All Chapters of The Mafia Heir’s Forbidden Bride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I knew my life was over the moment my father announced my sister’s engagement.Not because Bianca was unhappy.Not because the man she was marrying was dangerous.But because in the Moretti family, daughters were raised for one purpose only—to become bargaining chips.Marriage wasn’t about love in our world.It was about loyalty.Power.Money.And the moment Bianca became engaged to the Romano heir, I realized something terrifying:One day, it would be my turn too.“Lucia!”I looked up from my sketchbook as my best friend Sofia burst into my room without knocking.“You’re still sitting there?” she demanded dramatically. “This is our last night in Manhattan before the engagement party and you’re acting like somebody died.”“Technically,” I muttered, “Bianca’s freedom did.”Sofia snorted and threw herself across my bed.“You’re impossible.”I closed my sketchbook carefully before she could steal it.Too late.“Ooooh.” She grabbed it from my hands anyway. “More dress sketches.”“Give it

"I’m trying.”The words wrapped around me like a threat.Or maybe a promise.I couldn’t tell which was worse.Before I could respond, my mother suddenly appeared beside us with a sharp smile.“There you both are.” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. “Lucia, stop hiding in corners and mingle.”“Yes, Mother.”Alessio stepped away smoothly like we hadn’t just been having a dangerously intimate conversation in the middle of the ballroom.Infuriating man.My mother linked her arm through mine and dragged me toward a group of wealthy women dripping in diamonds.I barely heard a word they said.Because my mind stayed fixed on Alessio.On the way he looked at me.The way his voice dropped when he called me bella.And worst of all—the way my body reacted every single time he got close.“This alliance is wonderful for both families,” one woman gushed dramatically.“Yes,” my mother replied proudly. “Bianca will make a beautiful Romano wife.”The knot in my stomach tightened instantly.Bianca.

Gunshots exploded through the mansion.Screams immediately followed.The sound shattered the entire house into chaos within seconds.Bianca gasped beside me while Alessio moved instantly.One second he stood calmly outside the bathroom.The next, he had a gun in his hand.My heart nearly stopped.“Stay behind me,” he ordered sharply.Gone was the smooth, teasing man from earlier.This Alessio Romano was cold.Deadly.Pure mafia heir.More gunshots echoed downstairs.Men shouted.Glass shattered somewhere in the ballroom.“Oh my God,” Bianca whispered.Alessio grabbed both our wrists quickly and pulled us farther from the hallway.“Inside. Now.”We rushed into a nearby office while security alarms screamed through the mansion.My pulse pounded painfully.“What’s happening?” I asked breathlessly.“Either an attack,” Alessio answered calmly, checking his gun, “or someone incredibly stupid.”That did not make me feel better.At all.Bianca trembled violently beside me.I wrapped an arm ar

“I think you’re mine.”The words didn’t echo in the ballroom.They detonated.Everything went silent in a way that felt unnatural—like the world itself had paused to understand what had just been said.My chest stopped moving for half a second.Mine.Alessio Romano had just said I was his.Not in a question.Not as a suggestion.As a fact.My father reacted first.His chair scraped sharply against the marble floor as he stood.“What did you just say?”His voice was low.Dangerously low.Don Dante Moretti didn’t raise his voice often.When he did, people died.Don Dante MorettiAlessio didn’t even blink.He didn’t look at my father.He didn’t look at Roman.He looked at me.Only me.And somehow that made it worse.“I said what I meant,” Alessio replied calmly.My breath caught.Bianca grabbed my arm so tightly it hurt.“What is going on?” she whispered desperately.I couldn’t answer her.Because I didn’t know.Across the room, Roman Romano studied the scene with quiet amusement.Like h

“…Roman.”The name hit me like a bucket of ice water.For a second, nobody moved.Nobody breathed.The reinforced door shook again.A loud metallic boom echoed through the safe room.Bianca gasped beside me.“What is he doing here?”Alessio didn’t answer.His attention remained fixed on the door.Every muscle in his body had gone rigid.Predatory.Dangerous.Like a wolf preparing to attack.Another bang.Harder this time.The steel groaned.I swallowed.My heart was beating so fast it hurt.Roman Romano wasn’t supposed to be outside the safe room.He was supposed to be downstairs.Helping secure the mansion.Helping stop the attack.Instead…He was here.Trying to get inside.Something wasn’t right.Something was very, very wrong.“Alessio,” I whispered.His jaw tightened.“Stay behind me.”That wasn’t an answer.“Alessio.”His eyes flicked toward mine.And what I saw there terrified me.Fear.Not for himself.For me.Then it disappeared.Gone so quickly I almost thought I imagined it