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Chapter 6

Author: Peachy
Gunshots echoed down the street.

People scrambled, screaming, a human stampede.

Lorenzo didn't hesitate. He wrapped Cassandra in his arms, holding her tight.

"Don't be scared. I'm here," his voice was so gentle it could break your heart.

Then he ran with her toward the exit.

He never looked back. Not once.

I stood there, watching them disappear through the door.

He made the same choice he made three years ago.

The crowd surged toward the exit like a tidal wave. Someone shoved me hard. I fell to the floor.

A stampede of feet. A boot connected with my ribs. The sharp point of a stiletto heel ground into the back of my hand. Pain, white-hot and blinding, flared through me. My body, barely healed, screamed in protest.

"Help… me…" I tried to call out, but the sound was swallowed by the panic.

No one stopped. No one even looked down.

I was like a stray dog, curled up and abandoned in the corner of the shop.

The taste of blood filled my mouth. My consciousness started to fade.

The last thing I saw was Cassandra's face, looking back at me through the car window.

She was smiling.

When I woke up, it was the same damn ceiling.

The VIP room in the family's private clinic.

Lorenzo was sitting by the bed, his face etched with guilt.

"Bella, you're awake."

I turned my head to look at him but said nothing.

"The doctor said your stitches tore," he said carefully. "You have some new bruises, too..."

"Where's Cassandra?" My voice was a raw whisper.

Lorenzo's face tightened. "She… she was in shock. She's resting now."

Resting.

While I was lying in a hospital bed.

“Bella, listen,” he started, his voice low. “It was chaos. I had to get Cassandra to safety—she’s fragile. I was coming right back for you, I swear.”

Isn't well?

I looked down at my own bandaged arms. I almost laughed.

It was pretty clear who wasn't well.

"But just as I got her in the car, I heard more gunshots from inside," he went on. "I wanted to run back, but my men said it was too dangerous…"

Too dangerous?

For his precious Cassandra, but not for me?

"Bella, say something," Lorenzo pleaded, his voice desperate. "I never meant to leave you behind…"

I just looked at him. The man I once thought I would spend my life with. I stared for a long time. So long that the desperation in his eyes started to turn to frustration. Then I spoke.

"I understand."

Just those two words.

All the excuses, all the apologies he had prepared, they all turned to dust. He just stared at me, like he didn't understand.

"Bella…"

"I want to see Nonna," I cut him off again. It was the only thing I wanted. "Now."

A difficult look crossed Lorenzo's face. "Bella, Nonna's heart has been acting up. The doctor said she shouldn't have visitors…"

The same excuse.

"As soon as you're better, I'll arrange it, okay?" he asked, testing the waters.

I closed my eyes. I had no more responses for him.

Lorenzo sat by the bed for a long time. The silence was suffocating. Finally, he stood up.

"I'll go get you something to eat."

He had just reached the door when his phone rang.

"Lorenzo…" It was Cassandra's voice, thick with tears. "I had a nightmare. I heard the gunshots again… I'm so scared…"

Lorenzo's face instantly filled with worry and pain. "Don't be scared. I'm coming right now."

"But… Isabella…"

"She's fine," Lorenzo said, glancing back at me, his voice low. "You need me more than she does."

You need me more than she does.

He hurried out of the room, rushing to the person who "needed him more."

I opened my eyes and stared at the bright, sterile light on the ceiling. My heart was a stone.

The next evening, the news was on.

A breaking story, an explosion that rocked all the channels.

"...sources have confirmed that the current Don of the Viti family, Antonio Viti, seized power by murdering his own father..."

My hand tightened on the remote.

In the world of the mafia, killing your own father was the ultimate sin, worse than being a rat. It was a crime that shook the very foundation of blood and legacy.

If this was proven, the Viti family would tear itself apart.

My phone rang. It was Sofia.

"Isabella, did you see the news? The Viti family's dirty laundry is finally out in the open!" she said with a cold laugh. "This is going to be good. That bitch is finished this time."

Not long after I hung up, my hospital room door was thrown open.

Lorenzo stormed in, radiating a cold fury.

His eyes were bloodshot, his face a mask of uncontrolled rage.

"Isabella!" he roared, like a cornered animal, stalking to my bedside. "Was this you?"
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  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 24

    Isabella’s POVThree years later.The small town in Maine was as peaceful as ever, a little slice of paradise.My seaside hotel was a success, a popular spot for tourists.No one knew the owner was once the Donna of the New York Mafia. No one knew about the blood and chaos of the past.Petra and her sister opened a bakery in town, creating new cake recipes every day. Sofia married a kind local fisherman and had a beautiful daughter. Mama R filled her backyard with flowers and spent her days in the sun.Everyone had started a new life.So had I.It was my birthday again.My friends were celebrating with me inside. The warm, yellow light from the windows glowed on the snow outside."Bella, make a wish," Sofia said with a smile, pushing the cake toward me.I closed my eyes.I didn't wish for happiness, or love, or peace. I simply wished for enough. For this moment, right here, to be enough.As I blew out the candles, I glanced out the window without thinking.The snow was falling heavily.

