All Chapters of MARRIED TO THE MAFIA: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

LucaThe morning light slipped between the slats of the blinds, cutting across the foot of the bed in long, pale stripes.I hadn’t slept.Not really.Lila had eventually curled up beside me on the bed, her cheek resting carefully against my chest, her breathing slow and steady. I’d spent hours staring at the ceiling, listening to her heartbeat and trying to convince myself that things were going to be different now.That I could be different.But when the knock came at the door hard and insistent I felt the old coldness slide back into my veins, as natural as drawing breath.Lila stirred but didn’t wake, so I slipped out from under her carefully, lowering my feet to the floor and adjusting my balance before I reached for the wheelchair beside the bed.I wheeled myself to the door and opened it, bracing for another argument with my mother or some fresh accusation from Alex.But it wasn’t either of them.It was Marco, my accounts manager, his face pale and tight.He’d been with the famil

LucaWhen I pulled back into the driveway, I knew something was wrong before I even reached the front door.The SUV idled at the curb with two of my men still inside, their eyes scanning the street, tense and watchful.Another pair flanked the steps, their hands resting on their weapons.Every instinct I had sharpened to a blade.I shoved the door open and rolled out, ignoring the ache in my shoulder where old bruises still hadn’t fully faded.The moment I crossed the threshold, I heard it.Voices.Low. Urgent.Lila’s, tight with fear. I could see it written all over her face. Did something happen? Was it her mother?Alex was pacing up and down aimlessly. My mother, speaking in a tone I hadn’t heard since I was a child careful, almost protective.I followed the sounds down the hall toward the living room, my hands gripping the wheels so hard I could feel my pulse in my palms.When I turned the corner, all three of them looked up at once.Lila was sitting on the edge of the couch, her

LucaI waited until the security detail had cleared the perimeter before I spoke.Alex and my men stood near the fireplace, low voices blending with the crackle of flames as they compared reports and prepared the next rotations.But my eyes were fixed on Lila.She hadn’t moved from where she stood beside my chair, her hand still resting over mine.There were a hundred things I wanted to say.None of them would change the fact that I was about to drag her deeper into a war she never asked for.And I’d be damned if I let my father find a way to use her against me.I took a slow breath and looked up at Alex.“Call Antonio,” I said. “Tell him to prepare the estate in Tuscany.”Alex’s brows lifted. “Tuscany?”“The safe house on the hill,” I clarified, my voice flat. “The one with the perimeter sensors and the steel shutters.”Understanding flickered in his eyes.“You’re leaving,” he said quietly.“I’m moving her somewhere he can’t reach,” I corrected. “If Richard wants a fight, he’ll have t

LucaBy the time the SUV pulled onto the private airfield, the sky had gone dusky pink over the runway lights.Lila hadn’t spoken much on the ride, but her hand had stayed on my thigh the whole way, her thumb tracing small, grounding circles.It was the only thing that kept me from giving in to the urge to turn back.To check the locks one more time.To hold my brother by the shoulders and beg him not to stay.But this getting her away was the only thing I could control.And God help me, I needed something to hold onto.The plane was waiting at the end of the tarmac, sleek and black, the engines rumbling low as the crew moved around it in precise lines.When the SUV stopped, I turned to Lila.“You ready?” I asked quietly.She nodded, though her eyes were shadowed.“I think so,” she said.I searched her face, trying to read between the careful calm and the fear she wouldn’t say out loud.“You’re safe with me,” I said meaning every word of it. I will protect her with my own life. “I kno

Luca. The villa smelled like lemons and old wood.It had been shuttered for over a year unused, untouched but somehow the place still breathed like it remembered me.Maybe because this house had seen the boy I used to be, long before I learned to harden my jaw, before the weight of a dynasty turned my spine to steel.Lila padded across the cool marble floors beside me, barefoot, silent, eyes wide with wonder as she turned in slow circles, taking it all in.The light streamed in through the arched windows in long, soft ribbons. It was almost too quiet."Is this really all yours?" she asked finally, glancing back at me.I maneuvered the wheels of my chair through the wide archway leading to the living room and nodded once. "It’s been in my mother’s family for generations. She used to bring us here in the summers."Lila trailed her fingers along the stone mantelpiece, her gaze soft. “It feels... safe here.”It was.Not because of the cameras or the armed men at the gates but because this