Biblioteca
Buscar
Inicio / Mafia / The Don’s Neglected Wife / Chapter 2

Compartir

Chapter 2

Autor: Elin
I don't remember getting home.

The doorman looked at my face — torn clothes, bandages on my cheek — and didn't believe I was Sera Hart. He called Vito.

When I heard his voice, I snatched the phone and threw it against the wall.

I walked away with nothing. No wallet. No phone. Just the clothes on my back.

I had spent every dollar on a one-way ticket to Tripoli. Half a million. Because someone told me Vito was trapped there, that he'd been caught in a firefight.

I didn't think. I just went.

My phone buzzed. My mother.

"I just heard you went to Tripoli. Dear God. Are you both okay?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "We're fine, Mom."

"Thank God. You're barely three months pregnant. How could you take such a risk?"

I hung up. My hand drifted to my belly.

Vito didn't know. He'd left for "business" the day I found out.

I went to that war zone thinking — if we die, we die together. The three of us.

Now the pain came in waves.

A pair of arms wrapped around me. The familiar smell of tobacco.

Vito.

"Where have you been? What happened to you?"

His eyes were full of concern. As if he hadn't ignored me in that elevator.

I forced a smile. "Fell down once. Then again when I tried to get up."

Like this marriage. Every time I trusted him, I fell again.

"Must have been expensive to fly back on short notice."

He flinched. Then lifted me like I weighed nothing. "Worth it. My wife was waiting."

He knelt and started cleaning my wounds. His brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry, Sera. I shouldn't have left you alone."

His phone rang. He stepped away, answered, and came back with a guilty look.

"I have to go out. Wait for me."

I said nothing. Watched him put on his coat.

How many nights had I sat by the door, waiting? How many meals reheated?

The tightness in my chest snapped.

I stood and pushed him.

"Go. And don't come back."

He tried to kiss me. I turned my head.

He sighed. "I'll make it up to you tonight."

Then he was gone.

I collapsed onto the bed from exhaustion. But the nightmares came. Bombs. Fire. Screaming.

I woke up staring at our wedding photo on the wall.

After the first affair, Rosa had pressed her wet palms against that same photo, leaving four greasy prints. I smashed everything in the house.

Vito got on his knees. Said our second wedding was a rebirth. Begged me to keep the picture.

Those vows echoed in my ears. I still didn't understand.

Why hurt me again?

I grabbed my phone and searched for Rosa's social media.

She was an "influencer" now. Never showed her face. Just videos of her holding a man's hand.

I clicked through them all.

That hand — long fingers, a thin scar on the pinky.

I knew that scar.

Vito got it when we were eighteen. A thug tried to grab me. Vito stepped in and took a broken bottle to his hand.

"It's okay," he'd said, wincing. "Even if I'm scarred, you're stuck with me."

I found the contact number in Rosa's bio.

I called.

A cold voice answered. "Who is this?"
Continúa leyendo este libro gratis
Escanea el código para descargar la App
Capítulo anterior Siguiente capítulo

Último capítulo

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 9

    Three months later, the city had turned from winter to spring. The trees along Fifth Avenue were blooming. Tourists took pictures. Life went on.I was promoted. Front desk to lobby manager. The general manager — a crisp British woman named Mrs. Holloway — called me into her office."Sera, you've done exceptional work. I'm recommending you for the overseas training placement. Six months in London. After that, executive track."For the first time in years, I saw a future. Not a future with Vito. Not a future defined by his betrayal. A future of my own.I was making my rounds in the lobby when the revolving doors turned.A man walked in. Gaunt. His suit hung off him like borrowed clothes. Dark hollows under his eyes. Days of stubble on his jaw. He'd lost at least twenty pounds.I froze for half a second. Then I remembered who I was now.Vito.He stood in front of me, hands at his sides. Like he didn't know what to do with them. The man who once commanded armies of lawyers and soldiers now

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 8

    Vito woke to find his phone flooded with messages. He told me later — much later — what happened next. But at the time, I learned it from the forums like everyone else.He scrolled through the comments. His jaw tightened. His hands, still weak from days of fever, trembled.He looked up at Rosa."Did you post these?"Her smile faltered. "What?""Who else could take these photos?" His voice was ice. The same voice he used to cross-examine witnesses. "The nurses? The orderlies? No. Only you had access. Only you wanted the world to see."Rosa's eyes went red. "I sat here for three days. Three days, Vito. I held your hand when your fever spiked to a hundred and four. I wiped the sweat from your face. And the first thing you do is interrogate me?""You wanted everyone to know you'd finally won."Her face drained of color."What are you saying?" Tears spilled down her cheeks. "She didn't come. Not once. I stayed. I took care of you. And this is how you thank me?"Vito stared at her. Really lo

