All Chapters of RUINED BY MY BROTHER'S MAFIA BESTFRIEND: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

76 Chapters

Captured by an enemy

~~Sofia~~Two Hours EarlierI have my arms around Nico, who has finally fallen asleep, his body lax against mine. Carla is in the car riding shotgun beside Silvio, who has his fingers clenched around the wheel."Can you go faster?" Carla snaps at him, her body bent forward, her phone pressed to her ears."I'm going as fast as I can. Unless you want to explain to the boss why his wife and kids were found in a ditch somewhere." Silvio snaps back, throwing her a sharp glare. She grimaces and looks away, frowning.Whoever she's trying to reach on the phone must not be getting through because she takes the phone from her ears, her hands wrapped tight around it like it's a neck she wants to squeeze."Good gracious. Why the hell do they never pick up the fucking phone?""Language, Carla!" I lean forward to glare at her, too, my nerves stretched taut. She lifts her hands in the air, throws me a look of apology, and taps at the p

Can't lose her

~~Rafael~~When I find Carla outside, her gun missing, her shoulder still seeping blood, I experience a level of rage that I've never felt before.The car door is open, and Sofia is missing. As expected. There are about three cars scattered around the driveway, and none of those cars are mine.What did they do with the cars?What the fuck do I care about the damned cars anywhere? I know I'm trying to distract myself from what could be happening to Sofia right now.It's a rookie mistake to leave the house unguarded, and they have to know I'll be coming, which leads me to believe they have something planned.They planned this. They knew where I'd be. They knew Sofia would be here, and they knew who would be with her.This is all too well planned to just be a random attack. This is something that took time. Money.Information."It's not a good idea to step in there unprepared, Rafael." Silvio has his gun i

Together Forever

~~Sofia~~"I pronounce you husband and wife!"As soon as the preacher says the words, I kiss Rafael with everything I've got.He kisses me back, and the church erupts into hoots around us.The moment is a blur. The ring on my finger feels solid, a diamond band that has absolutely no hint of a ruby in it.We're on the way from the church to our reception before I know it, and I change into a smaller, less cumbersome dress. When I open the door to the hallway that will lead to the reception hall, Rafael is there.I smile at him. I was hoping that Rafael and I could steal a quick moment together since we waited so long for this.I want to really savor the moment.I've waited five months now to hear those words. Five months of long days and nights planning our wedding, five months of hiding the wedding dress from Rafael's eyes. I'm wearing my mother's dress, which I thought would be a perfect way to have her here wi

Epilogue: Two Years Later

~~Sofia~~The afternoon sun spills golden light across the lawn, warming my skin as I watch from the patio. Laughter drifts on the breeze—high-pitched and joyful, the sound I've come to treasure above all others.Nico races across the grass, his seven-year-old legs pumping, a soccer ball at his feet. He's gotten so tall, his dark hair flying behind him, his blue eyes squinting against the sun.Rafael's eyes. Rafael's hair. Rafael's competitive spirit."Papa! Catch!" Nico kicks the ball, and it soars through the air toward his father.Rafael stands twenty feet away, a twin balanced on each hip. Our daughters. Isabella and Chiara. One with my blonde hair and Rafael's fierce expression. One with Rafael's dark curls and my stubborn chin.They giggle as their father shifts them, adjusting his hold just in time to trap the ball against his chest with one hand."Nice kick, figlio mio!" Rafael calls out.Nico beams. He

A New love story

A Note in the Dark~~SERAPHINA~~A high note rings out through the dark theater. The note holds so long that the air starts to burn in my lungs as I forget to breathe. When it breaks, the scene falls into darkness, and heavy curtains billow out to embrace the stage. Golden light and warm applause fill the theater of the Civic Opera House. I wince. Reality is brighter than I remember.The intermission bell chimes overhead, and a feminine voice piped through a speaker announces a twenty-minute break. As I blink the real world into focus, the crowd around me shuffles and stands, voices rising and seats creaking.Normal conversation sounds alien after an hour of opera.One seat over, my brothers spill over themselves, tripping and elbowing each other as they fight their way out of the aisle like someone's yelled fire."Where are they going...?" I ask Isabella.My sister sniffs and settles her bag on her shoulder."Backstage, to get rejected. They've been drooling over the same singer for

