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The Matriarch Bargain
Data de publicação:
2026-09-08 01:25:55
Último capítulo
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Face on the screen
"That's not me. You have to believe me. That's not me."The words tumbled from my lips as I stared at the tablet, my heart slamming against my ribs. The duplicate stood at the podium in front of the Moretti mansion, her dark hair swept back, her posture perfect, her smile warm and inviting. She wore a simple black dress and pearls, the picture of elegance and grace. She looked exactly like me. But the eyes were wrong. They were too cold, too calculating. And when she spoke, her voice was mine but hollow, like an echo in an empty room."I know the woman you've been reading about in the papers," the duplicate said, her voice carrying across the crowd of reporters. "Essa Kane. She's an imposter. A fraud who's been manipulating Dante Moretti and the entire Moretti empire for weeks. I'm the real Essa. The one who was stolen from her family as a child. The one who's been fighting to reclaim her identity ever since."Dante's arm tightened around my waist. "We need to get inside. Now."Marco
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Public Eye
"The world knows everything."I stared at the headline on my phone, the words blurring as tears burned my eyes. The catacombs were cold and dark around us, but the chill that ran through me had nothing to do with the damp air. Somewhere above, in the glittering city that had once felt like a prison, every news outlet, every rival family, every enemy we'd ever made was reading about my secret marriage and my unborn child.Dante took the phone from my trembling hands, his jaw tightening as he scanned the article. "This is Valentina's doing. She leaked the story before she escaped.""How? We only signed the contract an hour ago. How could she possibly know?""The mole." Elara's voice was grim. "Sarah must have told her. She's been feeding Valentina information since before we entered the tunnels. She probably heard about the marriage through the duplicate or one of Marco's men."I looked at the duplicate, who stood near the tunnel entrance with her weapon still drawn. Her face was unread
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Matriarch Bargain
"She betrayed you again."Valentina's words slithered through the war room as the live feed showed Sarah Kane being dragged through the catacombs. Her face was streaked with blood, her wrists bound with zip ties. Two of Valentina's soldiers held her at gunpoint, their faces blank and merciless. The countdown clock still glowed on the screen behind us, eight minutes and forty seconds remaining.I stared at the woman who'd raised me. The woman who'd sold Enzo, abandoned me at sixteen, and now led Valentina's men straight to our escape route. Every time I thought she'd hit rock bottom, she found a new way to betray me."Sarah made a deal with me twenty-two years ago." Valentina circled the war room table, her heels clicking against the concrete floor. "She would raise my child in ignorance, and in exchange, I would let her live. But she got greedy. She started skimming money, selling information to the Castellanos, building her own little empire behind my back." Her smile was razor-thin.
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Bunker
"The entrance is just ahead."The duplicate's voice was barely a whisper, but it echoed through the narrow tunnel like a warning. We had been walking for nearly an hour, the catacombs twisting and turning beneath the city like the veins of some ancient beast. Now, at last, a sliver of light appeared in the distance, spilling through a cracked stone doorway.Dante raised his hand, signaling for us to stop. "We don't know what's waiting on the other side. Valentina could have the entire bunker wired.""She does." The duplicate turned to face us, her expression grim. "I helped her set the security system. Motion sensors, pressure plates, tripwires. If we trigger any of them, the whole place locks down and floods with gas.""Then we need a way in that doesn't trigger the sensors." I stepped forward, studying the doorway. My mind was racing, piecing together every bit of training Dante had drilled into me over the past weeks. "There has to be a blind spot. A maintenance passage or an old s
The Don's Forbidden Claim The contract
"Marry me."The words stopped me mid-stride. The tunnel stretched ahead, dark and cold, but Dante's hand on my arm had frozen me in place. I turned to face him, searching his eyes in the dim light of Elara's flashlight. He wasn't joking. His jaw was set, his expression carved from stone, but beneath it I saw the raw desperation he'd been fighting since Valentina's text revealed the pregnancy."What did you say?" My voice came out barely a whisper."I said marry me. Tonight. Before we reach the bunker." He pulled me closer, his hands framing my face with a tenderness that contradicted the urgency in his voice. "Valentina wants your child. Marco Castellano wants to claim you as his heir. The families are on the brink of war. If you're my wife, none of them can touch you. Not legally. Not politically. Marriage makes you a Moretti by law. It gives you protection that no blood claim can override."I stared at him, my heart pounding. We were standing in a catacomb beneath the city, fleeing
The Don's Forbidden Claim The child in her womb
"Everyone down!"Dante's voice thundered through the church as another explosion rocked the ancient stone walls. He grabbed me around the waist and hauled me behind the altar, his body covering mine as chunks of plaster rained down from the ceiling. The duplicate had dropped to the floor beside us, her cold eyes scanning the chaos with the precision of a trained soldier. Enzo dragged Sarah behind a pillar while Marco's men returned fire through the shattered windows."They're using mortars," Marco shouted from somewhere near the entrance. "We can't hold this position. We need to fall back.""Fall back where?" Enzo's voice was raw with frustration. "Valentina's army is surrounding the entire block. There's no way out.""Then we make a way." Dante pulled me to my feet, his hand pressed against my stomach before I even realized what he was doing. "You're pregnant. You need to get out of here now."The word hung in the air like smoke. Pregnant. The text from Valentina had revealed it befo
The Don's Forbidden Claim Lines I Can't Cross
I couldn’t breathe with Dante standing so close, his eyes burning into mine like he could see every dirty thought I was trying to bury.The realization hit me harder than the gunshot still ringing in my head: part of me didn’t want to leave this penthouse. Not tonight. Maybe not at all. That truth
The Don's Forbidden Claim Blood on the Cuff
Dante’s arm tightened around me like steel, his body a solid wall between me and whatever nightmare waited outside that door.The gunshot still echoed in my ears, sharp and final, mixing with the frantic thud of my heart. I pressed my face against his chest, inhaling that dangerous mix of cedar and
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Wrong Suite
I never thought losing my virginity would feel like stepping into a trap.My heart hammered against my ribs as I stood outside the penthouse door on the 42nd floor, the keycard warm and slightly slick in my palm. Enzo had texted me the room number twice—Suite 4201. Don’t be late, baby. Tonight’s th
The Don's Forbidden Claim The Lion's Den
The blacked-out SUV carved through the city like a shark through dark water. I sat in the backseat beside Dante, my hands folded in my lap, my heart beating a steady war drum against my ribs. The driver—a silent, thick-necked man Dante had introduced as Marco—kept his eyes on the road, but I felt h
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