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Chapter 45
Date de publication:
2026-08-20 02:10:46
Dernier chapitre
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 50
ISABELLA'S POVI woke up thinking about the party, especially the gift Alessandro gave me.It sat on the bedside table beside me, still inside the small velvet box.A delicate gold bracelet, Lorenzo told me it had belonged to his grandma."You're family now," he whispered.I had replayed those words more times than I wanted to admit. Family.I wasn't sure when that word had started feeling less frightening. I reached for the box and opened it again. The bracelet caught the morning light. I smiled.Then I heard the shower stop in the bathroom.A few minutes later, Lorenzo walked out, that was when I recalled I had slept in his room last night.He was a sight for sore eyes, His hair was still damp. He glanced at the bracelet."You like it."I smiled."I do.""Good."He walked over and picked up the bracelet."Give me your hand." I did, he fastened it around my wrist. His fingers lingered for a moment against my skin.Neither of us moved, Then his phone rang.The moment he saw the screen,
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 49
ISABELLA'S POVThe evening passed easily, and I spoke to people I had met before and others I'd only heard about.Some asked what it feels like to be married to Lorenzo, and others asked about the trip.One elderly woman spent nearly ten minutes telling me stories about Lorenzo as a child.Apparently, he had been a terrible little boy.I found that difficult to believe.Then she described how he once broke a window and blamed the dog, I nearly choked laughing.When I found Lorenzo later, I couldn't resist."Did you blame a dog for breaking a window?"He stared at me."Who told you?""So it's true?""I was six.""You were already a criminal."He gave me a look."You weren't exactly innocent when you met me.""I was very innocent." He laughed and I smiled.There it was again, that laugh, the one I had rarely seen before. I was beginning to realize I liked being the person who brought it out of him."Everyone is here."Lorenzo whispered in my ear, He had loosened his tie slightly."Almos
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 48
ISABELLA'S POVI changed my dress three times, trying to find the perfect dress.The first one was too formal.The second made me look like I was attending a business meeting.The third, I stared at myself in the mirror.It was a simple black dress that fell just below my knees, fitted without being too tight, with a subtle neckline and long sleeves. Elegant enough for an eighty-ninth birthday celebration without making me look as though I was trying too hard.I reached for my earrings."Good enough.""You're talking to yourself again."I froze.Lorenzo's voice came from the doorway.I turned, He was leaning against the frame, already dressed in a dark suit, his tie perfectly in place, and staring.I raised an eyebrow."What?"He didn't answer immediately, His eyes moved over me slowly before returning to my face."Nothing." I smiled."You're staring.""I'm allowed to look at my wife."The words shouldn't have affected me, but they did. I turned back toward the mirror, pretending to a
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 47
ISABELLA'S POVSomething had changed.I couldn't put my finger on exactly when it happened.Maybe it was the morning after the vacation.Maybe it had started before that.Or perhaps it had been happening so slowly that neither of us had noticed until now.Whatever it was, our marriage no longer felt like a contract.At least, not when we were alone.I noticed it that morning when I came downstairs and found Lorenzo already at the breakfast table.He looked up from his phone."You're going out?"I paused, I hadn't even told him."Yes.""Where?"There was no sharpness in his voice, no command. He wasn't demanding an explanation.He simply wanted to know."I'm taking a walk with Maria."He nodded."What time will you be back?"I smiled faintly."I don't know. Why?"He looked at me for a moment."I'd like to know when you're coming home."Home, the word landed somewhere inside me."Probably by six.""Okay."That was it, no interrogation, no instructions, He returned to his phone. I stood
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 46
LORENZO'S POVThe basement smelled of damp metal and blood.I hated bringing people here, not because I had a problem with violence, I didn't. But violence was simple. squeezing Information was harder.A man could survive a broken bone, He could survive a bullet. But once you started pulling apart his loyalties, you never knew what you would find.Damiano stood beside me as the steel door opened. The man sitting inside looked worse than he had yesterday.One side of his face was bruised, His lip was split.and his hands were cuffed to the metal ring bolted to the table.He looked up when we entered, His eyes moved from Damiano to me. Then he smiled."De Luca."I pulled out the chair opposite him."What's your name?"He said nothing, and I leaned back."That's unfortunate."He looked at Damiano."Am I going to die?""That depends," I said."On what?""How useful you decide to be."His smile disappeared, I placed a photograph on the table. It was a picture of Isabella.Taken outside the
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 45
ISABELLA'S POVNew York looked different when we returned.Or maybe I was the one who had changed.I sat quietly in the back of the car, watching familiar buildings pass beyond the tinted window.The city felt louder than the little coastal town I'd left behind, more crowded and more dangerous.Yet strangely, I wasn't as afraid as I expected to be. Maybe because Lorenzo was sitting beside me. That thought made me glance at him.He was staring at his phone, reading through several messages that had arrived during the flight.His expression had returned to its usual seriousness, Controlled and Focused, completely Lorenzo.Except for the occasional glance he gave me when he thought I wasn't looking.I caught him once, He immediately looked back at his phone.I smiled."What?""Nothing.""You were staring.""I wasn't.""You were."He finally looked at me, A faint smile touched his lips."Maybe I was."My stomach fluttered, and I turned back toward the window. This was going to be a proble
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 5
TWO YEARS AGO The first morning at the De Luca's mansion, I refused breakfast out of pride.The second morning, I refused it out of anger.By the third day, I refused it because I had already come too far to stop.The tray sat untouched on the small table beside the window.Fresh fruit, toast, cof
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 4
TWO YEARS AGO It was 3 a.m. when they came for me.Not even a warning knock. Not even the courtesy of footsteps in the hallway that might have given me time to pretend I wasn’t afraid.The door slammed open instead.“Get up.”Alberto’s voice came first. My fathers Consgliere He wasn't loud like my
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 3
I couldn't shake it off no matter how hard I tried.My father's cold dead eyes stared at meBlood splattering across the warehouse floor.Lorenzo's voice barking orders somewhere behind me.Then the gunshot.And another.Chaos.Screaming.I remember dropping to my knees.I remember reaching for my
THE DE LUCA BARGAIN Chapter 1
I paced the cracked tiles of the abandoned warehouse, clutching the burner phone so tightly in my hands that the cheap plastic creaked. The air smelled of rust and mold, a sharp contrast to the luxury I had enjoyed these past two years. It was exactly 2:00 am when I made the call, I knew he would
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