  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 23

    Isabella’s POV"Lorenzo Romano is hereby stripped of the title of Don and is declared Excommunicado."The inquisitor's gavel fell with a heavy thud.It was the sound of his social death.In this world, Excommunicado meant he lost all protection. Any member of any family could kill him without consequence. He was now a rat to be hunted.The old Don sat on the dais, clutching his chest, his face gray. He didn't look at Lorenzo once. With a trembling hand, he announced to the room, "I have no son."In that moment, the light in Lorenzo's eyes died completely.He was dragged out by a couple of enforcers.Tossed like a dead dog into the rain outside the courthouse.His suit was torn, his face covered in mud and blood.The once-untouchable king of New York was now garbage that everyone despised.I walked out of the courthouse and opened a black umbrella.The rain was heavy, washing over this filthy city.A pair of black high heels stopped in front of Lorenzo.He struggled to lift his head, lo

  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 22

    Isabella’s POV"Isabella Rossi, what right do you have to be here?" The current Don of the Vitale family, a brutish old man, slammed his hand on the table. "You're a wanted fugitive!""I am a victim."My voice was calm and clear, without a hint of submission."Three years ago, Cassandra Vitale murdered my father. And there was a witness."I guided Leo to the front."Leo, tell them what you saw."Leo stood trembling at the microphone. Facing the most feared men in the underworld, his legs were shaking.But he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and seemed to return to that night of horror."That night... I was working late... I heard arguing next door...""I saw... Miss Viti with a knife... she stabbed Mr. Rossi in the chest...""She kept screaming... 'Die, you old bastard'..."As Leo spoke, Quinn played the restored security footage on the large screen.The video was grainy, but the evidence was undeniable.Cassandra committing the murder. Lorenzo arriving later to clean up the scene.

  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 21

    Isabella’s POVNew York City. Manhattan.The city's neon lights still flickered, a tireless monster devouring everyone's desires.Our car stopped under the Brooklyn Bridge."Isabella, the road ahead is blocked," Sofia said, her expression grim as she looked out the window. "It's Vitale's men. They've set up a checkpoint on the only road to the Commission headquarters."Through the window, I saw men in black trench coats standing in the rain, holding submachine guns, checking every car."They don't want me to testify," I said coldly.If I was a no-show, they could pin everything on me, paint Lorenzo as a fool, and save the Vitale family's honor.A neat little plan."Should we ram through?" Mama R's fingers tapped the steering wheel, her eyes sharp as a hawk's."No."I put my hand on hers."That would just prove their point. We're witnesses, not thugs."I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't used in years.It was the last card Nonna had left me—an old, retired Godmother who was

  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 20

    Isabella’s POV"Lorenzo's on his way back to New York."Quinn watched the monitor, her voice tense. "His car just hit the interstate, heading straight for Manhattan. And... Vitale hitmen are on the road, waiting to intercept him."I paused in my cleaning of the gun."Going back to die?"The Vitale family wanted to eat him alive. The Commission's summons was his death warrant.Going back now was walking into the lion's den."There's something else," Petra said, displaying an encrypted file on the wall. "The Commission has also issued a summons for you. The Vitales are naming you as an accomplice. If you don't show, they'll issue a nationwide warrant for your arrest.""Heh."I let out a cold laugh and slapped the gun down on the table."These old men just don't give up, do they?"They thought I was a soft target they could push around.They thought if they pinned the blame on me, they could paint Lorenzo as a fool manipulated by his ex-wife, saving the Vitale family's face and carving up

  • Imprisoned by the Don I Called Mine   Chapter 19

    Lorenzo's POVThe snow in Maine kept falling, a white blanket over everything.My car was parked on the side of the road, three miles from town. The tank was empty. So was I.After Isabella threw me out, I just wandered the wilderness like a ghost.I didn't want to go back to New York. I didn't want to live.All I could see was her eyes when she pointed that gun at me.So cold. So full of hate.The way you look at an enemy.She said my love was a disease.She said we were enemies."Boss..."Marco found me somehow, holding a can of gas. He watched me cautiously as he filled the tank."Are we... going back to New York?""Back?" I let out a hollow laugh, coughing up a mouthful of blood. "There's nothing left for me there."The old Don stripped me of my power. Isabella sentenced me to death.Right now, I was worth less than a stray dog on the street.Just then, Marco's phone rang, shattering the silence in the car.He answered. His face went white. His hand shook so badly he almost dropped

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