His Unwanted Ex Begs For Second Chances

Three years ago, my fiancée Elena left me at the altar on a twisted dare, humiliating me in front of our entire mafia syndicate.

Today, she blocked my headquarters with nine armored cars, demanding I divorce my pregnant wife and serve her again.

"Hiring a pregnant woman to make me jealous is a bit desperate, Liam," she sneered, tossing a cheap ring at my feet.

When I ignored her to escort my wife, Sienna, to her medical checkup, Elena's childhood friend Julian deliberately lunged at Sienna's swollen stomach.

I threw myself in the way to take the brutal impact, but the shockwave sent Sienna to the emergency room with a threatened miscarriage.

Even as the medical staff scrambled to save my unborn heir, Elena grabbed my sleeve to defend the man who caused it.

"He made a mistake! Why are you holding onto a grudge?" she cried, insisting I was just throwing a tantrum to get her attention.

For seven years, I took bullets to secure her family's territory, only to be discarded like a stray dog when she got bored.

What made her think I would spend three years waiting to be her loyal servant, let alone forgive the attempted murder of my child?

Looking at her entitled, delusional face, the last shred of my restraint turned to ash.

I pulled out my phone to broadcast the security footage to the entire underworld, and calmly ordered my men to erase her family from existence.

Chapter 1

Liam Russo POV

Three years to the day after she left me at the altar to be humiliated by the entire Cosa Nostra, my ex-fiancée parked nine armored Maybachs in front of my syndicate headquarters. She emerged holding a cheap diamond ring to demand I divorce my pregnant wife and serve her again.

The afternoon sun glared off the tinted windows of the blockade she had formed across the main entrance.

I stood on the top step of the corporate building, my hand resting on the small of my wife's back.

Sienna was five months pregnant with our second child.

Through the thin silk of her dress, I could feel the faint, deep thrum of a second heartbeat, a pulse that anchored the violence coiling in my gut.

Elena Falcone stepped out of the lead car, wearing a red designer dress that screamed for attention.

She walked toward us with a confident sway, ignoring the dozen heavily armed guards flanking my sides.

"Are you done with this theatrical facade yet, Liam?" she asked, her voice carrying over the idle hum of the engines.

She stopped a few feet away, her eyes scanning Sienna from head to toe with blatant disgust.

"Hiring a pregnant woman to make me jealous is a bit desperate, even for you."

"Move your cars, Elena," I said.

My voice was planed of all inflection, a flat surface she could find no purchase on.

She laughed-a sharp and grating sound-and reached into the passenger seat of her car to pull out a single red rose.

"Your tantrum has gone on long enough, Liam."

She held the flower out to me.

"It is time to come home to me."

I looked at the rose, a bitter taste rising in the back of my throat.

Three years ago, I spent seven years acting as her shield in the brutal underworld, taking bullets and beatings to secure her family's territory.

She had ignored my severe pollen allergy back then, accepting bouquets from rival bosses while I suffocated in the background.

I pulled Sienna closer to my side, shielding her from the sudden breeze.

"I am a married man," I said, my gaze locking onto Elena with the warmth of a dead winter.

"My wife is carrying my second heir, and you are trespassing on my property."

Elena scoffed and tossed the rose onto the concrete.

She reached into her designer bag and pulled out a men's diamond band.

"I am willing to forgive this little rebellion of yours."

She took a step closer, holding the ring up to the sunlight.

"We can fulfill our broken oath and re-host the wedding next month."

The sight of the ring triggered a memory I had spent six months drowning in heavy sedatives to erase.

I saw the grand banquet hall.

I saw Julian Romano, her childhood friend and a lowly Soldier, stepping on my polished oxfords with a mocking grin.

I felt him rip the boutonniere from my bespoke suit, laughing as he called me a desperate dog trying to climb the ranks.

And I saw Elena turning her back on me, walking out the door on a twisted dare while the entire Family watched me bleed.

I looked at the ring now, feeling nothing at all.

"Get out of my way," I said.

