All Chapters of The Fiancé My Best Friend Stole: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The first time I saw Luca Bellandi after five years, he was standing at the altar at my best friend's wedding.He was the groom, and I was the bridesmaid.Black Bentleys lined the curb outside St. Bartholomew's in Chicago. Rossetti guards stood beneath the stone arches, and Bellandi men watched the street from behind dark glasses. Every smile in the church had a gun somewhere behind it.Sophia Rossetti sat in the bridal suite in a satin gown, bright with nerves and happiness. She pulled me close to the mirror and whispered, "Elena, I don't think I ever told you everything. When Luca was hit on North Lake Road, I was the one who found him. The Bellandis hadn't reached the scene yet. I put him on a private jet that same night and flew him to Malta for surgery. "She smiled, soft and proud. "He barely remembered anything when he woke up. The doctors said trauma does that. He knew his name, his family, and business details, but the months before the crash were a blur. I kept thinking, poor

The next afternoon, the doorbell rang.On the camera, Sophia stood outside with two guards and three suitcases. Luca was beside her, a black coat over one arm.I opened the door without thinking.Sophia rushed forward and hugged me. "Elena, you scared me. I called you all morning. You left the wedding like you were going to vanish into the lake."She sounded so honestly worried that the little anger I had managed to gather turned into something softer and worse. I let her hold me for two seconds, then carefully stepped back. "I'm fine.""You don't look fine." She looked around the apartment and shivered. "God, this place is depressing. Luca said your building has the best private security in Lakeview, so we thought we could stay a few days. The Rossetti estate has been getting threats, and with the baby..."Luca finally looked at me. "Sophia is pregnant. I wouldn't bring her here if there were another safe option."I wanted to ask if he heard himself. Five years ago, this was supposed

A week later, Sophia insisted on taking me to the Velvet Club, the Bellandis' private place on the north side, where families traded favors and insults without raising their voices."You need air," she said while fixing my hair in the mirror. "And you need to meet someone who isn't a ghost."She meant well. That was the problem. Every kind thing she did made it harder to hate her.I wore a black velvet dress, light makeup, and Luca's ring on my finger. I didn't wear it to fight for him. I wore it because I was too weak to take it off before I had to.When we arrived, Luca was already at the main table. Sophia went straight to him. He stood at once, pulled out her chair, and asked whether the music was too loud. She smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his jaw."Elena," Sophia said, pulling me down beside her, "this is Dante Valenti. He's an old friend of Luca's, apparently dangerous, and very single."Dante Valenti sat across from me in a navy suit without a tie, his lazy smile barely hi

Luca was waiting in the living room.He sat in the dark with a cigarette burned almost to the filter. When I stepped inside, his eyes moved over my dress, my bare finger, my tired face, and something violent passed through him before he buried it."Did he make you cry," he asked, "or did you save that part for me?"I set my purse down with shaking hands. "Nothing happened.""You came home at dawn from Dante Valenti's suite, and nothing happened?""Nothing happened," I said again.He stood, crossing the room in a few hard strides. "You expect me to believe that?"I stepped back until my shoulder hit the wall. "You believed it three years ago with one phone call. Why not now?"The words hit him. "Don't turn this around on me. I came back to find you. I heard him answer your phone like he belonged there. Do you know what that did to me?""Do you know where I was?" My voice cracked. "I was in the hospital because I hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, and had followed another false lead for you. Da

The next few weeks passed in a strange silence. Sophia sent messages I couldn't answer. [I'm sorry.] [Are you eating?] [Please tell me you're alive.] Sometimes I typed replies and deleted them.Luca didn't come to the penthouse, but his presence stayed everywhere. His ring remained in a small dish by the entryway. His coat was still in the closet. His name was still on old emergency papers, old insurance forms, old fragments of a life I had been too afraid to dismantle.I removed them slowly.The first time I threw away his whiskey, I sat on the kitchen floor and sobbed. The first time I changed the gray sheets to pale blue, I felt guilty, as if I were cheating on a dead man.Dante came by often, but he never forced himself inside my life. Sometimes he left groceries at my door. Sometimes he drove me to doctor's appointments and waited in the car with the radio off. Sometimes he sat across from me and talked nonsense about Valenti business until I laughed despite myself.One rainy