All Chapters of The Mafia Devil’s Wrong Bride: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Annalissa Hale Two days.That’s how long it’s been since I left. Since I gave Clarissa everything and crawled back into nothing.I’m slouched on my bed in my moderate apartment, the covers pulled to my chin. My thoughts are starting to eat me alive.I thought I’d feel… free. That when I walked out of that mansion for the last time, I’d breathe like I hadn’t in months. No more Dante. No more pretending. No more living a lie with my sister’s name hanging around my neck.But I don’t feel free.I feel hollow. So hollow that when Dante called my phone last night, I didn’t redirect the call to Clarissa. I answered instead. He told me he won’t be back until another two days. He told me to be safe and I almost confessed to him. That I loved him. That I couldn’t bear to think of a life without him. He doesn’t know yet what’s waiting for him when he gets back.I should be thinking about my life, about what’s next. How I’ll finally start over as me, Annalissa, not Clarissa. But the only

Annalissa HaleDante is returning back to New York today and I try not to think about it. Have I cried over him a lot in the last four days that he’s been away? Maybe. But I’ve also been making progress.I tried reapplying to my old teaching job, but unfortunately, they already found a replacement and no space is left.I haven’t started looking at other places yet. The truth? I’ve been drowning too deep in my feelings to even try. I tell myself I need to be mentally ready before I can think of restarting my life. But every morning I wake up in this tiny apartment, it still feels like my world ended back in that mansion.And worse, my body feels like it’s giving up on me. Weakness, migraines that refuse to go away. I thought it was just from crying too much, from not eating enough. But it hasn’t stopped and Ronan noticed. He came over last night even after I told him I didn’t want anyone around.He knows about Clarissa, what she went through. He feels sorry for her but is happy tha

Dante RomanoTraffic had me caged like an animal. Horns blared and engines roared. And all I could think about was Annalissa.Ridiculous. I’m a grown man, not some adolescent boy itching to get home to his girlfriend who he hasn’t seen in four days. I don’t do longing. I don’t do this restless need that burns through my veins.I think It’s lust. That’s all.Four days without Annalissa under me, and my cock is demanding what belongs to it. That’s the only reason my pulse keeps drumming like this.I grip the wheel tighter, jaw clenched as the city finally spills open and I turn towards the mansion. The gates part and my car rolls up the lawn.When I step out, everything feels unusual. My home smells the same, but something inside me… tightens.The dining room is set, Teresa is fussing with plates. And there is Annalissa. Her hair is slicked back in a silk bun. She’s wearing a strapless gown that’s hugging her figure with the hem grazing mid-thigh. Glossed lips, painted eyes, a shim

Dante Romano I stand on the curb until the cab disappears into the night. I memorized the plate number, 4BG-9M2. I wanted to run after her. I wanted to yank her out of that cab, slam her against the door, and make her look at me until the only thing she can ever remember is the girl who folded into me multiple times despite herself.My fists curl so tight my knuckles ache. Rage rises hot and stupid but not only at her. At myself.I let it go too far. I treated her like a chess piece, a game to test my reach and my rules. From the wedding day I knew she wasn’t Clarissa. I watched the lie breathe and grow and I fed it. I kept score in ways I told myself were clever. Now that arrogance detonates in my face and the blast took everything with it. How many moves have I made because I wanted to break her? How many because I wanted to own her? The difference between the two tastes the same in my mouth: copper and regret.Fear slides under the fury and digs cold claws into my s

Annalissa HaleRonan carries the plate back to the kitchen himself and sits on the floor opposite me. “I’ll send someone to help you clean up your apartment. You can’t stay like this.”“I’m fine,” He’s quiet for a beat, then the question comes out low. “Do you think Dante found out about Clarissa?”“He always knew,” I say, hearing the hurt in my own voice. “I had no idea he knew. He knew I wasn’t Clarissa and he let me pretend. Even when…” The sentence splinters and I stop because the memory of us in the shower, in his bedroom, the surrender, the way I let him use me, makes bile rise.Ronan crouches so he’s level with me. “Just it out,” he says softly.“He knew about my parents too. He let me keep living the lie and believing in them.” Ronan’s face hardens. “At least he’s not reacting violently like he would’ve. We also lied to him. Well, we tried to.”“Are you taking his side?” I blurt.“No,” he says, and the answer is immediate. “But I…”Nausea rips me like a wave and I bolt f