Chapter 136 *
Scarlett’s POV
"Your boyfriend." Lorenzo's voice was tight. "Is he married? Does he have a family?"
My hand clenched around the phone. "Are you serious right now?"
"Just answer the question!"
"You have no right—"
"I have every right!" His voice rose. "You're my sister! If some married man is stringing you along, using you as a mistress, I need to know!"
Heat flooded my face. Anger made my vision blur.
"You think that little of me?" The words came out sharp. "You think I'm stupid enough to be some man's mistress?"
"I didn't say that—"
"You didn't have to." My voice was shaking now. "That's what you're implying. That I'm naive. That I'm being used."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?" I was almost yelling now. "Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like you think I'm an idiot!"
The car suddenly swerved to the side of the road.
I looked up, startled.
Damon had pulled over. Put the car in park.
His hand reached across the console. Took the phone from my grip.
"What are you—"
He held up one finger. Wait.
Then he brought the phone to his ear.
His voice came out calm. "I'm married."
"I have a wife."
My stomach dropped.
Lorenzo went completely silent on the other end. Three seconds passed.
Then Lorenzo's voice exploded through the speaker so loud I could hear every word.
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! YOU'RE MARRIED AND YOU GOT MY SISTER PREGNANT?!"
Damon's expression didn't change. "Who said anything about pregnant?"
"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" Lorenzo was screaming now. "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME? I WILL PUT A BULLET IN YOUR HEAD!"
I reached for the phone. Damon held it away from me.
"You done?" His voice stayed calm.
"BREAK UP WITH MY SISTER RIGHT NOW!" Lorenzo kept yelling. "GET OUT OF HER LIFE BEFORE I HUNT YOU DOWN AND—"
Damon cut him off. His voice was flat. "I'm married to Scarlett. We're married. Legal husband and wife."
The line went dead silent. "What?" His voice came out strangled.
"You heard me." Damon's tone didn't change. "We got married. Signed the papers. Made it legal."
"That's—" Lorenzo stopped. Started again. "That's impossible. She would've told us."
"Why would she tell you anything?" Damon asked. "You kicked her out. Remember?"
More silence.
I sat there frozen. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
This was it. The secret was out.
Lorenzo's voice came back. "Who the fuck are you?"
The question hung in the air like a knife.
"What crew are you with?" Lorenzo kept going. "Who's backing you?"
My stomach dropped.
If Lorenzo figured out I'd married Damon Wolfe, the most powerful crime boss in New York, things would get complicated fast.
The Romano family would either try to use the connection or make everything worse by getting involved.
I turned to Damon. Opened my mouth to say something. To tell him to make up a fake name. A fake identity.
But Damon was already looking at me.
His eyes met mine. Confident. His free hand moved to cover mine on the seat. Squeezed once.
The gesture said everything. Trust me. I know what I'm doing.
I closed my mouth. Settled back in my seat.
Okay. I'd let him handle this.
Damon turned his attention back to the phone.
Each word carried weight now. "The Romano family's dock operations in Brooklyn."
"Who do you think those docks belong to?"
Lorenzo went quiet on the other end.
Damon didn't wait for an answer. Just kept going.
"Your construction union. The one that controls half the building sites in the city."
"Who do they pay protection money to every month?"
The silence stretched longer this time.
I watched Damon's face. He looked completely calm. But there was something dangerous in his eyes. Something that made my spine tingle.
"And the garbage disposal business." Damon's voice dropped even lower. "All of Brooklyn's waste management. Who controls that?"
Lorenzo's voice came back. Shaky now.
"You..."
Damon didn't confirm or deny. Just let the implication hang there.
I could see Lorenzo putting the pieces together. Every business the Romano family operated. Every income stream they had. All of it flowed up to someone.
All of it flowed up to Damon.
The phone went completely silent.
Not even breathing anymore.
I looked at Damon. He was staring straight ahead at the road. His jaw was set. His eyes were cold.
This was the man who controlled the East Coast underground. The king of New York's criminal empire.
And Lorenzo had just threatened him.
Finally, Lorenzo's voice came back through the speaker. Quieter now.
"Who are you?"
But Damon didn't answer that question.
Instead, his voice changed again. Got harder. All the calm from before disappeared.
"You think you have the right to judge me?" Each word came out sharp. Precise. "You think you have the right to care about her NOW?"
Lorenzo started to respond. Damon cut him off.
"Where the fuck were you when she left your house pregnant and alone?"
The question hit like a gunshot.
My chest tightened.
"Where was this protective big brother act then?" Damon's voice rose. "Where were you when she needed you?"
"I didn't—"
"Where were you when the entire internet was calling her a cheater and a liar?" Damon didn't let him finish. "When people were sending her death threats? When Madison Park was trying to destroy her?"
My throat felt tight. My eyes started burning.
I remembered those days. Scrolling through comment after comment. Each one worse than the last.
My phone had rung constantly. Messages from strangers telling me to kill myself. To disappear. To stop existing.
And my family? The Romanos?
Silence. Complete silence.
"Where were you when your father stood up at that party and publicly disowned her?" Damon's voice was shaking with rage now. "When he told everyone she was an embarrassment to the Romano name?"
"When your mother told her to get out and never come back?" Damon kept going. "Where the fuck were you then?"
I pressed my hand against my mouth. Lorenzo calling me two days later. Not to apologize. Not to check if I was okay.
To tell me I had a duty to marry Adrian Santoro. For the family.
"I'll ask you one more time." Damon's voice was deadly quiet now. "Where were you?"
Lorenzo didn't answer.
Couldn't answer.
Because we both knew the truth.
He'd been nowhere. Done nothing. Said nothing.
Just like the rest of them.
Damon wasn't finished.
"Everything your family has, I have too." His voice was firm. Absolute. "Everything your family doesn't have, I also have."
He paused. Let that sink in.
"She doesn't need Romano money. She doesn't need Romano protection."
His hand tightened around mine.
"My wife is precious to me." The words came out low. Dangerous. "I don't let people who hurt her come near her. Not even her blood family."
My heart was pounding. Tears were streaming down my face now.
But I couldn't look away from him.
"I'll take care of her." Damon's voice was steel. "I'll give her everything your family never did. Respect. Protection. A home where she's wanted."
The car was silent except for my shaky breathing.
"She doesn't want your money." Damon's tone went ice cold. "She doesn't want your apologies. She doesn't want you."
Lorenzo tried to say something. Damon talked over him.
"From now on, you stay away from her." It wasn't a request. It was an order. "If I see your name on her phone again, we're going to have a different kind of conversation."
His voice dropped to almost a growl.
"Do you understand me?"
He didn't wait for Lorenzo to respond.
Just hung up.
The sudden silence in the car was deafening.