Accueil / Mafia Histoires courtes / Never His Donna / Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Chapter 1

"Catherine, watch your poise."Luca's voice came from behind me.I stopped in the dim hallway. I didn't turn around. The cold wind cut through me, stinging every inch of my skin.He strode up to me, his tall frame blocking the chandelier light, casting me in his shadow."Liliana just got back and she's about to take over the family business. She needs to establish her authority tonight. You shouldn't have made a scene in front of everyone. And you definitely shouldn't have killed the mood."Luca frowned, a flicker of irritation in his tone. "You lived in New York for years. You should have some sense of occasion."I didn't argue. I just looked at his empty chest.Last month, to please Luca, I'd flown overnight to Europe and spent three hundred thousand at an auction on a rare vintage pocket watch. Right before the banquet, I'd fastened it onto his chest myself.But tonight, in that hall, he'd handed it off to Liliana like it was nothing."The watch. You gave it to her?"Luca paused, th

Chapter 2

The next morning, I carried a cardboard box into the crafting room.I stopped at the door.The room reeked of heavy perfume. That wide wooden table I'd ordered from Italy, the one I used for cutting fabric, was buried under a pile of flashy gowns. Champagne bottles lay tipped over by the chairs, pale gold liquid seeping into the fabric. In the corner sat Liliana's heels from last night.Luca said to clear it out today. Her people couldn't even wait that long.I spotted the sketch I'd been working on, stained with alcohol. My chest tightened. I bit down, walked over, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it in the trash.Then I started packing my scissors, threads, and leftover premium fabrics into the box, row by row.Footsteps echoed outside. Luca pushed the door open, bringing in the smell of cigar smoke and cold air.He saw me packing and his eyes flickered."You're up early."He set a paper bag on the table. "Fresh croissant and espresso. Still hot."I didn't respond. I kept folding

Chapter 3

The afternoon snowstorm swept through Montreal, wind and ice lashing the streets.I went to the family hospital to pick up my regular stomach medication. Three years of adapting to the mafia's inverted schedule had given me a severe ulcer.I'd barely reached the clinic door when I heard Liliana's sugary laugh from inside."Luca, it hurts so much. Blow on it for me?"I peered through the gap in the window. Luca had shed his suit jacket, sitting by the bed in his white shirt, a cotton swab in hand. Liliana leaned against the velvet pillows, her calf marked with a few shallow scratches from rose thorns, but she carried on like she'd been shot."Catherine's just too sensitive," Liliana pouted, her voice dripping with grievance. "If I'd known, I never would've gone abroad for training. I let someone else steal what was mine."Luca didn't argue. He kept his head down, gently dabbing ointment on Liliana's leg, leaning in to blow on it.I pushed the door open and walked in, my face blank.The

Chapter 4

"Catherine, are you alright? Are you hurt?""Sit down. Let me put some ointment on it."Luca reached out, lifted me, and set me on the bed. I wanted to pull away, but the pain left me with no strength to resist.He unwrapped the towel and carefully spread the ointment over my swollen ankle. I watched his focused expression, and my heart tightened.Three years ago, on a mission, Luca and I were ambushed by a rival gang. He'd thrown himself in front of me and taken four bullets to his left leg. I'd sat by his bed, eyes red, wrapping his wounds, choking back tears as I asked:"Does it hurt?"Luca had brushed my forehead and smiled. "Not at all. Catherine, I love you. How could protecting the one I love ever hurt?"Now he sat by my bed again, looking at me. But the love in his eyes was gone. I couldn't find it anymore."Luca."After a long pause, I forced the words out. "I'm not going to be your Donna anymore, am I?"His hand froze mid-motion. Panic flickered across his face."Catherine, o

Chapter 5

The snow piled higher by the minute. Visibility dropped to less than ten meters.The SUV crawled along the highway leading to the suburban helipad."Miss, this weather's a nightmare. Looks like the road ahead is closed due to snow!"The driver's voice was laced with tension. "And I think we've got two cars tailing us."Before he finished, a deafening bang erupted. A bullet tore through the tire. The vehicle lurched violently and slammed into the guardrail."We're under attack! Get down, Miss!"The driver shouted, pulling out his gun to return fire.Through the blinding snow, several masked gunmen closed in. Local bandits, probably, drawn by the expensive SUV.I curled up in the back seat, shielding my head. Gunfire crackled outside, muzzle flashes cutting through the white haze.A stray bullet punched through a weak spot in the bulletproof glass and tore into my body.The impact sent a searing pain through me. Blood poured out instantly, soaking my beige coat.Everything went black.Ba

