Gabriele Antonelli

Contents Title Title Copyright Prologue Prologue 1. Gabriele 2. Sophie 3. Gabriele 4. Sophie 5. Gabriele 6. Sophie 7. Gabriele 8. Sophie 9. Gabriele 10. Sophie 11. Michelle 12. Gabriele 13. Sophie 14. Gabriele 15. Sophie 16. Gabriele 17. Sophie 18. Gabriele NEWSLETTER Join the ARC Team! Pre-Order Book 6 Gabriele Antonelli: A Dark Mafia Romance Brutal Attachments, 5 Gabriele Antonelli: A Dark Mafia Romance Brutal Attachments, 5 Z.Z. Brulant Copyright © 2023 LFD Romance Books ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Prologue Michelle I could feel the sun's rays coming through the window as I lay in bed. With my eyes closed, I smiled and reached out for Philippe. He wasn't there. I opened my eyes, then sat up. Both he and Joey were gone. “Philippe! Joey!” I called out, figuring they were in the kitchen. There was no answer. I waited for a few moments before calling them again. Still, no answer. I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Of course, there was nothing to worry about. They were probably just out for their morning walk. It was springtime now and Joey loved walking through the woods for an hour at a time, a couple times a day. In the morning, Philippe went out with him. And later in the evening, we would both go together. I loved those walks. They gave me hope that we would be able to build a life for ourselves way out here in rural Quebec. I rubbed my protruding belly and smiled. In five months, I would be a mother. The time that Philippe and I had spent keeping each other warm in bed had finally paid off. We were going to be a family. It was something that I still hadn't quite wrapped my head around. There was a tiny being growing inside of me that was relying on my body to keep it alive. And then eventually it would exit my body and it would be my responsibility to care for it and nurture it. It was all so overwhelming, scary but also exciting. For so long, my only purpose had been keeping my family name alive, making my parents, especially my father proud. I had never really tried to live for myself. I had never tried to carve out my own unique path. The path that I wanted to take had already been laid out for me by everyone in my family line who had participated in the business from my great-grandfather Joseph Antonelli up to my father Leonardo Antonelli. But that was over. It was behind me. I was ready to live my own life. I was the only remaining Antonelli, except for my cousin Gabriele who was the son of my uncle Gianluigi. No one had heard from him or his mother Lucy after my uncle's brutal murder. The assumption was that he and his mother had also been killed by my uncle's enemies but there was no way to be sure. As you may remember, it was my late brother Vincenzo who had ended our uncle's life in a fit of rage, blasting him full of lead. I knew for a fact that Vincenzo had nothing to do with the disappearance of Lucy or Gabriele. She was an ex-stripper with connections to the Bratva so there was no telling whether or not that past had finally caught up with her. I sighed and crossed my arms against my chest. I didn't like being all alone in the cabin, especially now that I had another life to care for. I picked up my phone and checked if I had any messages. Nothing. I was about to call Philippe but I quickly put the phone down and decided not to. There was no need to bother him. I didn't want him to think that I was so helpless that he couldn't leave me alone for an hour. I gently swung my legs out of bed and planted them on the floor. I slid them into my slippers and stood up. In a few months, it would probably be a real struggle for me to perform these basic movements. And I would probably need Philippe's help to get most things done. But I didn't want to think so far ahead. I was just going to take one day at a time and savor each moment of this journey. I couldn't help wondering what my parents would have thought if they had been able to see me. They probably would’ve been even more shocked and surprised than I was. And they would have definitely been curious about the kind of man who had made me want to settle down and start a family. The kind of man who had been able to break through the cold, steel shield that I had used for so long to guard my heart. I slowly made my way toward the kitchen. A strong cup of black coffee was just what I needed. And maybe some bacon and eggs as well. After all, I was eating for two. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks. I heard a strange sound in the distance. I hurried to the front door of the cabin and opened it. The sound was much clearer. It was a helicopter. I stepped out onto the front porch and looked up into the sky. For a few moments, it appeared to be circling around our property. And then it was gone, disappearing into the morning sky. A shiver went down my spine. We had spent the last six months in this cabin, far longer than we had planned on staying. Not once during that time had I heard the sound of a helicopter. We were hundreds of miles away from the