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Author: Siwa Rose
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-13 23:28:01

Annalissa Hale

Wedding dress shopping is not something I ever imagined myself doing on a Saturday morning with two five-year-olds in tow, but here I am standing in the middle of a luxurious bridal boutique that smells faintly of lavender and expensive fabric, while chaos incarnate clings to my legs.

Clarissa is already drifting between racks of gowns. Her fingers graze satin and lace with bright eyes in that way that tells me she’s allowing herself to be excited. Really excited. Not the careful, guarded kind.

The twins, on the other hand, are unimpressed.

“Mummy,” Kian announces loudly, tugging at my coat, “this place is boring.”

Hania, standing beside him with her arms crossed, tilts her head critically at a dress mannequin. “I think it’s elegant,” she says. “But the hemline is impractical.”

The sales assistant blinks. “Hemline? Impractical? How old are you?”

Clarissa snorts. I press my lips together, trying not to laugh.

“It’s a wedding dress, Hania,” I say gently. “It doesn’t
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  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   195

    Dante RomanoI walk into MuseCo with the same practiced composure I’ve worn like armor for years.Glass doors slide open and Mackenzie walks beside me, tablet tucked under her arm, heels clicking softly as usual. She’s already briefing me before I fully register the space.“The campaign team and a few MuseCo executives are already in the conference room,” she says. “We’re on schedule.”On schedule. Good.We move down the corridor, past framed brand campaigns and muted abstract art. I barely look at any of it. We reach the conference room. Through the glass walls, I see silhouettes of people seated, papers laid out, screens ready. My eyes sweep the room instinctively.Before I can step inside, Mackenzie lightly taps my arm.I turn back to her.“The grade one renovations at Leclair Academy wrapped up yesterday,” she says quietly. “The dean wanted to know if you’d like to stop by and see the completed work before we apply the model to the rest of the classrooms.”I nod once. “Afte

  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   194

    Dante RomanoI walk into MuseCo with the same practiced composure I’ve worn like armor for years.Glass doors slide open and Mackenzie walks beside me, tablet tucked under her arm, heels clicking softly as usual. She’s already briefing me before I fully register the space.“The campaign team and a few MuseCo executives are already in the conference room,” she says. “We’re on schedule.”On schedule. Good.We move down the corridor, past framed brand campaigns and muted abstract art. I barely look at any of it. We reach the conference room. Through the glass walls, I see silhouettes of people seated, papers laid out, screens ready. My eyes sweep the room instinctively.Before I can step inside, Mackenzie lightly taps my arm.I turn back to her.“The grade one renovations at Leclair Academy wrapped up yesterday,” she says quietly. “The dean wanted to know if you’d like to stop by and see the completed work before we apply the model to the rest of the classrooms.”I nod once. “Afte

  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   193

    Dante RomanoI walk into MuseCo with the same practiced composure I’ve worn like armor for years.Glass doors slide open and Mackenzie walks beside me, tablet tucked under her arm, heels clicking softly as usual. She’s already briefing me before I fully register the space.“The campaign team and a few MuseCo executives are already in the conference room,” she says. “We’re on schedule.”On schedule. Good.We move down the corridor, past framed brand campaigns and muted abstract art. I barely look at any of it. We reach the conference room. Through the glass walls, I see silhouettes of people seated, papers laid out, screens ready. My eyes sweep the room instinctively.Before I can step inside, Mackenzie lightly taps my arm.I turn back to her.“The grade one renovations at Leclair Academy wrapped up yesterday,” she says quietly. “The dean wanted to know if you’d like to stop by and see the completed work before we apply the model to the rest of the classrooms.”I nod once. “Afte

  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   192

    Dante RomanoI walk into MuseCo with the same practiced composure I’ve worn like armor for years.Glass doors slide open and Mackenzie walks beside me, tablet tucked under her arm, heels clicking softly as usual. She’s already briefing me before I fully register the space.“The campaign team and a few MuseCo executives are already in the conference room,” she says. “We’re on schedule.”On schedule. Good.We move down the corridor, past framed brand campaigns and muted abstract art. I barely look at any of it. We reach the conference room. Through the glass walls, I see silhouettes of people seated, papers laid out, screens ready. My eyes sweep the room instinctively.Before I can step inside, Mackenzie lightly taps my arm.I turn back to her.“The grade one renovations at Leclair Academy wrapped up yesterday,” she says quietly. “The dean wanted to know if you’d like to stop by and see the completed work before we apply the model to the rest of the classrooms.”I nod once. “Afte

  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   191

    Annalissa HaleI’m rooted to the spot.It’s not dramatic. It’s not cinematic. It’s just…happening. My feet won’t listen to me. My lungs forget how to work. My hands go cold around the edge of the table as if my body has decided that if I don’t move, if I don’t breathe too loudly, the universe might reconsider what it’s doing to me.He stands at the far end of the boardroom.Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark suit cut to precision. The same posture that once used to loom in corridors at midnight when he couldn’t sleep. The same stillness that used to make rooms bend around him.Dante Romano.My eyes lift before I can stop them. Muscle memory. Stupidity. Reflex.For half a second, just half, our gazes almost collide.Almost.Then someone on his team says his name. Calls him softly, urgently. He turns his head, pivots slightly, and suddenly his back is to me.Just like that.The moment breaks.The air rushes back into my lungs so fast it burns.He hasn’t seen me.He couldn’t have. There are t

  • The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride   190

    Annalissa Hale I wake up before my alarm goes off. My heart is already beating like i’m late for something.It takes me a few seconds to realize why.Today. Today is the day I finally meet the buyer of MuseCo.I lie on my back, staring at the ceiling as pale morning light creeps through the curtains. My chest feels tight, like someone tied a ribbon around my ribs and pulled just a little too hard. I don’t usually get nervous like this. I pitch to boards. I negotiate contracts. I’ve handled men who thought they could talk over me simply because they could afford to.So why does this feel different?I tell myself it’s just the uncertainty. I hate not knowing who I’m dealing with. I hate faceless power. It’s easier when the threat has a name.I swing my legs out of bed and exhale slowly. Get it together, Issa. You’ve survived worse than a mysterious billionaire with a habit of secrecy.The apartment is quiet as I pad down the hallway, the wooden floor cool beneath my feet. I pause out

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