Mafia Princess

Chapter 12: We got you

Jane's POV

He looked at me. Really looked. “You and Jake were next. Newborns. Twins. Rare. Valuable. If they couldn’t have you, they’d kill you. To hurt me. To end the line.”

“So you hid me,” I said.

“I split you up,” Sandro said. “Jake stayed. He was stronger. Bigger. Better chance if someone came for him. You were small. Sick. Fever. The doctor said you wouldn’t make it a week.”

I gripped the chair. "Less likely to survive." Again.

“I gave you to the Lopez,” Sandro said. “I vetted them. Poor. Honest. No connection to my world. I paid them to disappear. To raise you like their own. To never tell you.”

“They didn’t take the money,” I whispered.

“I know,” Sandro said. “That’s why I chose them.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

“Why now?” I asked. “Why bring me back?”

“Because the people who wanted you dead think you’re dead,” Sandro said. “Because I’m stronger now. Because I have three sons and zero daughters, and the families respect that. A daughter changes the game.”

“How?” I asked.

Sandro’s mouth did something. Not a smile. But not-a-smile. “A son inherits war. A daughter inherits alliances. Marriages. Peace. Or more war, if I choose.”

I went cold. “You’re gonna marry me off?”

“No,” Zack said from behind me. Loud. Fast. “He’s not.”

Sandro’s eyes snapped to Zack. “I didn’t say I was.”

“You implied it,” Zack said. He wasn’t backing down. “She’s fifteen.”

“She’s Wilson,” Sandro said. “And she will be protected. By me. By you. By all of you.” He looked at Alexander, then Jake, then Zack. “That is why you’re here. That is why you will not leave her side. Understood?”

“Understood,” Alexander said.

“Understood,” Jake said.

Zack didn’t say anything.

“Zachary,” Sandro said.

Zack’s hands landed on the back of my chair. Not touching me. Just… there. Claiming space. “Understood,” he said. Low. “No one touches her. Not ever.”

Sandro nodded. “Good.” He looked at me again. “You have questions.”

A thousand. But one was loudest. “Do I look like her? My mom?”

Sandro reached for the framed photo. Turned it around.

She was beautiful. Dark curls like mine. Sharp nose like mine. But her eyes were softer. Her smile was… innocent.

I started crying before I could stop it. Stupid. Baby tears.

Jake was there immediately. Kneeling next to the chair, not touching, but close. “Hey. Hey, Jane. It’s okay.”

“She’s pretty,” I choked out.

“You look like her,” Sandro said. His voice was… not soft. Sandro doesn’t do soft. But it was less hard. “You have her chin. Her eyes. Her stubborn.”

“I don’t want to be married off,” I said. It came out wobbly.

“You won’t be,” Sandro said. “Not unless you choose. Not while I breathe.”

“Or while I breathe,” Zack added from behind me.

“Or me,” Jake said.

“Or me,” Alexander finished.

I looked at them. All three. Big. Scary. Mine.

“Okay,” I said. And I believed them.

Sandro stood. Meeting over. “Viktor at 5am again. Every day. You will get stronger. You will get faster. You will not be a victim. Not my daughter.”

He walked around the desk. Stopped in front of me. He was so tall.

Then he did something I didn’t expect.

He reached out. Touched my hair. Once. Just a touch. Like he was scared I’d break.

“You’re late,” he said. “By fifteen years. But you’re here now.”

He walked out.

I sat there. Crying. In a mafia office. Surrounded by three boys who looked like they’d kill anyone who made me cry more.

Jake handed me a tissue. “He doesn’t touch people. Ever. That was… huge.”

“He touched Peanut too,” I said, then realized how that sounded. “I mean. Zack. He moved Peanut. Off the floor.”

Jake’s eyes went wide. He looked at Zack. “You touched the bear?”

“Shut up,” Zack said. But his ears were red.

Alexander put a hand on my shoulder. “You good?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Good,” Alexander said. “Because now we teach you rule #9.”

“There’s a #9?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Jake said. He grinned. “Wilson girls don’t walk alone. Ever. So you’re stuck with us.”

Zack was already moving to the door. “Let’s go. Marta made lunch. And I’m not letting you eat alone.”

I stood up. My legs were shaky.

Zack was there. Not touching. But there. “I got you,” he said. Quiet.

And he did.

All of them did.