Half a Lifetime Later—My Mafia Princess is Finally Mine의 모든 챕터: 챕터 141 - 챕터 147

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ The screen of Rino’s phone went black, reflecting my own worried expression back at me. I let it slip from my hand, the device thudding softly onto the sheets. My chest, which had been light and warm only moments ago, started to tighten. I’d tried Vincenzo’s number six times and six times, the automated voice told me he wasn't available. I stared at the closed bathroom door, the muffled sound of the shower echoing in the room. Was he okay? Was everyone okay? I bit the side of my thumb, my eyes darting to the window where the Ligurian moon was hanging low. My mind started to do that thing it always did, it started to invent monsters. I hadn't been away from my boys for this long since we buried Isabella. "Stop it," I whispered to the empty room, shaking my head so hard my hair whipped my shoulders. "Just stop." They were fine. They had to be fine. It was probably just the time difference. I tried to do the mental math—Chicago was seven hours behind? Ahead? Six

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ The video began to play, and the world simply stopped turning. It was a sight so visceral, so haunting, that it didn't just make my soul recoil, it made me want to die. I leaned closer to the screen, my eyes wide and stinging, because I saw Adriano. But I couldn't find him. I couldn't find my beautiful boy in that mess of purple, blue, and deep, wet red. His face was so swollen, so distorted by the bruises, that he looked like a stranger. "No," I choked out, the word catching in my throat, "No, no, no..." He was tied down to a chair, his arms lashed to the sides so tightly his hands were turning gray. A thick strap held his chest back against the slats, and his chest... God, his chest was stained with nothing but blood, and still trails of dark blood was still splashing onto his lap. Every time he tried to take a breath, his chest rattled, a wet, broken sound that tore through me. Suddenly, a hand appeared on the screen. A loud, sharp sob broke out of my chest

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ The wheels hit the tarmac with a violent thud, a jarring reminder that I was thousands of miles away from my family. I didn't wait for the "fasten seatbelt" sign to turn off. I unbuckled and stood up, my legs feeling like lead. Rino reached for my arm, his face softened as if he hadn't just destroyed my entire life. "Alessia, let me—" "Don't," I snapped, pulling back so hard I hit the bulkhead. "Don't you ever touch me again." The look in his eyes was dark, but I didn't care. I turned my back on him and walked toward the exit. The flight attendant opened the door, and the warm, salty air of the Mediterranean hit me in the face. It should have felt like paradise. Instead, it felt like the smell of a prison. I stepped out onto the metal stairs, and the cold seeped into my feet. The grated steel bit into the soles of my bare feet. I stopped dead, staring down at my toes. I was still in my nightgown, showing more skin publicly than I ever did in my entire life, the l