Home / Don, You Were the Stand-In / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Don, You Were the Stand-In: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

Everyone in New Orleans said Don Vito Marcello was madly in love with me.On my wedding day, he floored it and slammed into my wedding car.He said that if I couldn't marry him, we'd die together.He came out of it with a broken leg. I came out of it with no memory.When I woke up, he told me, "You're my Donna."After the wedding, he kept me carefully tucked away on his estate for five whole years.Then he got bored.At a family banquet, a young woman turned up looking and acting exactly like I used to.She challenged me to a bet: if she had something I didn't, I would lose."I've slept with the Don."The Don gave me a wedding ring too. And there's more..."She spun the cylinder of a revolver, her eyes wild."I'm carrying the Don's baby. Four months along."There's only one Donna. Let's not make the Don choose. We'll settle it with this game."No one in the room dared to breathe.Vito's eyes darkened as his gaze darted between us.He'd just opened his mouth to speak when I cut him off.

Chapter 2

Vera refused to back down. She looked at me and grinned."Serafina, do you really think no one would dare touch you?"She pulled a knife from a sheath strapped to her inner thigh and lunged at me like a madwoman.Vito and several family members stepped in at the same time to stop her.But I moved faster than any of them.Before the knife could touch me, I'd already pressed the muzzle firmly against Vera's stomach.Through the thin silk, I could feel the slight swell of her belly beneath the barrel.Vera froze, and every trace of savagery drained from her face.Her knife hand hung in midair, and her eyes locked on the gun in my hand.I had to fight the urge to laugh.With nerves like that, she calls herself a madwoman?She did look a bit like me, and she had a bit of my temper too.But beneath the surface, we were nothing alike.She was red paint. I was blood.La Bella Pazza. I'd earned that nickname in fights with real knives and guns.In the years since I'd lost my memory, everyone se

Chapter 3

I just switched it off.At dawn, my bedroom door burst open.Vito stood in the doorway, clutching the divorce agreement.The wound in his side had reopened, and a dark red stain was spreading across his shirt.He ripped up the agreement right in front of me and flung the pieces into the air.The scraps of paper fluttered onto the edge of the bed."Serafina, take back what you said last night."His eyes were bloodshot as he bent down and gripped my shoulders."You know that if the world were ending, the only place I'd want to be is beside you."Vera tricked me into signing. You must have guessed that."His hands suddenly tightened. "So why did you sign?""Because I wanted to."His breath caught.Then his mouth came down on mine like a storm.Rough and urgent, like a summer downpour.I bit down hard and split his lip.The taste of blood spread between our mouths, but he still wouldn't let go.I turned my head aside and laughed softly."So because the world isn't ending today, you have ti

Chapter 4

The lake's freezing water swallowed us the moment we hit it.Vera clung to me, struggling desperately.I stayed calm. This was all part of my plan.If Vito saved Vera first, I could fake my death and escape him."Vito, save me!"Vera screamed at the top of her lungs."I'm carrying your baby!"I let go of her hand and dove deeper.Then something splashed into the water above us.Vito swam straight toward me, as if he hadn't noticed Vera calling for help, and wrapped his arms around me.Only after he'd pulled me to shore did he turn back to save Vera.But it was too late. Vera had inhaled water, lost consciousness, and stopped breathing.Vito gave her rescue breaths and dragged her back from death's door.But by the time they got to the hospital, the baby couldn't be saved.When Vera woke up, she grabbed Vito's collar and screamed."She killed our baby! Vito, kill her! Avenge our baby!"I stood by the window and spoke calmly."The doctor said the impact when we hit the water didn't cause

Chapter 5

Vito's POV:Vera grabbed Vito's arm and tried desperately to drag him back into his seat."You promised you'd come with me to clear my head."Her tugging jerked the phone so much he couldn't see the screen, and Vito shook her off in frustration.Vera's stomach hit the back of the seat. She cried out and doubled over.Vito didn't help her up. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen.Serafina raised her glass and tapped it lightly against the camera lens."This dance is for the man I love, Luca Salerno."Tango music started.She turned, her skirt sweeping past her ankles, her sharp crossing steps cutting through the beat.She wrapped her arms around an invisible partner. When she turned her head, her neck curved sensually.She was like a blade drawn after five years in its sheath, as dangerous and alluring as ever.Viewers flooded in. Comments raced up the screen, and virtual gifts poured in.But the cabin around Vito was so quiet he could hear Vera sobbing."What name did she just say?

