Semua Bab Mafia’s Feud : Love & Betrayal : Bab 51 - Bab 60

A knock came at her door, sharp, insistent. Vince’s voice followed, rough with sleeplessness.“Lucy. Breakfast.”She jumped. Her stomach clenched as she rose. It wasn’t just the gnawing fear of what might be growing inside her; it was the knowledge that she had to step back into a house where nothing she felt could be shown.Vince would notice. Vince always noticed.“Coming,” she called back, forcing her voice to steady.The footsteps lingered, then faded.Lucy stared at the door, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might give her away.No one could know. Not yet. Not ever. And so she rose, smoothed her hair, and painted her face into something calm.The mask of a Valerio daughter.But beneath it, her silence weighed heavier than any crown.The corridor outside her room already felt crowded.Two of Vince’s men lingered at the end of the hall, pretending to be statues, their gazes sliding toward her as she emerged. Their presence was suffocating, more prison wardens than protect

“The Russos?” she whispered.Selene nodded grimly. “They’ve been quiet for years, playing second to the Mancinis, but that’s done. Their people are saying Giovanni’s old, that he’s letting his son soften him, that the Mancinis are no longer strong enough to rule. The Russos want to change the balance.”“An uprising,” Maya added, sipping her wine. “And not just against the Mancinis. They’re talking about sweeping out anyone who’s in their way. Valerios included.”Lucy’s chest tightened, fear squeezing her lungs.Her family. Vince. Her father. Her mother. Her BrothersAngelo.Her friends watched her carefully as the words sank in.Selene tilted her head, studying her face. “That’s why you’ve been so quiet, isn’t it? You’ve heard something already. From Vince? From your father?”Lucy blinked, caught off guard. “No. I”“Don’t lie.” Maya cut in, her gaze sharp. “You’ve been different. Distant. You barely eat. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. Something’s wrong, Lucy, and if you don

It was the kind of quiet that didn’t soothe, only shifted. The air didn’t hum with his presence anymore; it simply waited, still and cautious, as if the walls themselves weren’t sure what to do with the absence of the man who had ruled them. The difference was subtle, but Lucy’s nerves picked up every note of it. The heavy, suffocating silence that usually pressed down on her like stone now felt a little thinner, like someone had cracked open a window in a room that had been sealed too long.Conversations drifted more easily down the hallways now. She heard voices from the kitchens, hushed but light, bursts of laughter that hadn’t dared exist in months. Even the guards, those stone-faced statues posted at every corner, had changed in ways only someone like Lucy would notice. Their shoulders didn’t carry the same iron tension. Their eyes moved slower, less like predators and more like men simply waiting for the next shift to end.Vince’s presence had been a constant whip at their backs

Lucy sagged against the hedge, shaking from the release of terror. Her knees threatened to give way, but she swallowed hard and forced herself forward. The garden opened ahead of her, wide, moonlit, terrifyingly empty.No cover. No shadows to hide in. Only open lawn stretching to the outer walls.If she ran across, they would see her.UnlessHer eyes darted to the left, catching the faint glimmer of a narrow path winding through a dense cluster of trees. Half-forgotten, overgrown, it twisted toward the estate’s shadowed edge longer, riskier, but hidden.Her choice wasn’t really a choice.Lucy slipped into the trees.At first, it was only silence, thick, watchful. Then came the sound that made her blood run cold.A metallic clink.The rattle of a chain.Followed by a growl, low, guttural, rumbling through the ground beneath her feet.Her breath hitched.The Valerio dogs.Vince kept them along the estate’s edge, brutal, half-starved beasts trained to rip apart intruders. She had for

Marco’s voice hardened, though it carried no malice, only the weariness of a man caught in someone else’s storm. “Tatiana is moving. She’s building something bigger than the streets can hold. Weapons, soldiers, alliances. Your name isn’t safe on anyone’s lips, Lucy. Not even in whispers. If she finds a way to break you, she’ll break Vince. If she breaks Vince, she weakens Mancini. And if she weakens Mancini”“The whole city burns,” Lucy whispered, finishing his thought.Marco’s silence confirmed it.She shook her head, taking a step away from him. Her chest ached with too many truths at once. “And Angelo? What is he in this? A protector? A spy? Or just Giovanni’s dog, doing what he’s told?”Marco’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, he looked almost pained. “You think Angelo does this for Giovanni?”Lucy’s breath stuttered.Marco took another step closer, his voice low and measured now. “He asked me to watch you. Not Giovanni. Not Vince. Because he knows what Tatiana is capable of. Beca