Chains of velvet obsession

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply.

My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there.

I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening.

Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian:

"Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?"

Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine.

He replied, also in Italian:

"Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender."

His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant.

"Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man."

His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence.

The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch.

The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word.

I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled.

Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept."

In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

...

Noticing I hadn't touched the blood orange he'd peeled for me, Lucian gently wiped a smudge of wine from the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Looking at the deep affection in his eyes, all I felt was disgust.

One moment he was discussing my sister's body with his men, and the next, he was the perfect husband, deeply in love with his wife.

I wondered how long he could keep up this masterful performance.

"It's nothing. I was just wondering, what were you all talking about just now?"

Lucian casually pinched my cheek, letting out a doting chuckle.

"We were discussing an arms deal. I know you don't like hearing about that side of the business, so we used Italian."

He must have been so lost in his debauchery lately that he'd forgotten my grandmother was Sicilian, and that I've understood Italian since I was a child.

The smoke and liquor in the air suddenly felt suffocating. I pushed him away.

"Please, carry on. I'm going to get some fresh air."

Without waiting for Lucian's reply, I walked straight to the estate's terrace.

As I passed, the other wives cast envious glances my way.

"Look at our Donna, truly blessed. The Don throws such a grand party for her every year."

"Yes, the queen of the Marino Family. What an enviable position."

Hearing such praise used to make me feel proud and happy.

I believed I had found the best husband in the world.

But now, I only felt the irony, my heart a frozen lake.

No one knew the filthy games Lucian, the man who supposedly loved me to death, played behind my back.

Yesterday, I had snuck into his study to leave the anniversary gift I'd prepared for him.

It was a restricted area, a place that held many of the Marino Family's secrets, a place even I rarely had the chance to enter.

But this time, I smelled my sister Sophia's unique perfume there.

That cheap, cloying scent had soaked into the leather sofa, clung to his suit jacket, and lingered in the air.

The moment I walked out of that study, I knew my marriage to Lucian was over.

A sudden vibration from my phone broke my train of thought.

"Eleonora, I saw on the system that you accepted the project offer. You gave up your career for Marino all those years ago. I'm so happy to see you're coming back."

"I'll send someone to pick you up in three days."

"You can spend these next few days saying goodbye to your family."

At the word "family," my knuckles whitened as I gripped my phone.

Ever since my parents were killed in a blood feud five years ago, Lucian was the only family I had left.

But now that he had betrayed me, he was no longer my family.

"Professor, that won't be necessary. Please apply for the highest level of security clearance on my behalf and erase all public records of me."

My mentor's voice, full of surprise, came through the phone.

"Why? Once those records are erased, Eleonora Vettori will have completely vanished from the face of the earth. Lucian will go insane when he can't find you."

I laughed bitterly. "He won't. He betrayed me."

My eyes began to sting.

After leaving medical school, the only medical practice I got was patching Lucian up after his gunfights.

I had lost myself and gained nothing in return.

My mentor fell silent. After a long moment, he sighed.

"I thought it was strange when you suddenly accepted the offer yesterday. I never imagined…"

"Alright. I'll arrange the highest level of security clearance for you. Just get your affairs in order these next three days."

Hearing my mentor agree, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The security protocol meant I no longer had to rack my brain for a way to leave Lucian.

"Thank you, Professor."

Just as the words left my mouth, a familiar deep voice sounded from behind me, making me jump.

"Darling, who did you say was betrayed?"