Make Me Moan, Daddy-Chapter 84

REINA

"Divorce my son and marry me."

For two whole days, those words wouldn’t leave my mind.

When I first had sex with Domenico, I already knew it could end badly if not for both of us, at least for me. I wasn’t stupid. You don’t cross a line like that and expect peace afterward. But I didn’t think it would get this bad.

Domenico wasn’t the kind of man who fell for people. Paolo once said his father’s children came from two women who were never really married to him—just convenient arrangements. No love. No ties. No strings attached.

So why me? Why now? Why did he have to change? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

I woke up this morning with the same tightness in my chest I’d been carrying since that day. It wasn’t simple shame or guilt. Those were small things you could shake off with a shower or sleep. This felt bigger, like a bruise under my ribs.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how easily I might have ruined my life. The thought sat in my throat like a stone. Or maybe I already had.

I stayed in my apartment because leaving felt like looking for more trouble. Staying felt like hiding. I ate when I forced myself to. I moved through the rooms in slow, careful circles so I could pretend I was just being practical. Mostly, I stared at my phone, at the calls I hadn’t answered.

Then there came a knock. My first instinct was to ignore it. Maybe it was Domenico, or worse, someone he sent. I didn’t have the strength to face him.

But then my phone buzzed. A message from Tessa. "It’s me. Open the door."

I took a shaky breath and got up.

When I opened the door, I saw Tessa first, her expression calm but direct. Behind her, Shane practically burst in, dragging Tripp along. I knew before they even entered how this visit was going to feel.

Shane’s loud energy, Tripp’s quiet caution, and Tessa’s sharp eyes.

Shane pulled me into a hug, almost crushing me in the process. "You look... I don’t know," he said, stepping back and squinting at me like he was inspecting a delicate artifact. "Not bad. Weird, I mean weird good. Are you eating?"

I laughed softly, shaking my head. "I’ve been busy with stuff. Come in."

Shane let go of me and immediately started walking around, his hands gesturing at everything. "This place is huge! You live like a queen, and I swear I will start praying harder for my own rich sugar daddy. Tripp, did you hear that?"

Tripp’s face went red. He mumbled something about Shane being ridiculous, but Shane grabbed his arm and practically dragged him into the living room. They disappeared into the kitchen and after that, oohing at the countertops and the balcony view.

Shane’s energy was ridiculous, almost theatrical, but it filled the apartment in a way that made me almost forget the tight knot in my chest.

Tessa didn’t move with them. She stayed by the doorway beside me, her expression serious. "Can we talk?" she asked.

I nodded and followed her to my bedroom. She closed the door behind us and handed me my car keys.

"Shane has been crying about this," she said lightly, trying to ease into the conversation. "He wants to drive your car."

I managed a small, automatic smile. The gesture grounded me for a second. Then Tessa’s expression turned serious again. I knew she wasn’t here just to return my car.

"Reina... you’ve been gone for two days. You’re not... okay, are you? You’ve barely answered your phone. I was worried." She sighed, palming her face as she walked towards the window, parting the curtains. "Jesus, it looks like you’re in the middle of mourning."

"Right?" I grumbled, dragging my legs towards the bed and took a seat at the edge of my bed.

Tessa turned around to face me after opening the window and let some air inside. "Is something wrong, you could always talk to me, you know that?"

I nodded, rubbing my neck. "Yeah," I muttered, clearing my throat. "I will."

She looked at me for a while, then shrugged one shoulder. "I’m sorry," she said. "I had to look into him without your knowledge."

My stomach tightened. I had expected this. Tessa doesn’t stop when something smells wrong. She doesn’t half-ass investigations. She sees something dangerous and she digs.

"You looked into him?" I asked quietly. I already knew who she was talking about.

"I looked into him," Tessa said, her voice dropped low, perhaps if Shane was in an earshot so he wouldn’t be able to hear her.

"Reina... that man is dangerous. Not in some exaggeration way. He’s involved in things that can get people killed. He’s a bad man, the Gravano names were mentioned in a lot of things that weren’t good at all. It’s like you married into a crime family."

I didn’t flinch. I had known. I had suspected. But hearing it out loud made the danger feel closer.

"I know about the Gravano side of things," I said. "I knew they weren’t clean."

Tessa’s eyes softened slightly. "Knowing and seeing are different. Seeing it... seeing the pieces fit—it’s a different kind of urgency."

I nodded. "I know. I just... I was desperate. I needed help. I didn’t have a choice."

"You knew the risk," Tessa pressed.

"To some degree," I said. "I didn’t know the scale. I did know what they are capable of."

"You should have gotten help somewhere else." She let out an exasperated groan, going to sit on the other end of my bed. "You can’t leave, can you? They know you already know their secret?"

"I can’t." I swallowed. Not because I really wanted to, or because they were going to hurt me, but I never really thought about leaving the family... Leaving Paolo. "He even asked me to marry him. Was it because he knew I can’t leave?"

I swear, I didn’t mean to say it out loud. I wasn’t even aware I had let it out loud until Tessa literally jumped to her feet.

Her eyes narrowed. "He asked you to marry? Your father-in-law asked you to marry him while you’re still married to his son?"

I flinched at the question. She didn’t say it like an accusation—more like she needed to know the truth. "Yes. He asked me to marry him."

"Did you agree?"

I shook my head. How could I agree to something so shameful like that? Even if not because of Paolo, how could I possibly tell my Aunt that I was going to divorce my husband and then marry his father?

"I can’t," I admitted. "Even if I could divorce him someday, I would never leave Paolo for... him. Never."

Tessa stared at me for a while, she seemed deep in thought and I could almost see it in her eyes like she also believed that I brought this upon myself. But I knew she would never say that to me.

"You should stop seeing him, Reina. Stop this insanity before it’s too late. That man, he’s a bad news. You have to stay away from him." She breathed out and I felt my heart thumping hard against my chest.

"I already did." Saying it out loud felt like a tiny relief. "I already cut off things with him."

"Good." Tessa grinned, like she had always wanted to hear this from me.