“Sleep Beside Me, I’ll Pay Any Price!” Mafia Boss Told Me — And I Never Left Again
“Sleep Beside Me, I’ll Pay Any Price!” Mafia Boss Told Me — And I Never Left Again
Part 2: The Mafia King’s Queen
I thought saving Carmine Duca’s life twice would be the most dangerous thing I ever did.
I was wrong.
The most dangerous thing I ever did was allowing him to believe I belonged beside him.
Because once Carmine Duca decided someone was his, the entire world knew.
And the world was not happy about it.
My life changed overnight.
One day, I was Beatatrice Gallagher, a nurse who spent her nights running through hospital corridors and drinking cold coffee because I never had time to finish a meal.
The next day, I became the woman everyone in Boston whispered about.
The woman sleeping beside the mafia king.
The woman who had somehow become the only person capable of calming Carmine Duca.
At first, I thought it was temporary.
I thought when his wounds healed, when his nightmares stopped, when he returned to being the ruthless man everyone feared, he would forget about me.
That was what powerful men did.
They took what they needed.
Then they moved on.
But Carmine Duca was different.
He didn’t move on.
He held on.
Three days after the assassination attempt, a black luxury car arrived outside my small apartment.
I was standing in my kitchen wearing old sweatpants when my phone rang.
“Ms. Gallagher?”
The deep voice on the other end belonged to Leo Rizolei.
I sighed.
“Let me guess. Carmine wants something.”
There was silence.
Then Leo answered.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course he does.”
“Boss wants you at the estate.”
“I have a shift tonight.”
“You don’t anymore.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
Leo’s voice became serious.
“It means Carmine Duca personally contacted St. Jude’s administration.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did he do?”
“He donated enough money that the hospital board decided you deserved an indefinite leave of absence.”
I stared at my phone.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“No.”
“I don’t want his money.”
Leo paused.
Then he said something I didn’t expect.
“That’s exactly why he respects you.”
That caught me off guard.
Most people wanted Carmine’s money.
His power.
His protection.
I wanted none of it.
I just wanted my normal life back.
But normal was gone.
Because when I arrived at the Duca estate that afternoon, I realized something.
Carmine wasn’t trying to buy me.
He was trying to keep me alive.
The estate was enormous.
A stone mansion hidden behind tall iron gates, surrounded by security.
It looked less like a home and more like a fortress.
Men watched every entrance.
Cameras covered every corner.
And in the center of it all was Carmine Duca.
He stood near the window wearing a black shirt, his wounds still healing beneath the fabric.
When he saw me, his entire expression changed.
The cold mafia boss disappeared.
And for one second, I saw the man from the hospital.
The man who couldn’t sleep unless I was near.
“You’re late,” he said.
I crossed my arms.
“Nice to see you too.”
A small smile appeared.
“I missed your attitude.”
“I missed my freedom.”
His smile disappeared.
“Bea.”
The way he said my name made me look at him.
“You are not a prisoner.”
“Then why are there twelve armed men outside?”
“Because people are trying to kill me.”
“And because I saved you, now I’m part of this?”
He stepped closer.
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“You became part of this the moment someone tried to inject poison into your hospital room because they knew you were protecting me.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
The assassin wasn’t after me.
He was after Carmine.
But I was standing between them.
And that made me dangerous.
Or maybe…
It made me important.
For the next few weeks, I learned a side of Carmine Duca nobody else knew.
The newspapers called him a monster.
His enemies called him a devil.
But inside that mansion, when nobody was watching, he was just a man carrying too many scars.
He woke up from nightmares.
He hated thunderstorms.
He secretly fed the stray cat that lived near the garden but pretended he didn’t care.
And every night, when darkness came, he looked for me.
Not because he was weak.
Because I reminded him he was still human.
One evening, I found him sitting alone in his office.
The room was filled with expensive furniture, old books, and photographs of people who were no longer alive.
“You should be sleeping,” I said.
He looked up.
“You’re starting to sound like my doctor.”
“That’s because your doctor is tired of telling you the same thing.”
He smiled slightly.
Then his expression became serious.
“Do you know why I trust you?”
I leaned against the doorway.
“Because I saved your life?”
“No.”
He stood.