Chapter 6

The next morning came the annual prayer ceremony of the mafia family. The most sacred gathering, open only to core members.Luca stood at the front of the grand cathedral in a custom black suit, his expression solemn. Liliana tried to take the spot beside him, but the elders stopped her with a look. That position, in theory, belonged only to the future Donna.Everything looked dignified and reverent. Except the person who should have stood beside Luca never showed up.His gaze kept drifting to the heavy wooden doors. As the ceremony went on, his face grew darker, and the murmurs around him grew louder.He clenched his jaw, his tone turning harsh. He pulled out his phone and, in the gaps between the priest's chants, dialed my number again.Still off."Could Catherine actually be that mad?"A knot tightened in his chest.After the gathering, the butler found Luca, his voice laced with urgency."Don, what happened to the wedding invitations?"The butler pointed to the cover, frowning. "On

Chapter 7

He took the wheel himself, flooring it through the city, running red after red, the tires screaming against the pavement as he tore through the estate gates.He stumbled and scrambled into the villa, into our bedroom.Empty. My coats, my suits, my shoes—all gone. The cosmetics I kept on the vanity were missing. Even my white towel in the bathroom had been taken.Nothing left. Not a single trace that I'd ever been there. Like three years had been nothing but a dream he'd made up.Luca ransacked the room like a wild animal losing its mind, clawing through every corner for something, anything, I might have left behind.He yanked open the desk drawer.Empty. Just a pile of crumpled paper.His hands shook as he picked one up and smoothed it out. A wedding invitation, still faint with the scent of ink. My name and his, slashed through with heavy black strokes.He collapsed to the floor, staring at that ruined invitation, his chest caving in. The suffocation closed around him.He finally unde

Chapter 8

The next day, he ignored every elder's objection and cleared his entire schedule. He bought a ticket to New York.He was going to beg her. Even if it meant kneeling in the middle of the street. Even if it meant giving up his life. He was going to bring his Donna back.New York winter was brutal, wind howling, snow falling in sheets.Luca stood outside a luxury apartment building, his lips purple from the cold. His left leg, plagued by old wounds, screamed in pain from the journey and the freezing temperatures. He could barely stand and leaned on a black cane.But he wouldn't move an inch.He'd burned through every mafia contact he had, spent five full days, just to track down where I was living now. The building security recognized his face and refused him entry. So he stood in the blizzard, eyes fixed on the entrance.Day turned to night.Wall Street elites in their tailored coats passed by, staring at this disgraced mafia don like he was insane. Pathetic. Broken. Brought to his knees

Chapter 9

"Luca, do you really think that just because you're willing to lower your head and apologize, I'll forgive all your arrogance like I always did?"I asked him calmly.Luca froze, tears blurring his vision."You've always been like this. Taking sides without thinking. Hurting me without hesitation. Then just assuming I'd always be there waiting."I pulled a signed check from my bag with my left hand and tossed it onto the snow in front of him, like throwing away trash."Ten million dollars.""That's for three years of being your servant, enduring your family's humiliation, and this ruined right foot."I looked at him, every word deliberate."Three years ago, you saved my life on a Montreal street. That debt is paid."Snow fell in thick flakes, quickly covering the check.Luca knelt there, shaking violently. His eyes were filled with despair, panic, disbelief."No... I don't want money, Catherine. I just want you..."He reached for my ankle. I stepped back, cold and detached."You think t

Chapter 10

A few days later, I heard that Luca's family had sent men to drag him back to Canada. While he was gone chasing me, the entire family operation had ground to a halt. Rival gangs seized the opening and swallowed a third of their territory.On top of that, kneeling in the snow for so long had permanently worsened the old injury in his leg. The doctors said he'd be bound to a wheelchair and crutches for the rest of his life.The mafia elders couldn't tolerate a crippled Don who'd lost his mind. They called a meeting, stripped him of his title, and cast him out of power. Liliana, seeing him fall, cleaned out whatever private fortune he had left and fled to Europe overnight. No one ever heard from her again.He stayed in that wrecked estate he'd trashed himself, drinking himself numb day after day.He'd finally become everything he once despised.A weak, lonely, worthless failure.Meanwhile, I was in a top private hospital in New York, pushing through rehab. After months of treatment and re

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