Home / I Left the Mafia Don and Chose His Uncle / Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

All Chapters of I Left the Mafia Don and Chose His Uncle: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

1

I walked in on my husband in bed with three women.They didn't notice me until they were done.The three women clutched the sheets around themselves and huddled together in fear.The one in the middle was Camilla Rhodes, a senator's illegitimate daughter.Two years ago, anyone who dared climb into Dante Cavallaro's bed would have paid for it.I would have shot every one of them in the head.All of New York's underworld knew I was a madwoman.Now I just stood in the doorway, staring blankly.Dante leaned against the headboard, his chest covered in scratches.He lit a cigar."Are you done standing there? Run me a hot bath and iron the suit I'm wearing tomorrow."Camilla had already put on my robe. She sauntered over with a glass in her hand, her eyes daring me to react.As she passed me, she bumped into me on purpose, then cried out and stumbled sideways.The glass shattered, and she scraped her knee."Ow. That hurts..."Camilla clutched her injured knee and gave Dante a wounded look."I

2

I walked out of the estate and flagged down a taxi.The driver saw how pale I was and asked, "Ma'am, should I call the police or take you to a hospital?""No. I'm going to get a divorce."At the Cavallaro family's law firm, Gordon, the lawyer, checked Vittorio's signature and seal."Ms. Moretti, under the addendum, your marriage to Don Cavallaro will end, and you'll give up all property.""I know."Once Gordon stamped the papers, he handed them back to me."It's done. It'll be official next Monday."Outside, it had started pouring.I'd barely stepped out of the law firm when two cars screeched to a stop in front of me.They were Dante's men.One of them held a phone to my ear. Dante's voice came through, tight with barely contained rage."You went running to the family's law firm to make a scene about a divorce? Did you want to make sure I'd hear about it?"Fine. Then get back to the estate right now and clear out your things. Camilla's moving in tonight."He hung up.I'd been planning

3

Two bodyguards hauled me up, and then something slammed into the back of my neck.Everything went black.The confinement room was bitterly cold.Unconscious, I sank into one nightmare after another.I dreamed of the fire five years ago, my father covered in blood, shoving me into the getaway car.I dreamed of Dante proposing, swearing he'd always have my back.Then I saw my mother's necklace crumble to ash as the heart monitor flatlined.I jolted awake!Just then, a bodyguard pushed the door open."The Don took Ms. Rhodes to the island to get stitched up. He won't be back this week. He says you can get lost."I said nothing. It took everything I had to push myself up and make my way out of the estate, one hand braced against the wall.It was still raining.I ran barefoot all the way to my father's care home.When I pushed open the door to his room, it was dead silent.Every machine had been taken away. Crushed pill bottles and cigarette butts littered the floor.My father lay still in

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Meanwhile, Dante had stayed on the island with Camilla the whole time.The wound on Camilla's arm had healed. She snuggled against him and tested the waters."Dante, are you really not going to divorce Elena? As long as she's still around, I'll always be on edge..."Dante's face darkened, and he pulled his arm away."Camilla, I told you from day one. The only Donna of the Cavallaro family is Elena."Try to take her place one more time, and you're gone."Camilla hurried to apologize.Dante walked out of the room, irritated, and scrolled through his phone.For seven days, Elena hadn't called or sent a single message.That would never have happened before.Dante scoffed. Elena was giving him the silent treatment to make him cave. He was sure of it."Tell the Five Families we're throwing a party on the yacht tonight. I'm bringing Camilla."Nothing got to Elena more than a challenge to her place as Donna.He didn't believe she could stay quiet if he paraded Camilla on his arm in front of ev

