Exposed to the CEO Behind the Mafia Mask

Ivy’s POV

The last thing I expected during lunch at one of the Thorne family’s legitimate front restaurants was to see Yara Rossi’s face in the doorway. The daughter of our underboss stood there scanning the dining room with those calculating eyes until they locked onto mine across the crowded space.

"You’ve got some nerve showing up here to harass my friend, you spoiled princess," Gemma immediately bristled, her voice cutting through the ambient chatter of the upscale Italian establishment. Her hand instinctively moved toward her purse, where I knew she kept her piece.

Yara approached our corner booth with what she probably thought was a humble expression, though her eyes held the same manipulative gleam I’d seen countless times before. The other diners continued their meals, oblivious to the deadly undercurrent flowing between our tables.

"Ivy, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Please, I’m begging you to just listen to what I have to say." Her voice carried that practiced vulnerability she’d perfected over the years as daddy’s little princess.

"Absolutely not. Get lost and leave Ivy alone before I make you disappear permanently." Gemma’s protective instincts were in full force, and I could practically see her calculating the best angle to slide a blade between Yara’s ribs.

I placed a restraining hand on Gemma’s arm, feeling the tension coiled in her muscles like a spring ready to snap. "Let it go, Gemma. I’ll hear her out. I’d rather deal with this pest once and for all than have her stalking me around the family’s territory."

Yara wasted no time sliding into the booth beside me, uninvited. The audacity of this mafia princess never ceased to amaze me, even after all the schemes she’d pulled.

"Look, Ivy, I want to speak to you mother to mother," she began, pressing her manicured hand dramatically to her chest. "You understand how difficult it is to raise a child without a father in our world. I know you’re struggling with the same thing since you don’t even know which soldier fathered your son."

My blood turned to ice. Only Monica could have fed her that piece of information before her unfortunate accident.

"Keep my son out of your mouth," I warned, my voice dropping to the deadly quiet tone I’d learned from watching Caleb conduct business. "Whatever poison you came here to spill, leave him out of it."

She had the nerve to look wounded, like I’d struck an innocent lamb instead of a viper. "I’m here to ask you, to beg you if I have to, to step away from Caleb. He has a responsibility to marry me and give my baby the protection of the Thorne name. Please, Ivy, don’t force my child to grow up without the family’s protection. Remove yourself from Caleb’s life completely."

The crocodile tears started flowing right on cue, just like her father had taught her during their years of scheming together.

"Yara, I’m not standing in the way of your little domestic fantasy. I broke things off with Caleb the day you announced your pregnancy. If he’s not rushing to put a ring on your finger, that’s between you and the Don," I said, fighting to keep my own emotions locked down tight.

"But you’re still working in his organization, still in his orbit," she whined, her voice taking on that petulant edge that made grown men want to slap her. "You haven’t really removed yourself from his world."

"I’m not abandoning my position. You know perfectly well that I work for Xavier’s crew now, not directly under Caleb’s command. So there’s no valid reason for you to keep harassing me. If you think you can guilt me into leaving the family business entirely, you’re more delusional than your father."

Her mask slipped completely, revealing the calculating predator beneath. "You’re heartless, Ivy!" she shrieked, loud enough for half the restaurant to hear. "You want to steal my baby’s father and leave us with nothing!" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Every head in the place turned toward our booth. I wanted to disappear into the leather upholstery. The way she was carrying on, anyone listening would think I was some opportunistic outsider trying to destroy a legitimate family arrangement.

"You’ve made your little scene, and I’ve given you my answer. I’m not in Caleb’s personal life, but I’m not sacrificing my place in this family either." I stood up, my chair scraping against the polished floor. "Don’t contact me again, or I’ll have Xavier’s boys pay your father a visit."

I walked to the hostess station and arranged for our order to be delivered to the compound. Gemma was right behind me, doing the same with barely contained fury radiating from her small frame. We left that toxic atmosphere and returned to the Thorne Group offices, where I finally allowed myself to collapse into my chair and let the tears fall.

When our lunch arrived, Gemma called me to the break room in the back of the building. We ate in relative silence, my appetite completely gone despite the excellent lasagna.

"She’s never going to leave me alone, Gemma. Never." The words came out between sobs.

"Oh yes, she will. Even if I have to risk my clean record with the family to make it happen permanently." Gemma’s fierce loyalty almost made me smile despite everything.

After lunch, I returned to find the slice of tiramisu I’d ordered still sitting on my desk. I devoured it immediately, hoping the sugar would provide some comfort, however temporary.

I was just finishing the last bite when Caleb appeared in my doorway, then dropped to his knees beside my chair like a penitent seeking absolution.

"My angel, please don’t cry." His ice-blue eyes looked haunted, stripped of their usual predatory intensity. "We’ll face this together. I promise you. Gemma told me what happened, and I swear she won’t bother you again. I’ll find a way to handle this situation."

"The only way to make her and her father stop is for you to go through with this arrangement." The words tore at my throat as I spoke them.

The thought of him with someone else was agony, but I couldn’t keep living under this constant threat from Roman’s faction. I reached out and touched his face, trying to memorize the feel of his skin under my fingers.

"This is torture for me too. But it’s the only way they’ll leave me in peace. You have to marry her, Caleb."

"This will destroy me, Ivy." He captured my hand and pressed his lips to my palm with desperate reverence. "But I can’t bear to see you suffering like this. Let me try to find another solution first. I’ll speak with my consigliere. I love you."

He stood, kissed my forehead with heartbreaking tenderness, and walked away. I crumbled the moment he was gone, sobbing like a child, feeling like my chest was being ripped apart by invisible claws.

Gemma rushed in as soon as Caleb left, wrapping me in her arms. Xavier appeared in the doorway, took one look at my tear-stained face, and left again, his jaw tight with lethal frustration. Jude came over and pulled me into one of his bear hugs.

"Pretty woman, just tell me whose throat needs cutting first," he said in that deceptively casual way that always managed to coax a smile out of me.

Katelyn insisted on making me tea, hovering over me like a concerned sister. I excused myself to the bathroom to wash my face and pull myself together.

When I returned to my desk, I buried myself in financial reports, trying to lose myself in numbers and correspondence. The girls all checked in throughout the afternoon, each one assuring me they wouldn’t let that manipulative princess anywhere near me again.

The rest of the week crawled by in a haze. I went through the motions of living, pretending everything was normal for my son’s sake, but inside I felt like I was watching my life from a distance, unable to fully participate in my own existence.