Of Beauty, Brains, & Bravery

Of Beauty, Brains, & Bravery Natalia Lamb J. S. Cooper Copyright © 2023 by Natalia Lamb All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum Contents Blurb Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Acknowledgments Blurb There was once a wolf and a little lamb. He was full of fury, and she was calm. The first time he saw her, he was intrigued. He lured her into his web of deceit. Once she found out his lies, she was done. And now this Mafia boss’s time has come. He’s known as a wolf. The cold Mafia boss with the frozen heart. His father told him he had to find a wife, but he had other plans. The first time Antonio Marchesi spied Callie Rowney, he knew he had to have her. Even though she wasn’t from his world, he didn’t care. He concocted an elaborate plan to trap her in his web. She’s known as a lamb. A sweet, innocent college senior who dreams of one true love. When she met Antonio, she couldn’t help but be attracted to his charm and looks. She tried to resist, but he knew the tune to her heart. But then his lies were exposed, and she was heartbroken and despaired. She fled his den and never wanted to see him again. But there’s one secret neither one of them knows about. 1 Callie “I have not broken your heart—you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.” —Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Momma’s going to buy you a mocking bird. I heard my mother’s dulcet tone in my head as I lay there on an unfamiliar hard bed, but it was Roberto Marchesi’s face that I saw mouthing the words. He was the epitome of a nightmare, with his garish, ugly, pudgy, and callous features. I could still smell his putrid breath in my nostrils, and I wanted to throw up. Don Roberto Marchesi was Antonio’s father, but their resemblance ended at their names. A sickly tremor rose in my throat as I thought about the last hour. All I could wonder was how Roberto and Antonio knew my mother, Phillipa, and the song she sang to me when I was young? “Callie, my little lamb, can you hear me?” Antonio’s deep voice sounded concerned as it echoed in the room he’d carried me into, but I knew that was just wishful thinking. He’d most probably clapped in glee when I’d fainted. I wanted to open my eyes and shout at him. Tell him that he was a pig. And I wanted to punch him hard in the face for using me. For making me believe he cared. What was it he’d said? My brain ached as I lay there, and suddenly his words hit me hard, like a freight train. “I am Antonio ‘the wolf’ Marchesi. I know everything.” I seized up for a few seconds as I tried to shout out, “What is everything?” But my words wouldn’t come. Instead, I heard a taunting yell reverberating in the room. “She’ll come around soon,” an older lady said, and I was about to open my eyes when Antonio spoke again. “How do you know that song, Papa?” There was a quietness to his tone that sent a shiver down my spine. Now I understood what deathly quiet meant. Or did it just mean it was so quiet, it was deathly? My brain was scrambled; I was anxious, and my thoughts were rambling. I just needed to stop. “What song?” Don Roberto tried to sound confused, but he wasn’t a good actor. His tone was almost cackling. I wouldn’t be shocked if he turned green and transformed into a witch. Maybe he’d start singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and then transform into Judy Garland. Focus, Callie. My brain was trying to distract me from my nervous anxiety. “The song Callie’s mother used to sing to her?” Antonio’s voice rose, and I felt agitated. He was asking the question I wanted the answer to. Did that mean he didn’t know the answer? But then, how did he know my mother? None of this made any sense. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Don Roberto’s voice was distant, and I heard a chair pushing back, scratching against the wooden floor. The sound made me tremble. “I need some answers myself. What is this girl doing in my house?” “I invited her,” Antonio responded coolly. “She’s joining us for dinner.” “Antonio, is that wise?” The woman’s voice again. Who was she? “What do you mean, Luisa?” His voice was deceptively calm. I was learning Antonio’s tells now. He was always extremely calm before he got enraged and pounced. They called him a wolf, and he called himself a mole, but I thought of him as a lion: strong, proud, and vicious. “Tonight is the dinner with Tommasso and Serena and—” she continued softly. “And what of it?” Antonio laughed, the sound coming from deep in his throat. I couldn’t see, but I could picture the danger. The smell of a cigar suddenly filled the room, and I felt queasy. I wondered if I was going to die. I wondered if this was it for me. A stupid trap that I’d fallen into because I’d wanted a