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 7

    I found a job.Not through connections. Not through the Hart family name. I walked into a hotel, filled out an application, and got hired on my own merit.Front desk at The Langham, a five-star hotel in midtown. Probation period, six thousand a month, full benefits. Employee dorm on the twenty-second floor with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the whole city.A single room. Small. Bare. A bed, a desk, a closet. When I opened the door, I stood there for a long time.No one to wait for. No one to come home to. No one to lie to me.It felt like freedom. Heavy, lonely, terrifying freedom.Five days later, my mother called."Vito jumped into the river."I was standing at my window, watching the headlights crawl across the expressway like fireflies. The city never slept. Neither did I."A swimmer pulled him out. He almost died. Aren't you going to see him?""No."A pause. Static on the line. Then: "Where are you staying? Come home. You just had the procedure. Your body needs care.""I ha

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 6

    Vito's fingers closed around my wrist again. White-knuckled. Like I was the last thing keeping him from drowning."Sera. Please."His voice didn't sound like his own. Scraped raw. This was the man who had ordered men killed without blinking. Who had looked a rival Don in the eye and smiled as he signed the man's death warrant. And now he was begging."I know I messed up. It was a mistake. A temporary weakness. You're the one I love. The only one."I stopped walking. The cold wind cut through my thin shirt, but I barely felt it."Enough."I pulled out my phone. Found the voice recording. Held it to his ear."She's not what you think. There's more to it than you know." Vito's face went gray. He yanked off his apron. Still in his expensive suit — a Brioni, custom-tailored, the same suit he'd worn to our second wedding — he dropped to his knees on the concrete driveway. The gravel bit into his expensive trousers."I can explain. That was just—""Just what?" My voice cut through his. Cold.

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 5

    "Rosa who?"Vito's denial came too fast. His throat bobbed like a man swallowing glass."I don't know what you're talking about."But his mind was already racing back to that day. The doorman's call. Rushing home. Finding her standing there — disheveled, worn down, nothing like the woman he married. The woman who once commanded boardrooms and made seasoned capos lower their eyes.Then the elevator. His arm around Rosa. His lips on hers. His gaze sliding past a hunched figure in the corner.Messy hair. Wrinkled clothes. Chapped lips.No.His brain went white. He looked away from the memory, dropping his voice low. He was a master of deception — he'd negotiated with rival families, lied to federal agents, smiled at men he planned to kill. But this lie tasted like copper."I cut things off with her a long time ago."My mother tugged my sleeve. "You need to calm down. Last time you filed for divorce, he jumped from the third floor. Almost lost his leg."She looked at Vito, then back at me.

  • The Don’s Neglected Wife   Chapter 4

    I packed my bag on shaking legs.Then the world went black.I woke to daylight streaming through unfamiliar blinds. And blood. So much blood.He hadn't come back.I dialed 911 with numb fingers. The ambulance came fast. The paramedic kept shouting as they lifted me."Stay with us! We still have a heartbeat! We're going to try to save it!"I closed my eyes. "Don't bother."The operating table was freezing. I stared at the ceiling light until it burned my eyes. Tears ran down my temples.The doctor said the procedure was successful. Only then did I let my eyes shut.In the dream, Vito was laughing like a boy."You're amazing, Sera. A son." The happiness felt fake.I woke gasping. Sweat soaked the pillow.Three days. He hadn't called once.I took a suitcase and went to my mother's house.The table was set with flowers and gifts. Vito stood in the kitchen wearing an apron.I turned and walked straight back out.He caught me in the driveway."I'm sorry. I know I messed up. Let me give you

Más capítulos

También te puede gustar

Explora y lee buenas novelas gratis
Acceso gratuito a una gran cantidad de buenas novelas en la app GoodNovel. Descarga los libros que te gusten y léelos donde y cuando quieras.
Lee libros gratis en la app
ESCANEA EL CÓDIGO PARA LEER EN LA APP
DMCA.com Protection Status