“Because when everyone else saw Carmine Duca, the monster, you saw a man bleeding on a table.”
I looked away.
“I was doing my job.”
“No.”
He walked closer.
“You were doing more than that.”
The room became quiet.
Then he said something that changed everything.
“Everyone around me wants something.”
“My enemies want my empire.”
“My allies want my power.”
“My family wants my name.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“But you?”
“You wanted me alive.”
My heart tightened.
Because I knew exactly what he meant.
I had spent my entire life feeling invisible.
But Carmine Duca looked at me like I was the only person in the room.
Then came the dinner.
The dinner that changed everything.
Carmine wanted to introduce me publicly.
I refused.
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“No?”
“No.”
“Bea.”
“I’m a nurse, Carmine.”
“And?”
“And you are Carmine Duca.”
He stepped closer.
“So?”
“So everyone expects you to show up with someone glamorous.”
Someone thin.
Someone perfect.
I didn’t say those words.
But he heard them anyway.
His expression hardened.
“Do you really think I care about that?”
I stayed silent.
He gently lifted my chin.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“You think I chose you because I couldn’t find someone else?”
His voice became emotional.
“I have spent my entire life surrounded by beautiful people who lied to my face.”
“But you?”
“You were covered in my blood and still fought to save me.”
“You stood between me and death.”
“How could I ever look at anyone else?”
I didn’t know what to say.
Because nobody had ever spoken to me like that.
Nobody had ever made me feel chosen.
The night of the dinner arrived.
I wore an emerald green dress.
For years, I avoided clothing that showed my curves.
I hid.
I covered myself.
I tried to disappear.
But that night…
I didn’t.
When I stepped into the restaurant beside Carmine, everyone stared.
I expected judgment.
Whispers.
Cruel smiles.
Instead, Carmine took my hand.
And he didn’t let go.
“This is Beatatrice Gallagher,” he announced.
His voice echoed through the room.
“The woman who saved my life.”
Everyone listened.
“The woman who saved my family.”
“And the woman I will protect with everything I have.”
For the first time in my life…
I wasn’t trying to take up less space.
I owned it.
But happiness never lasted long in Carmine Duca’s world.
Because halfway through dinner…
The lights went out.
A second later…
Gunshots exploded.
People screamed.
Glass shattered.
Carmine pushed me down.
“Stay behind me!”
But I had learned something.
I wasn’t the woman who needed saving anymore.
I was the woman who saved him.
Through the darkness, I saw movement.
Someone approaching.
A familiar voice whispered.
“So this is the woman who stole my cousin’s heart.”
I froze.
Mateo Duca.
Carmine’s traitorous cousin.
The man who had tried to kill him.
He stepped into the light holding a weapon.
His eyes moved over me.
“So this is what he chose?”
He laughed.
“A nurse?”
He looked at my body.
“Someone like you?”
The old Bea would have lowered her eyes.
The old Bea would have believed him.
But that woman was gone.
I stood.
And I smiled.
“You made one mistake.”
Mateo frowned.
“What?”
“You thought my size made me weak.”
Then I moved.
I had spent years caring for people.
Years learning how bodies moved.
Years understanding strength.
And Mateo Duca learned the hardest lesson of his life.
The woman beside Carmine Duca was not a weakness.
She was his greatest weapon.
When Carmine finally reached us, he stopped.
Because he saw me standing over Mateo.
Alive.
Unbroken.
And fearless.
Leo looked at Carmine and shook his head.
“Boss.”
He smiled.
“Your woman is terrifying.”
Carmine looked at me.
And instead of fear…
I saw pride.
Pure pride.
He walked toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Then he whispered:
“I knew I was right.”
“About what?”
His hand wrapped around mine.
“That I didn’t need someone to protect me.”
“I needed someone who could stand beside me.”
That night changed everything.
Because the world finally understood something.
Carmine Duca was the king of Boston.
But Beatatrice Gallagher?
She was the only person who could make the king kneel.
And from that day forward…
I never slept beside him because he paid me.
I stayed because somewhere along the way…
The man who asked me for protection became the man who made me feel protected.
And I realized something terrifying.
I wasn’t trapped in Carmine Duca’s world.
I had chosen it.
The End of Part 2
