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CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 099
~CESAR'S POV~I stand behind her in front of the vanity mirror.The black silk of the dress slides through my fingers like water. It is a dress made for a widow, mourning and painful. Good. Let her mourn the life she lost. Let her mourn the girl she used to be. That girl is dead.She is trembling.I rest my hands on her bare shoulders. Her skin is cool, clammy with that specific, sweet scent of fear that seems to cling to her permanently now. I watch her reflection. Her eyes are wide, dark tunnels of panic. She isn't looking at herself; she is looking at me.She is terrified.And God help me, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."Your brother is watching the house," I tell her.I feel her heart stutter against her ribs under my hand. I see the flash of hope, followed instantly by the crushing weight of reality.I know Diego is there. My snipers picked him up three hours ago. He is lying in the dirt at the edge of the estate, clutching a rusty rifle, thinking he is a ghost.
CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 098
~ANYA POV~We walk down the grand staircase.I feel like I'm descending into hell, but I look like I'm going to a coronation. The black silk dress César chose flows around my legs like liquid ink. It is heavy, expensive, and cold against my skin.My hand rests on his arm. I am gripping his tuxedo jacket so hard my fingers ache, but he doesn't pull away. He pulls me closer."You look breathtaking," he whispers, his lips grazing my ear. "You make me want to fall on my knees and worship you."The words make me shiver. Coming from anyone else, it would be romance. Coming from him, it sounds like a threat.We reach the bottom of the stairs. The double doors to the main hall are open. The sound of chatter, clinking glass, and low music spills out. The smell of cigar smoke and expensive perfume hits me instantly, making my stomach roll."Ready, mi vida?" César asks.He doesn't wait for an answer. He walks us into the room.Silence falls like a guillotine.There are at least fifty people here
CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 097
~ANYA POV~The door to the bedroom closes with a deep, expensive click.I stand in the center of the room, my heart beating against my ribs like a trapped bird. Iñigo is gone. The guards are outside. I am alone.I rush to the window.My hands fumble with the latch, shoving the heavy glass pane open. The warm Spanish air hits my face, smelling of salt and jasmine, but I don't care about the scent. I care about the shadows.I lean out, gripping the stone sill until my fingers ache. I scan the tree line where I saw the flash. Where I saw him."Diego," I whisper, the name getting lost in the wind.Nothing.Just the swaying of the cypress trees and the long, stretching shadows of the sunset. The grounds are empty. But I know he's there. My twin brother is out there, breathing the same air, watching this fortress, thinking he can find a way in.He doesn't know that César left the gate open on purpose.I pull back from the window, my stomach twisting in a sick knot. I feel nauseous again. No
CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 096
~ANYA POV~The sun in Marbella is different from Italy. It doesn't warm you; it exposes you.I step out of the black SUV, my hand instinctively coming up to shield my eyes from the glare. The air here smells of salt and dry earth. It smells like the ocean. It smells like home.But it isn't home.I look up at the estate threatening in front of us. It isn't a house; it is a fortress of white stone and glass, perched on the edge of a cliff like it owns the sea crashing below. It is beautiful. It is paradise.And I feel like I'm walking onto an executioner's block.César is beside me instantly.He doesn't just walk; he claims the space. He isn't wearing a jacket today. His white linen shirt clings to his broad shoulders, the top buttons undone to reveal the tanned skin of his throat. He looks relaxed. He looks like a king returning to his kingdom to rest.But I know better. I can feel the tension radiating off him, a low-level hum of violence that only I seem to be tuned into.His hand la
CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 095
~ANYA POV~The word stays in the air like smoke. ‘Nobody.’I feel César's chest vibrate against my back. It isn't a laugh. It is a low, deep rumble that rattles my teeth. It's the sound of a fault line snapping deep underground right before the earthquake hits.He doesn't stand up. He doesn't shout. He simply stops tracing circles on my thigh. His hand goes still, heavy and hot through the thin linen of my pajamas."Nobody?" César repeats softly.The room is dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. You could hear my heart trying to beat its way out of my ribcage.Giovanni stands at the other end of the long mahogany table. He looks smug. He looks powerful in his three-piece suit, surrounded by men he thinks respect him. He thinks he just put a whore in her place. He thinks he is speaking for the "family."He has no idea he just stepped on a landmine."She is a distraction, César," Giovanni spits, gesturing at me with a manicured hand. "A nothing. A passing fancy. You risk our alliance
CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride 094
~ANYA POV~I lie back down on the bed, the bright light of the room now feeling like a harsh, unwelcome spotlight. The soft duvet is cool against my skin, but inside, I am a furnace of fear and confusion.Pregnant.The word feels like a physical block in my mind, a stone I have swallowed that refuses to go down. I try to touch the thought, to wrap my head around the reality of this parasitic life growing inside me, but my brain slams the door shut. It refuses to process the consequence of his dark possession. It rejects the future that has been violently thrust upon me.The only thing I can do is cry.The tears spill out, hot and silent at first, then melt into long, broken sobs that shake my exhausted body. I turn my face into the pillow, muffling the sound, letting the despair flow out of me until the silk fabric beneath my cheek is drenched.I cry for the freedom I lost. I cry for the people César murdered. I cry for the life I tried to end in that bathroom only hours ago, and for
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