he would want to see her, and it freaked her out just a little.
She had never been called to his office.
Had a customer reported her? She tried to scramble her brain for a valid reason, and she kept coming up blank.
There was no reason he should want to see her.
Stepping into his office, she saw no one was there with a complaint.
“Close the door,” he said.
Was this good?
She did as he asked, and then turned to look at him.
He pointed at the chair opposite her, and she had no choice but to take a seat, although she just wanted to ask him what was going on.
She licked her very dry lips, and waited.
Her heart raced. She felt that spiraling sickness swirling in her gut, making her wonder what the hell she was going to do.
“I want to talk to you about a ... proposition,” he said.
Okay, she wasn’t expecting that, but at least it didn’t lead to her getting fired, which was a huge plus.
“A proposition?”
“Yes. I’m forty-five years old. I have no wife and no children.” He didn’t look away from her. “And it has come to my attention, Ella, that I want children.”
“Okay. Are you wanting me to help you find a girlfriend or a wife—”
“You’re wanting children, a family, someone to take care of you. How about you and I come to an arrangement that suits both of us?”
This was not what she expected. She had to remind herself to press her lips closed, because she was so close to losing her composure. Her mouth had literally fallen open and stayed open.
“Uh, you want to have a child with me?”
“Children, yes. I want to have more than one child, and based on your picture last night, you want a big family.”
“And you want to have those children with me?”
“Yes,” he said.
She smiled and pressed her lips together, wondering if this was some kind of prank. “You’re kidding?”
“No. I am not kidding. I’m serious, Ella. I want to have kids and a family, and I want to have it with you.”
“What, uh, what exactly would that entail?”
“We’ll get married. I have already made the arrangements. We can be at a church in less than twenty minutes. Everything would be legal. I promise I will take care of you, and in return, you’ll take care of me. Provide me with everything a loving wife can offer. I will give you the kids.”
“How would we ... make those kids?” Ella asked. She felt like she was in a dream, but each time she kept pinching her arm, she wouldn’t wake up.
“The old-fashioned way. We can come to a deal with this arrangement, but after that, everything would be real. You will be my wife, I will be your husband, we will have children and a family. Together, we can give each other what we want.”
“And this is not a joke?”
“I wouldn’t joke around about something as serious as this.”
She couldn’t recall ever seeing him joke around about anything. She ran fingers through her hair. Trying to get to work on time in the busy traffic, she had forgotten to pin back her hair.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“I can give you a week. The priest will hold everything until then, but as soon as you make the decision, I can make this happen.”
Ella nodded. “I’m going to get to work.”
“I won’t hurt you, if that is what you’re worried about,” Mateo said.
She turned to look at him, and the truth was, she didn’t have any words. Moving on autopilot, she went to her locker, put her bag and jacket inside, and then grabbed her apron. Her hair was getting in the way, and she kept pushing it back over her shoulder.
Thankfully, it was Friday night at Cole’s, so that meant she was not going to have a chance to think about the proposition. She didn’t know if she was happy about that. Becoming Mateo Cole’s wife was a crazy idea. She knew he was a dangerous man. He was the head of the freaking mafia.
He tended to spend a lot of time at this very bar, but she heard the rumors.
He ran a tight ship. He ran things differently compared to his father and the original capos.
He was also feared and respected. Men were terrified of him.
Women loved him. And he was willing to create a family with her.
A nobody—someone who didn’t have any mafia genetics in her veins.
Someone who had spent her whole life not being good enough.
Had she woken up in an alternative universe?
****
One Week Later
Mateo loved that Ella continued to come to work while also not giving him a response. She took the whole week, and the next Friday night, after work, he stepped out of his office just as she finished cleaning up the main floor, and everyone was gone.
She turned to look at him, and he didn’t say a word. She pushed some of her hair off her forehead, and she nodded.
“I have some conditions,” she said.
He folded his arms across his chest. This, he was not expecting. Most women liked having his attention and would fall all over themselves just to get to him. He looked at her and waited.
She took a deep breath.
“I don’t want you to cheat on me, or have a mistress. If you want to be with another woman, then you have to tell me about it, and we’ll come to some amicable arrangement after that.”
“Fine,” he said. He had no interest in cheating on her.
Ella’s mouth dropped open and then she quickly closed it. “Holidays are important and I want you to be part of them.”
“Done,” he said.
“If you hurt me in any way, I’m free to walk away. If you beat me, you revoke all rights to your children, and I get them all to myself.”
This one did surprise him.
“I will never hurt you or harm our children, but if that is what you need to feel safe, consider it done.”
Ella nodded. “Then, I would like to ... agree to your proposal.”
Mateo smiled. “Come here.”
Her hands clenched into fists, and she looked so freaking nervous and cute.
She was within touching distance, and he reached out, taking a strand of her hair and running it through his fingers. “Do you want to sign the deal with a kiss or a handshake?”
Her cheeks were the most delightful shade of red.
“Ella, you do know that we’re going to be making kids the good old-fashioned way. I won’t be going to any clinic and putting my seed in a cup,” he said.
“Then I guess we seal this deal with a kiss.”
“You’re nervous?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Why? I promised I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I have ... never kissed a guy.”
This made him pause. “What?”
“I haven’t kissed a guy before.”
“But you have gone on dates?”
She shrugged. “It didn’t exactly end with a kiss. I was not going to kiss any random guy. It’s probably why there was never a second date.” She winced. “I should probably also mention that I’m ... not experienced.”
He had no idea she could get any redder.
“Experienced?”
“I’m a virgin,” she said.
How the ever-loving fuck had he hit the jackpot? He didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky, but he had, and he couldn’t believe it.
“You’ve not been with a man before?”
“No, I haven’t.” She let out a wince. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“No, that is not going to be any fucking problem.” And to prove it, he grabbed her waist and pulled her in tightly against him.
With one hand at her waist, he cupped her face with the other and tilted her head back so he could look into her eyes.
There was no way he was going to look away from her beautiful eyes.
They were a deep shade of brown, and kind.
He’d seen a lot of evil in his time, and he knew good from bad.
Ella was all good. He didn’t know how he gotten so fucking lucky to get her into his life, and he was not going to let her go.
Stroking her cheek, he then gave in and finally pulled her close, taking possession of her lips in a searing kiss. She melted against him, and at first didn’t move her lips beneath him. She was as still as a statue.
He explored her mouth, running his tongue across her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth, to which he plundered inside. Mateo swallowed her moan. She was so fucking stunning.
He loved that she hadn’t kissed anyone else and that she belonged all to him.
The hand at her hip, he curved around and squeezed her ass. It was more than generous and he loved that about her as well. When it came to Ella, he had been craving her for a long time, but he also wasn’t willing to push.
Now, they could find each other. They could help each other.
Ella finally responded and kissed him back. Her hands ran up his chest and curved around his neck, pressing their bodies together.
They could make this work, of that he had no doubt. His cock hardened at the feel of her soft body against his.
Breaking the kiss, he stared into her deep eyes and flushed cheeks, and smiled. “Ella, babe, don’t take this the wrong way, but you are fired. You’re going to have another job as my wife.”
And with that, he grabbed her hand, pulling out his cell phone and texting the priest. Everything was set up.
Regardless of the time, he had made arrangements in advance.
There was no time limit on when someone could get married.
He was not willing to wait another second.
He had already given her a week, and now it was time to make this official.
Ella belonged to him, and he was going to have children with her. For the first time in his life, he actually looked forward to the future.