His Donna

Nora’s POV:“Do you Miss Nora Romano take Leonardo Mancini to be your lawfully wedded husband”“I……I do” my heartbeat pacing fast as though it would break free from my chestThe church was quiet, not like a regular happy wedding that was usually magically mixed with a feeling of joy and nervousness but mine was the opposite, no laughter or even whispers of joy, but rather a heavy silence.The only people I knew were my parent, everyone else was strange men dressed in dark suits with straight faces carrying an unreadable expression.“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Mancini.”That was it. One sentence, and everything I thought I knew about my life collapsed. Why me? Why now? All I knew was that my father had insisted and who was I to disobey him?Only weeks ago, I was still in New York, fresh out of college, ready to take the LSAT and start law school. My dreams had been so clear. Who could have guessed I’d be standing here instead, in front of a priest, being handed over to a stranger

Nora’s POV;There is nothing more peaceful than enjoying my own company… just me, curled on my bed, lost in the pages of the novels Luca had brought for me. Books had become my safe escape, my only way of detaching from reality and embracing a world where I had control, where I could dream. But peace, I was learning, never lasted long in this house.It felt like I had been in this room forever but the reality was that it had only been hours yet not even a glimpse of him, the only information that was delivered from Luca was that I had to prepare for the swearing-in program, and Leo No further details I didn’t understand yet I didn’t press further *****************Within what felt like the blink of an eye, the bedroom door opened and the quiet was gone. The stylist arrived first, arms full of shimmering gowns that looked like they belonged in a museum rather than on a human body. Jewelry cases clicked open one after another, diamonds catching the light lik

Leo’s POV;They brought them to me trembling. The head maid and the chief of security, two people whose faces I’d seen for years —the kind of familiarity that usually meant loyalty was already bought — were shoved into the center of the banquet hall like animals exposed under a light. The blood on the table still shone where they’d dragged it; the room smelled of copper and perfume and a noise like a hive of bees that hadn’t yet been swatted.I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t need to. I walked straight to them, every man in the room suddenly aware of the shape I cut. They expected fury. They expected spectacle. They expected something loud and messy. What they got was cold.“Lock them up,” I said. The words were flat, but they ricocheted around the chandeliers. “Take them to the underground bunker and secure them.”Hands moved. Men grabbed the two by the arms and dragged them away, their protests swallowed by the distance to the service stair. I watched them go, watched their shoulder

Leo’s POV,I spent the morning supervising a shipment at one of our docks the kind of operation the press would never dare write about. We were moving millions in cash and guns disguised as “farm machinery” in heavy containers. New faces had been showing up lately, too many outsiders sniffing around our business. If I didn’t personally put my eyes on things, something would slip. And in our world, one slip was enough to lose everything, your empire, your family, your life.By the time I left the docks, my phone buzzed with alerts about new security measures being installed at Villa Mancini. I wasn’t playing games. The head on the platter had been a message, and whoever sent it needed to be erased.But even as I drove back to the villa, my thoughts drifted to her, Nora. The girl who still smelled like innocence but was walking straight into a pit of vipers. She had handled training yesterday better than I expected, but she had also cut herself. Her palm had bled all over the dagger she

Leo’s POVI watched her storm out of the dining room shoulders stiff, eyes flashing, words still echoing in my head.For a long second, I didn’t move. My fingers were still wrapped around my coffee cup, the porcelain warm against my skin, but my blood had gone cold.No one, no one—ever spoke to me like that. Not my men, not my enemies, not even my sister.But Nora just had. And worse, I’d let her.It wasn’t just anger prickling under my skin. It was something else confusion, disbelief. No one had ever challenged me that way and gotten away with it.I kept my eyes fixed on the cup, staring into the dark swirl as if I could find answers there.A soft voice cut through the silence. “You really need to take it easy on her, Leo.”I lifted my gaze to the staircase. Luna stood there, arms folded, her expression unreadable but her tone edged with quiet reproach. From the look in her eyes, I knew she’d been standing there long enough to witness everything.“She’s not used to this world,” Luna