I stepped around her, keeping my body between her and Sienna.

Elena reached out to grab my arm, her manicured nails aiming for my sleeve.

I shifted my weight and evaded her touch effortlessly, stepping into her personal space just enough to let my height and shadow suffocate her.

"Do not ever try to touch me again," I said, the words a low vibration just beside her ear, and I watched the muscles in her neck lock tight.

Her phone buzzed loudly in her hand.

She answered it, and the manic desperation in her eyes instantly melted into a soft, comforting warmth.

"It is okay, Jules, I am handling it right now," she cooed into the receiver.

She lowered the phone and glared at me, her tone shifting into a harsh reprimand.

"You have no right to harbor this unnecessary hostility toward Julian, Liam."

"My wife has a medical checkup," I said, without acknowledging her words. "Move your cars before I have my men crush them into scrap metal."

"You are using underhanded syndicate tactics to force me into submission," Elena accused, her face flushing with anger.

I did not waste another breath on her.

I guided my wife toward an armored SUV waiting at the service exit, leaving her ostentatious blockade behind, my hand never leaving her waist.

Elena was not used to being ignored, and the silence broke whatever fragile restraint she had left.

I had said, "Move," but Elena lunged forward. She slammed her hand against the heavy metal door of the SUV, her eyes wide with a frantic light, as if she could physically hold back the truth.

Liam Russo POV

I stared at the pale hand gripping the door frame, the knuckles showing white.

I pressed my tongue to the back of my teeth, forcing down the metallic taste of my own anger. When I spoke, the words were raw, like sand dragged across a stone floor: "Take your hand off my car."

"I want a front-row seat to this charade you're putting on," Elena demanded, her chin jutting out in defiance.

I closed my hand over her wrist. The bird-like bones grated together under my thumb, and a sharp hiss of air escaped her lips. I peeled her fingers off the metal and flung her hand from the vehicle as if brushing off something soiled.

"Get in," I told Sienna softly, helping her step up into the cabin.

Before I could close the door, Elena lunged again. She tried to duck under my arm, aiming for the front passenger seat. My lead Enforcer moved without a command; his hand clamped onto her shoulder and shoved her hard against the hood of the nearest Maybach.

"Keep your garbage away from my vehicle," I ordered, the urge to end her pulsing in my knuckles. But Sienna was already inside, and a brawl on the street would only cause her distress.

I slid into the rear seat beside my wife and slammed the heavy door, signaling the driver to move. Through the tinted glass, I watched Elena scream in frustration before scrambling toward her own sports car to give chase.

The heavy SUV pulled away from the curb, leaving the line of Maybachs behind.

In the convoy, my Consigliere's vehicle pulled out smoothly, transporting our one-year-old daughter to the hospital's pediatric wing for her checkup.

During the ride, the cabin of the SUV was a quiet, insulated space, sealed off from the chaos Elena had brought to our doorstep.

I kept my eyes on Sienna, adjusting the climate control so the cold air would not hit her directly.

Through the rear-view glass, I saw Elena's sports car swerving behind us, a desperate, erratic chase that spoke of nothing but ruin.

"She is losing her mind," I murmured, the sound a low rumble meant only for her. "Are you comfortable?" I asked Sienna, turning my focus back to the woman who mattered.

Sienna nodded, her hand resting over mine on the firm swell of her stomach.

We arrived at the heavily guarded private maternity hospital owned by my syndicate.

I stepped out first, offering my hand to Sienna and escorting her toward the VIP obstetrics wing.

As we passed through the automated doors, Elena's heels clicked sharply on the polished floor behind us. She must have called ahead, because Julian Romano was already in the lobby, having sped across town to intercept us.

We walked into the private waiting area. The corridor air was thick with the sharp, clean scent of antiseptic, and a low hum vibrated from the fluorescent lights overhead.

Julian Romano was sitting on one of the leather couches.

He stood up as we entered, holding a massive bouquet of cheap red roses.

