His gaze didn't waver. "To fix this." Her mouth went dry. "Marco, I can't be seen with you in public." They're already saying I'm "That's exactly why you're coming with me, he said.
Bennett thinks he can drag your name through the mud because he thinks you're alone. You're not. "Today people learn that." Her pulse kicked hard. "Marco."
He lifted a hand. His knuckles brushed her jaw. Slow, careful, nothing demanding, just contact. Her breath caught. He looked down at her like she was already his and said quietly, "You're under me now."
That means nobody touches you. Not online, not in person, not with a rumor, not with a headline. I don't care if their father sits in an office with a flag behind his name. Her heart beat so hard it felt like it might bruise her ribs. He lowered his voice even more.
"Lisa, look at me." She was already looking. I am not letting anyone rewrite who you are, he said. Not for votes, not for money, not for a clip on some teenager's phone. Her lips parted.
"And who am I?" He didn't blink. "Mine," he said. Her breath hitched. She should have said no.
She should have told him he was insane. She should have told him she wasn't property. Instead, in a voice she almost didn't recognize as her own, she whispered, "Okay." Something dangerous flickered in his eyes then. Pride, hunger, relief, possession all tangled into one.
He exhaled slowly through his nose like that single word from her had eased something tight inside his chest. ""Good girl."" he murmured. Her knees nearly gave out. He stepped back just enough to let her breathe. "5 minutes. Bag.
Nothing complicated. Toothbrush, whatever you need. Luca's waiting downstairs." She swallowed and nodded. She turned to go, heart in her throat, body buzzing like a live wire.
Then she paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Marco?" He stopped in the doorway. "Yeah?" Her voice came out small and raw. ""Am I in danger because of you?"" His answer was instant. ""No."" he said. ""You're in danger without me."" Her stomach flipped.
"And Lisa." he added quietly. ""That ends today."" She didn't know what it meant yet. She didn't know what he was planning to do to Senator Bennett. She didn't know what it would look like to walk into the world on Marco Conti's arm. What line she was crossing. What she couldn't come back from.
But she knew one thing with absolute clarity. For the first time in her life, someone dangerous wasn't the problem. He was the protection. And if that was true, then she wasn't just some waitress anymore. She was about to become a problem for the wrong people.
A very big one. By noon the next day, Lisa's world was on fire. The video The video was everywhere. On news sites, on social media, on every phone in town. Only now, it wasn't the raw clip from the diner.
It was edited, cut, twisted, rearranged until it told a lie that fit Senator Richard Bennett's story. Lisa stared at the television in Marco's living room, her hands cold around a cup of untouched coffee. The screen showed Olivia crying, mascara smudged, voice trembling, pretending to relive the attack. Reporters nodded solemnly. The banner at the bottom of the screen read, "Senator's daughter speaks out, claims waitress and local mobster harassed her."