The Weight of Her

~~MASSIMO~~"Did you take her home?"Dr. Lambert studies me from over her wire-frame glasses. I always like that sensation, the feeling of being dissected by an unseen scalpel, wondering what rot or cancer she's peering at that I can't detect. I go to my therapist the way some people go to the movies, I go to the opera the way other people go to their therapist.For me, psychiatry is more of a hobby than treatment. I think it pissed the good doctor off a bit when she finally worked out that I was using her the same way most people use a Netflix subscription. But she didn't fire me as a client. Her loss. So here we sit, almost knee to knee in the quiet of her office."I did."My thoughts drift back to Seraphina Conti. Or they would if they ever really drifted away from her. For a week, the girl has been chewing at my gray matter. Like an infection. If Dr. Lambert were any sort of useful doctor, maybe she could cut that infection out."And it went well," she infers.My jaw twitches."I

Pieces on the Board

~~SERAPHINA~~One Year Later"I really wish you'd come visit," Rosalia says, her voice distorted as I hug the phone to my ear with my shoulder. "My apartment, I mean. Not work. Obviously. Rinaldi asked about you again, by the way."I almost drop my phone into the bucket of dirty water at my feet."Oh," I say, sounding more composed than I feel. "What did you tell him?""What I always tell him. That I don't see you as much as I want to and that I miss you. You know—the truth. He wanted details, but you know I dodge questions like an NBA shooting guard.""Appreciate that.""I'm serious, though. You should come visit. Stay for a little while. Just me. No one will care.""Dad will.""Okay, no one will know, and therefore no one will care—"I push the water around at my feet with no conviction, watching the mop strands slide across the travertine. Water wrings out noisily into the pail."We shouldn't even be on the phone, Rosalia.""I have to check in on you! I mean, at this point, it does

The Lion's Den

~~SERAPHINA~~ Every time I get the mail, it comes with its own mini-anxiety attack. The nagging fear of what bills are going to sneak up on us today? I leaf through the white envelopes like any one of them could contain anthrax, but they're mostly junk. Sweet, innocent junk. I almost drop the stack as I slide the last piece of mail to the forefront. Top Secret screams across the front in big red letters. I recognize the return address before I register the joke: Rosalia's apartment. I grin to myself. I should have known. Only a theater kid would send mail instead of a text. For the bit. Inside, I unfold a printed web page of an online hiring ad looking for a personal cleaning service. A message is jotted in pen at the bottom: Got you an interview—Monday, 3 p.m. I scan the page. It's a big house in a nice neighborhood, and they want a full-time maid service with daily cleaning. Most clients hire me for one day out of the week. I pick up their kid's toys, clean the dishes, and hit

The Taste of You

~~MASSIMO~~I'm not going to sleep with her again.I tell myself that, over and over, even while I'm hefting that little maid up onto the sink and letting those long, bare legs wrap around me.She's only been here three days. Get a grip.I do get a grip. A nice, solid handful of her perky ass as I settle her on the wet counter. The layers of her skirt slide up, and I drag my hand up under it, finding her panties, trying to prove her wrong. To show her that she can't fool me like that.She has my name on a collar that I put around her neck. She hasn't taken it off yet. She isn't sulking; she isn't that angry about it. She's barely said a word of protest. Why not? She's never shied away from speaking her mind before. It's questions like that that drive me just one degree past insane for this girl.She might have to wear what I tell her, but I never said she had to be happy about it. It leaves me with a suspicion, or maybe it's more of a hope: she's into it.I slide my hand up, looking f

Lines in the Sand

~~SERAPHINA~~The rest of the day after my encounter with Massimo in the kitchen is a blur, and I'm the first to admit that my work ethic and focus are entirely shot.The only thing I could think about was the way his lips felt on mine, how his fingers were so perfectly positioned between my legs, and the pleasure he'd given me with his tongue. It was a massive distraction, and more than once, I considered quietly slipping away and never coming back.But my pride was too strong for me to ignore, so I went home that night and spent time with Luca, cuddling him close while my mind whirred.Waking up today, though, I am determined not to let Massimo get to me.The drive over to the house after I kiss Luca goodbye goes faster than I want it to, and walking in through the foyer immediately makes me feel like all eyes are on me. My maid uniform is perfectly cleaned and pressed again, and it takes everything inside me to ignore the lascivious looks from Massimo's men as I make my way to the

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