Share

CHAPTER 9

Author: Nancy Grey
last update publish date: 2026-03-10 00:31:24

Dante's POV

I took it gently, cradling it in my left hand while my right reached for the cotton pad. Her hand looked impossibly small resting in my palm—delicate, feminine, completely unmarred except for the fresh scrapes. My hands were scarred, calloused from years of fighting and handling weapons. The contrast was stark.

I turned her hand palm-up so I could see the damage properly. Up close, it looked worse than I'd thought. The scrapes were deep in places, the skin raw and angry red.

"This
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • 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 182

    Dahlia’s POVWhen Luca woke up and couldn’t remember us, fear wrapped itself around my heart so tight it felt like it might stop beating.I had been so sure that once he opened his eyes, everything would go back to normal. Maybe slower. Maybe careful. But normal. I never imagined this. I never imag

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-30
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 164

    Luca’s POV“I’m going in alone,” I said.My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was rough, strained, like it could crack at any second. Saying the words made everything feel terrifyingly real.Immediately, Dante stepped closer. He placed a firm hand on my shoulder, steady and solid. His eyes searche

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-29
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 173

    Dahlia’s POVI wiped my face quickly, embarrassed by how raw I felt. “Come in.”The door opened, and Mrs. Cruz stepped inside.For a moment, I just stared at her. She didn’t belong here—in this sterile room full of machines and white walls. She belonged in the mansion. Somewhere warm and familiar.

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-29
  • SUBSTITUTE BRIDE FOR THE MAFIA DON   CHAPTER 169

    Dante’s POVWhen Dahlia collapsed, it felt like the world tilted off its axis.One second she was standing, shaking, fighting to stay upright with pure will alone—and the next she was falling. Her body crumpled like it had finally given up on holding all that fear and pain inside. I rushed forward

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-29
More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status