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Meanwhile, at a villa by the sea.The family doctor finished dressing the wound on my forehead and left.The man who'd saved me was sitting by the bed, watching me."The coast guard gave your coat to Dante. Everyone thinks you jumped into the sea and died."I picked up my glass of water."Good. Then he'll leave me alone."He raised an eyebrow. "You weren't on that cliff to kill yourself?""My father was murdered, and the people who did it are still alive. Why would I die? I was scattering his ashes."I looked up at his face. He was even better-looking than Dante."Thank you for saving me. I don't even know your name."He took my glass and stood up."Five years ago, the old Don wanted you to marry me. You'd never even met me, but you decided I was too old and flat-out refused."My eyes went wide in disbelief."You're the old Don's brother? Dante's uncle?""Allow me to introduce myself. Luca Cavallaro."He leaned down to look at me."I'm only five years older than Dante."Elena, what he

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His hair was dripping, and he had a glass of whiskey in his hand.He glanced at the bill in my hand, expressionless.I clutched the flight itinerary, my voice thick with tears."You're the one who kept my father alive all this time. Why didn't you tell me?""Tell you Dante was a bastard who'd even withheld the money for your father's medicine, then watch you confront him and get locked in a freezer again?"He knew everything that had happened to me at the Cavallaro estate."Elena, even if I'd slapped those bills in your face, it would've done nothing but make you cry more."I looked at him, tears welling."Then why are you helping me now?"Luca set down his glass and wiped my tears away, a little roughly."Because when the old Don asked if I wanted to marry the Moretti girl, I took too long to answer. You ended up with my nephew."His hand slid from my cheek down to my chin."I waited five years, and when I found you, you were barely alive."Do you want to keep being a useless crybaby,

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Ten minutes later, Dante burst into the study.He was gaunt and hollow-cheeked, with none of a Don's dignity left.I stood behind the hidden door at the back of the study, watching through the crack as he searched the room.Luca was toying with his lighter."Barging into my home in the middle of the night? Dante, have you forgotten every rule of the Cavallaro family?""My men at the docks saw Elena firing a gun tonight! She's not dead, is she? You're hiding her!"Luca took half a step back, blocking the crack in the hidden door and shielding me from view."How does a dead woman fire a gun?"Dante clutched his hair and broke down sobbing."That's impossible! I searched for half a year and never found her body!"You were the one paying her father's medical bills for those two years. You have to know where she is! Please, tell me, even if all that's left is her body..."Listening to my ex-husband beg through his tears, I just felt numb.Luca turned his head and glanced at me.He seemed to

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Luca held me close and turned to face Dante."Your wife?" He scoffed. "You're divorced. She has nothing to do with the Cavallaro family anymore."Luca's hand settled on my waist like it belonged there.I froze for a second."Maybe you forgot. Five years ago, I was the one she was supposed to marry."You never valued her. Now your uncle is taking back what was his."Dante looked at me, devastated and still unable to believe it."Elena, he's my uncle! You want everyone laughing at the Cavallaro family because you're with him?""So what?"I tightened my hold on Luca's arm."Never mind that he's your uncle. Even if he were the devil himself, I'd go with him gladly."Those words destroyed what was left of Dante's sanity.The gun in his hand shook violently until, at last, he lowered it.With his arm around me, Luca guided me into the car.The door closed, shutting out Dante's broken sobs.I let out a breath and tried to pull my hand back.But Luca caught my wrist and leaned in close."You u

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I gripped the hem of my shirt and avoided his eyes."After my miscarriage, the doctor said I'd never be able to get pregnant again."In a mafia family, blood and heirs meant everything.That was why the old Don had made me sign the contract: he wanted an heir.Surely Luca would want children of his own.But Luca just pulled me onto his lap."That's what you've been worrying about all this time? I've known for two years."He looked at me, completely serious."My money and power are yours while I'm alive. When I'm dead, they can be donated or thrown away. I don't care."I don't need an heir. I just need you."His words broke through my last defenses.My eyes stung. I threw my arms around him and kissed him.Three months later, the Moretti family was back among New York's Five Families.I held a celebration at the rebuilt Moretti house. It was also my engagement party with Luca, the night we made our relationship public.That night, with my arm through Luca's, I accepted one toast after a

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