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39. The odds of loving you
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2025-05-14 23:57:03
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Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 188
Adrian’s POVSleep didn’t happen. I spent the night staring at my ceiling, watching shadows from the window move across the plaster while my brain ran through every possible way tomorrow could blow up in my face.Around five in the morning, I gave up pretending and got out of bed. My foot throbbed as I walked to the bathroom, the bullet graze reminding me that less than two days ago I’d killed a man. Funny how that wasn’t even in my top three problems anymore.The shower water ran hot enough to burn, but I stood under it anyway. Physical pain was easier to deal with than the mental kind. When I finally got out, my skin was red and my head wasn’t any clearer.I found Nikolai in his study, still wearing yesterday’s clothes, surrounded by papers and laptops. He looked like he hadn’t slept either.“Coffee?” He held up a cup without looking at me.“Yeah.” I took it, sat in the chair across from his desk. The coffee tasted like it had been sitting there for hours, bitter and wrong, but I dr
Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 187
Nikolai’s POVGregory had the bugs laid out on my desk like evidence at a crime scene. Twelve tiny devices, each one no bigger than a button, each one representing months of our private conversations getting recorded and sent to God knows where.“Found them in every major room,” Gregory said, pointing at each one. “Your study, the conference room, Adrian’s bedroom, the main hall, even the kitchen. This one—” he held up a particularly small device “—was in the frame of that painting you like. The one your mother gave you.”That detail hit harder than it should have. Someone had touched my mother’s painting, violated something personal, just to plant a bug that would let them spy on my life.“How long have they been there?”“Based on the battery life? At least six months. Maybe longer.” Gregory pulled up something on his laptop. “But here’s where it gets interesting. These aren’t cheap Amazon bugs. This is military-grade surveillance equipment. The kind that costs serious money and req
Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 186
Adrian’s POVThe drive to Isabelle’s apartment took twenty-three minutes that felt like hours. Diego drove in silence, probably sensing I was one wrong word away from losing it completely.Isabelle’s building sat in one of those hipster neighborhoods where exposed brick and industrial windows cost more than most people’s houses. She’d bought the place after college, back before either of us knew we’d end up married.I stood outside her door for a full minute before knocking. My hand felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.She opened it before my second knock. “You’re early.” Red eyes, messy hair, sweatpants and an old college shirt. She looked wrecked. “Get in before someone sees you.”The apartment was all gray and white, minimal furniture, the only color coming from old photos of her and Liliana. She headed straight for the kitchen.“Want something to drink?”“I’m good.”“Well I need one.” She poured wine into a glass that was way too full. “Normally I wouldn’t with the baby, but th
Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 185
Adrian’s POVMy foot was killing me by the time Nikolai got back. I’d been pacing the study for an hour, ignoring the doctor’s orders about staying off it. The bandage felt too tight, my shoe pinched wrong, and every step sent sharp little reminders that I’d been shot less than two days ago.Diego had called thirty minutes earlier. “Boss wants you to know he’s on his way back. Says you need to talk about your wife.”Your wife. Like Isabelle was some stranger I’d picked up at a bar instead of someone I’d been married to for three years. Though honestly, sometimes it felt that way. We lived in the same house, shared the same last name, and were about to have a kid together. But we didn’t share a bed, didn’t share secrets, and definitely didn’t share the kind of intimacy that made a marriage real.The study door opened and Nikolai walked in looking like he’d aged five years in two hours. Whatever Leonardo had said to him wasn’t good news.“How’d it go?”“About as well as expected.” He d
Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 184
Nikolai’s POVThe restaurant Leonardo picked sat in one of those downtown areas where old money still pretended it ran the world. Buildings that looked like they’d been standing since dirt was invented, now filled with places that charged your monthly rent for a steak.I got there fifteen minutes early, which meant Leonardo beat me by twenty. He’d claimed a corner table where he could see both doors, old habits from a lifetime of watching his back. He looked rough. New wrinkles I swear weren’t there yesterday, more gray in his hair, like Francisco’s death had aged him overnight.“Nikolai.” He stood up, stuck out his hand. The handshake was solid but not trying to prove anything. “Thanks for showing up.”“You said it was important.”“It is.” He waved at the empty chair. “Sit. Please.”The place buzzed with quiet talk, enough noise to keep conversations private without feeling empty. Other people ate their expensive food, worried about their own problems. Nobody knew they were sitting t
Becoming the Forbidden Possession of the Mafia Boss 181
Nikolai’s POVThe call came through while I was reviewing security footage from last night. Adrian’s name lit up my screen, and I answered before the second ring.“Where are you?” I asked instead of hello.“Driving back.” His voice sounded flat, scraped clean of emotion. “The Moretti estate was a dead end. Literally.”I waited, letting the silence stretch until he was ready to fill it. The security monitors in front of me showed the estate’s perimeter, guards making their rounds like everything was normal. Like we hadn’t just covered up a murder less than twenty-four hours ago.“Derek showed up with a gun,” Adrian finally said. “Drunk off his ass, screaming about how I killed Francisco.”My hand tightened around the phone. “Did he shoot?”“Leonardo talked him down.” A pause, then a bitter laugh. “My father saved my life and still wouldn’t let me through the gates. Security protocols, apparently. I’m too much of a Mancini now to be trusted as a Moretti.”The pain in his voice made some
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