"Congratulations on the marriage, Liam," Julian said, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

Before the cloying scent of pollen could reach me, my lead Enforcer stepped forward. He snatched the bouquet from Julian's hands and ground the flowers under his combat boot, crushing the stems and petals into the tile.

"Jesus, calm down," Julian laughed, tossing his hands up in mock surrender.

"I'm just trying to be polite to the man and his hired civilian," Julian said loudly, his eyes scanning Sienna's pregnant belly with open disrespect. "Must have cost a lot to find a random woman willing to execute such a petty revenge scheme."

"Be careful, Jules," Elena rushed forward, placing a protective hand on Julian's arm. "He's very sensitive and lashing out."

A triage nurse walked into the waiting room, holding a digital tablet.

"Sienna Moretti?" the nurse called out.

Sienna stood up, and I placed my hand on the small of her back to guide her forward.

"I need the family member to sign the preliminary intake forms," the nurse said, looking around the room.

Elena let out a sharp, dismissive laugh.

"He cannot sign anything; he's just throwing a tantrum," Elena told the nurse.

The nurse looked between us, her stylus hovering over the tablet screen, her confusion palpable.

I stepped forward, my voice pitched to carry through the room, ostensibly for the nurse, but each word was a spadeful of earth for the two figures standing behind me.

Liam Russo POV

"I am her husband," I told the nurse, my voice leaving no room for argument.

The nurse swallowed hard, her eyes darting to the heavy gold signet ring on my right hand.

"Stop making a scene, Liam," Elena warned, stepping closer.

"You are embarrassing yourself."

I turned my head just enough to meet her gaze from the corner of my eye.

"You are an irrelevant outsider," I said, the words falling like blocks of ice onto the polished floor. "Keep your mouth shut in my presence."

Elena sneered, her features tightening into a mask of resentment.

"You are addicted to playing this role because you cannot handle the fact that you lost me."

Julian stepped out from behind Elena, holding his hands up in a gesture of fake surrender.

"Come on, Liam," Julian said, his voice dripping with false sympathy.

"That altar thing was just a youthful joke."

He shrugged, a flimsy attempt to look harmless.

"I apologize if it hurt your feelings, but you need to let it go."

I turned my body fully toward him, a cold stillness settling over me at the sound of his voice.

"A youthful joke," I repeated, the syllables tasting like ash.

I took a slow step forward, the sound of my shoes on the tile sharp and distinct in the quiet room.

"You treated a sacred union as a gambling bet."

I kept walking until I was inches away, forcing him to look up at me.

"You stomped on my shoes, destroyed my property, and humiliated me before the Family."

Julian's smirk vanished. He scrambled backward, using Elena's shoulder as a shield.

Elena immediately threw her arms out to protect him.

"He made a mistake, Liam!" she yelled, her chest heaving.

"Why are you holding onto a grudge?"

I let my silence answer her, watching the air leave her lungs as she seemed to shrink under my gaze.

"Did you truly believe I would remain a loyal dog begging for your scraps?" I asked.

Elena shook her head rapidly, her eyes refusing to absorb the truth standing in front of her.

"You hired a pregnant woman because no one else could possibly understand you the way I do," she insisted, her voice cracking.

I turned my back on her and walked over to Sienna. My thumb, which had been pressing into the small of her back, instinctively tightened, the bone of my knuckle digging into the fabric of her dress. She laid her own hand over mine, and the tension in my grip eased.

"My wife understands the darkest parts of my soul better than you ever could," I said, looking into Sienna's calm eyes.

The nurse cleared her throat, the small sound cutting through the thick silence.

"I need the patriarch's signature here, please," she said, holding out a pen with a hand that shook slightly.

Elena pushed past Julian and craned her neck to look at the paperwork.

Her eyes landed on the spouse section of the intake form.

My name, Liam Russo, was printed there in bold, undeniable black ink.

Elena stared at the crisp black letters on the medical file, her face twisting. She lunged across the waiting room, screaming that I was using syndicate power to forge records, to maintain a lie.