All Chapters of I Refused to Be His Donna: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Nina's smug voice came through the phone."Sorry, Sophia. I was just so tired and wanted to unwind a little. You don't mind, do you? Thanks for picking up the soufflé for me. You can have some too."Before I could answer, Luca laughed. "Sophia's not a glutton like you. She's got real work to do.""Sophia, let's push the wedding to another day. You've already waited this many years—a few more days won't make a difference. I promise, once things settle down, I'll throw you the biggest wedding you've ever seen."I nodded. I didn't expect anything from that wedding anymore.After I hung up, I looked down at the ring on my ring finger.Luca's initials were engraved on the inside of the band. He'd tossed it to me two years ago without so much as a box."Wear it," he'd said at the time. "It'll keep other men from getting ideas."I stood by the side of the road for a while.My phone lit up. It was a message from Nina.A photo she'd taken at the bar. She and Luca were holding a playin

Before I could say a word, he grabbed my left hand, shock he couldn't hide in his voice. "Sophia, where's your ring? Don't tell me you left it at home."A flicker of panic crossed his eyes.That ring was custom-made when he proposed to me. It was one of a pair with the one Luca had.Back then, he'd had eyes only for me.He'd said, "Sophia, I promise you'll be the only Donna of this family. I'll give you the grandest wedding there ever was, and everyone will be there to witness our love."But at some point, he'd stopped wearing his.I stayed silent, and the unease in Luca's eyes grew."Answer me! Sophia!"I was about to speak when Nina suddenly screamed.She was standing by the conference table, holding an open file, her face white as a sheet.She looked up and said urgently, "There's a zero missing here. This is the ammunition order for the Delorme family. If we ship this amount, they'll come after us for breach of contract."Luca took the file, and his face darkened as he r

When I reached the coast of Sicily, the Rinaldi family welcomed me with every honor they had."Welcome, Miss Rossi! It's an honor to have you join the Rinaldi family. We've heard all about how many problems you solved for Don Moretti as his secretary!"The sudden warmth left me standing there, stunned.Back with the Moretti family, no matter how well I did, Luca always saw it as just part of the job. Nothing worth praising.Once, a traitor in the family ran for the border with the route map for an arms shipment we had coming up in a few months. If he got away, the whole Moretti family would take a massive hit.He was good at disappearing. Luca sent team after team after him, and none of them could catch him.In the end, I was the one who caught him right before he crossed the border and brought the route map back.When Luca heard, all he did was chew me out for dropping the ball—for not noticing there was a traitor in the family in the first place.One of the Rinaldi secretarie

Luca lost the match, but the fallout kept spreading.The Godfather of the Moretti family had lost, and every family in Sicily had its eyes on him. The moment he showed the slightest crack, they'd swoop in and carve up the Moretti territory and trade routes.The Rinaldi family, on the other hand, was getting plenty of friendly overtures. Families lined up to partner with the Rinaldis, and as his underboss, I was swamped every single day.One night, when I got back to my apartment, I found Luca downstairs, crouched by the bushes, blind drunk.When he saw me, he got up and tried to come closer.I took a step back without thinking.Luca froze. Then he looked up at me, his eyes full of sorrow."Sophia, why are you avoiding me? Why did you run off to the Rinaldi family on your own?""I just don't want anything more to do with you."With that, I tried to walk past him.But he gripped my wrist tightly, and then I felt something hot drip onto my skin.Luca's voice was shaking."Soph