I TOOK 7 BULLETS FOR A BILLIONAIRE’S MOTHER: When I Woke From My Coma, The Most Feared Mafia Boss in New York Had Made Me His Wife—And Hidden a Dangerous Secret That Could Destroy Us Both!

"You lied to me," I choked out, the papers shaking violently in my hands. "You knew who I was from the very beginning!"

Dominic walked slowly into the room, closing the heavy mahogany doors behind him. He didn't reach for his gun, nor did he display his usual commanding arrogance. He looked like a man standing before his judge.

"I never lied to you, Maya," Dominic said quietly. "I simply kept the truth hidden until I could ensure you were safe."

"Safe?!" I screamed, throwing the manila folder across the desk. The documents scattered across the hardwood floor. "My entire life was a lie! My father didn't abandon us because he didn't love us—he disappeared because of your world! Because of your syndicates! My mother worked herself into a heart attack trying to pay rent, while you sat on millions of dollars knowing my father died protecting your family's secrets!"

Dominic took a step forward, his jaw tight. "I didn't find your father’s Swiss death certificate until four months ago, Maya! The moment I confirmed who you were, I sent my people to find you. Do you know where I found you? Working three jobs in Queens, starving yourself to pay for heart medication, completely unprotected."

"So you orchestrated the catering job?" I demanded, tears streaming down my face. "You set me up at the Aster Crown?"

"NO!" Dominic’s voice boomed through the room with the force of a thunderclap.

He closed the distance between us, grabbing my upper arms with fierce, desperate intensity, forcing me to look directly into his blazing eyes.

"I had my agency place you on the VIP guest service roster so I could approach you safely, offer you financial security, and extract you from the city before Costa realized Marcus Vance’s daughter was living in New York!" Dominic roared, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I never planned for the shooting! I never planned for Costa’s hitmen to target my mother that night! And I never, in my wildest nightmares, wanted you to take seven bullets meant for my family!"

I stared at him, my chest heaving, the agony of the past two months colliding with the truth.

"When you threw yourself in front of my mother," Dominic whispered, his voice cracking with a vulnerability I had never heard from him, "my soul was ripped out of my chest. I realized that the daughter of the bravest man I ever knew had just sacrificed her life for mine. Putting that ring on your finger wasn't about the ledger, Maya. It wasn't about Costa’s money. It was the only way I could mobilize every soldier in this city to keep you alive."

"And the ledger?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "What Costa wants... where is it?"

"It doesn't matter," Dominic said fiercely, his hands sliding up to frame my face, his thumbs wiping away my tears. "I burned the Swiss bank codes yesterday. Costa thinks you hold the keys to his billions, but the ledger is gone. There is nothing left for him to steal. The only thing in this world that matters to me right now... is you."

I looked into his dark, tortured eyes. The rage and betrayal inside me warred with the undeniable truth: Dominic had spent every waking second of our marriage protecting me, healing my mother, and standing between me and death.

Before I could answer, the piercing screech of the estate’s emergency red sirens tore through the walls.

Red lights began flashing across the ceiling.