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CHAPTER 128

Author: Nancy Grey
last update publish date: 2026-06-19 18:00:20

Andrea's POV

He made eggs—scrambled, fluffy, seasoned properly—and toast with butter, and cut up some fruit from a bowl on his counter and added it to the plate without asking whether I wanted it. He knew I'd eat it if it was there and wouldn't bother if I had to get it myself.

He knew things like that about me now. Small things. The accumulation of time spent paying attention.

He set the plate in my lap since I was still on the counter and leaned against the opposite counter with his own plate
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  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 135

    Andrea's POVI blushed before I could stop it. The heat rushed up my neck and flooded into my cheeks instantly, completely traitorously, giving me away before I'd said a single word."What? No, of course not," I said quickly. "He just works for Luca, that's all. He drove us from the airport, that's the only reason you saw us together."But my mum had been reading me my entire life, and she just looked at me with the patient, unhurried certainty of someone who already knew the answer and was simply waiting for me to stop pretending and admit it."Andrea," she said again. Just my name. Gentle but immovable.I deflated. There was no point. There had never been any point in trying to hide things from her—she'd always seen straight through me, even when I was small and certain I was being clever."How long?" she asked softly.I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. "It started a long time ago. The first time I came to visit Luca. Four years ago." I picked

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 134

    Andrea's POVI settled onto my bed with my laptop and opened up my novel, picking up right where I'd left off. The words had been coming so much more easily lately, ever since things with Luca had stabilized and the constant crushing weight of fear had finally lifted off all of us. My characters were finally getting somewhere good now—working through the misunderstandings that had kept them apart, finding their way back to each other. There was something deeply satisfying about writing toward a happy ending, even when my own real-life situation still felt so uncertain and complicated.I wrote for about an hour, completely losing myself in the story, before my phone pinged on the nightstand beside me.I picked it up. It was Dante.You okay?I felt myself smile at the screen before I'd even started typing.I'm fine. Mum and Dahlia are downstairs becoming best friends. I think my mum has officially adopted her.His reply came quickly.Good. Dahlia could use that.I noticed he didn't elab

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 133

    Andrea's POVI stared out the window and said nothing, and beside me my mother said nothing, and up front Dante drove us all toward the mansion and whatever came next.When we got to the mansion, Luca and Dahlia were already waiting for us at the front entrance.The moment my mum stepped out of the car, Luca came down the steps two at a time and pulled her into a tight hug—the kind of hug that made him look softer and younger than he ever did otherwise. He'd always had a soft spot for my mum. During certain hard stretches of his life, she'd been the closest thing he had to a mother figure, and it showed now in the way he held onto her, in the way some of the constant tension he carried in his shoulders eased the moment her arms went around him."Look at you," my mum said, pulling back to study his face. Her hands came up to pinch his cheeks the way she used to when he was a boy, and Luca—the dangerous, powerful man that grown men feared—let her do it without complaint. "You've grown s

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 132

    Andrea's POV"The pleasure's mine," he said.We started walking toward the cars together. Dante and the guards stayed alert the entire way, their eyes constantly moving, scanning the area, checking sightlines and exits in that practiced way I'd grown so used to that I barely noticed it anymore. To my mum, it probably just looked like a lot of very serious men in dark clothing. She had no idea what kind of world she'd stepped into, no concept of why a simple trip from the terminal to the parking area required this much watchfulness.I hoped she'd never have to know.When we reached the SUV, Dante opened the back door for us, holding it while my mum climbed in first and I followed after her."Thank you," I said, smiling up at him as I passed."Of course," he said. And he smiled back—just for a second, just a flicker, just for me, before his expression smoothed itself back into careful professional neutrality.But I'd caught it. That small private smile that belonged only to me.He close

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 131

    Andrea's POVMy heart was suddenly beating somewhere up near my throat.Did he know? Had he figured it out? Had something in the way we'd walked in together, the way Dante's hand had found mine without thinking, given it all away in one careless moment?I forced myself to look back at Dahlia instead of holding Luca's gaze any longer than necessary."How long do they want to keep you?" I asked, my voice coming out steadier than I felt."Just for observation," Dahlia said. "A few more hours, then they'll let me go home if everything stays stable.""We'll stay," I said. "As long as you need us here.""You don't have to—"We did stay. We stayed the whole afternoon, the four of us in that hospital room, until the doctor finally came back and said the words I'd been praying to hear—Dahlia could go home. Everything was fine. The baby was fine. It really had been a false alarm, her body just being careful in the way pregnant bodies sometimes are.We all left together that evening. I still cau

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 130

    Andrea's POVI opened the first voicemail with fingers that had gone unsteady, and Luca's voice came through immediately—tight and controlled in the specific way that meant he was scared and trying not to sound it."Andrea. Call me back. Dahlia started bleeding in the shower. We're on our way to the hospital. Call me back right now."The second voicemail, shorter."Andrea, where are you. Call me."A third. Just the hospital name and a room number and my name, clipped and urgent.The baby.Oh god. The baby."Dante." My voice came out strange and flat.He appeared from the bathroom doorway immediately, reading my face the way he always read my face.I turned the phone toward him and played the first voicemail on speaker without saying anything else.His face went still.He reached for his own phone from the nightstand and checked it. I watched his expression as he looked at the screen."Six missed calls," he said quietly. "Three voicemails."We looked at each other."Get your things," h

  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 41

    Dahlia’s POVMy eyes widened, a jolt of shock racing through me. My stomach twisted, and heat rushed to my face so fast I thought my entire body was on fire. I knew exactly what it was, but my mind scrambled, trying not to think about it, trying not to imagine what it meant.I swallowed, my throat d

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-19
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 38

    Luca’s POVI stayed in the car even after Dahlia disappeared into the mansion. The heavy doors closed behind her, but my eyes were still fixed on them like she might step out again. She had surprised me tonight more times than I could count, and I wasn’t the type of man who got surprised easily. I

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-19
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 37

    Dahlia’s POVThe words made me blink, my lips parting slightly. I had expected anger, or maybe indifference, but not that. My chest loosened just a little, though the fear still clung tightly.I stared at him, unsure of what to say. My hands shook in my lap, so I pressed them down against my thighs,

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-19
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 36

    Dahlia’s POVHis head bent down to me instantly, as if my touch carried weight. His cologne filled my nose, and my pulse hammered faster.“I want to leave,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.For a second, his brows drew together, one rising in silent question. His eyes searched my face, as if he

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-19
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