All Chapters of Bound To The Mafia: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

LUCAI should’ve walked out. I should’ve left her sitting there with her ghosts and her excuses. But instead, I stood there, staring at the woman I once called my wife, feeling nothing but the weight of a past I never wanted.Did I love her?No.Not the way a man should love his wife. Not the way I—I clenched my jaw, cutting that thought off before it could finish.Alicia was a duty, an expectation, a business move wrapped in the illusion of something real. She was never mine, not in the ways that mattered. And now, she was just another loose end.Her lip trembled, her gaze searching my face. “Luca, I swear—I don’t remember. But I know I wouldn’t have done that to you.”I let out a humorless laugh. “Wouldn’t you?”She flinched.Rafael shifted beside me, his face unreadable. “The doctor’s almost here. You want me to stay?”I shook my head. “No.” My eyes stayed on Alicia, my voice turning sharp. “You wanted to see me. You got what you wanted. Now you’ll stay here, under my watch, until

LUCAI was still thinking about her when I left her room.She didn’t tell me to stop. She didn’t pull away. She’d been on the edge, just like I had. And I hated that I wanted to see just how far we could both go.But she didn’t trust me. Not yet. Not enough. And she shouldn’t.Because I didn’t trust myself either.I made my way back to the study, trying to push the weight of her out of my chest. But it wasn’t working.I sat at my desk, but I didn’t touch the papers in front of me. Instead, I grabbed the bottle of whiskey again, poured another drink, and took a long gulp.The burn felt good.I needed something to dull the ache, the pull, the need for something I shouldn’t have.And then there was Alicia.What the hell was I supposed to do with her?I’d been around long enough to know that nothing about her return was clean. Nothing was coincidental. She was back for a reason, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out why.But I was going to have to.I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a ha

ISADORAI felt his eyes on me, but I couldn’t look at him.My skin was still burning where his hands had been, my lips still tingling from his kiss, but all of it—every ounce of heat—was drowned out by the image of Alicia standing there. The hurt in her eyes.I shouldn’t care.But I did.I pressed my palm against my chest, trying to calm the frantic beat of my heart as I stepped out of his room. I needed space. Air. Distance from him.But his voice chased me.“Isadora.”I paused, fingers curling into fists, but I didn’t turn around.“What?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, laced with everything I was trying to bury.There was a beat of silence. Then, “Don’t run from me.”His words were low, rough—almost a warning.I forced a breath. “I’m not running. I just… need to think.”It was a lie.I was running. And we both knew it.I made it back to my room before the knot in my chest finally cracked.Because the truth was, it wasn’t just Alicia that rattled me.It was what I felt wi

ISADORA I sat there by the river until the sky bled into night. The sun dipped below the skyline, and the city lights flickered on, glowing against the dark water. My chest felt heavy, my thoughts tangled—Luca, Alicia, the way he looked at me… like I was the only thing keeping him breathing. And yet, I saw him with her. Why did it hurt this much? Why did I care this deeply? I hated it. Hated that I felt like this—like I’d handed him every part of me, and he could crush it with one glance. I was stronger than this. I was supposed to be. I laughed under my breath, shaking my head. All this over a man. Me? Really? Pathetic. I leaned back against the bench, staring at the sky. What happened to the girl who swore she’d never let anyone own her heart? Who said she’d never let a man be the reason her chest felt like it was caving in? But here I was. A fool. And the worst part? I still wanted him. By the time the air cooled and the streetlights buzzed brighter, I knew I h

ALICIAI paced the length of my room, the dim lighting casting sharp shadows along the walls. My fingers gripped the phone so tight my knuckles turned white. The laughter filtering through from downstairs made my teeth grind together. Her laugh. Soft, breathless—like she belonged here. Like she belonged with him.Isadora. Alive. Breathing. And worse—getting close to Luca.I thought she was supposed to be rotting in a ditch somewhere. That was the deal. That was the plan. But now she was here, under the same roof as me—like nothing had ever happened. Like she hadn’t cheated death.I snapped out of my thoughts when the voice on the other end of the call spoke again. The irritation in his tone matched mine.“We had eyes on her,” the man said, his voice low and firm. “But Rafael was there. We couldn’t make a move.”Rafael. Of course. The ever-watchful shadow. Luca’s enforcer, his blade in the dark. The man was a goddamn nightmare—loyal to a fault and damn near untouchable.I pressed my fi