Chapter 6

Once Margaret and the guards backed out, I tossed the broken bottle aside and stuffed my last shirt into the suitcase.I didn't take a single thing Vito had given me.After five years, what I chose to take with me filled only half a suitcase.I'd just zipped it closed when the door opened.Margaret stood in the doorway with the keys, her legs shaking so badly she could barely stand.Behind her was a man with a gun.He wore a fedora, the brim pulled low over most of his face."Get out!"He lowered the gun, and Margaret scrambled away.The man walked up to me and took off his hat.He had deep-set gray-green eyes, a straight nose, and a faint scar along his jaw that hadn't been there before.The scent of bitter orange and tobacco washed over me, bringing back every embrace from five years ago."Luca.""Nice livestream, sweetheart."His voice was low."But next time you dance, make sure it's with me."He kissed my forehead. His lips trembled, and he stayed there for a long time."Especiall

Chapter 7

Vito's POV:Vito had his men search every corner of New Orleans.The docks, the airport, the hotels.Even the yachts moored along the river.There wasn't the slightest trace of Serafina.She'd vanished as completely as a drop of water in a river.All Vito could do was watch the estate's security footage over and over again.It showed a man in a fedora leading Serafina away.Vito couldn't see the man's face, but the reckless way he'd stormed the estate was unmistakable.The sight felt like a slap across the face.It was Luca.Only that lunatic would treat a battlefield like an amusement park.Vito went pale.Serafina really had gotten her memory back.And the lunatic she'd forgotten had finally found her.Vito braced himself on the edge of the desk. The movement tugged painfully at the wound in his side.Until then, he'd believed that once she cooled off, everything would be fine.Jewelry, money, affection. He could give her all of it.But now, she hadn't even left him the chance to mak

Chapter 8

Vito's POV:Vera's hand froze in midair."I'm not good enough?" Her smile turned more and more unhinged. "You came after me first, and now I'm not good enough?"Vito didn't answer.Her voice shot up. "What does she have that I don't?"Vito scoffed. "Everything."He pointed at the bandage on her wrist."Her knife only ever ends up in an enemy's heart. She'd never turn it on her own wrists."As he said it, he suddenly remembered the first time he'd seen Serafina.They'd been negotiating at the docks, and he'd planned to double-cross her.Three guns were trained on Serafina. Vito had thought he'd already won.Then she pulled the pin on a grenade, held it in her left hand, and pushed the contract toward him with her right."Sign it, or nobody leaves tonight."Her voice was calm, and her hand didn't tremble at all.She stood there as if she could hold back a storm.Or maybe she was the storm itself.Vito had loved that side of her more than anything.He loved how she could be wild and utter

Chapter 9

Vito went down at the foot of the steps.I lowered the gun and signaled for his men to come carry him off.Luca whistled at me. "Five years without a gun, and you've lost your touch?"I rolled my eyes at him. "As if."He glanced at Vito, then back at me. His smile faded."Then why didn't you kill him?"He paused and took my hand."You didn't actually fall in love with him in those five years, did you?"That stopped me for a second.The answer that came to me surprised even me.I had loved him, at least during those five years when I didn't remember.Until I found out about Vera.The pain of being betrayed kept me awake for several nights in a row.It also slowly pieced my broken memories back together.The front of a car racing toward me, a wedding dress soaked in blood.And Luca, waiting for me on our wedding day.I finally understood what the man whose arms I'd fallen asleep in had stolen from me.Once I remembered, every bit of love I had felt for him curdled into twice as much hatr

Chapter 10

We arranged to meet at an Italian restaurant.When I walked in on Luca's arm, Vito shot to his feet and knocked over the water glass at the edge of the table.I hadn't seen him in a month, and I almost didn't recognize him.He was gaunt. Stubble covered his jaw, and his eyes were bloodshot."Serafina." He held his hand out to me, his voice shaking. "You finally agreed to see me."I didn't take it. I set the divorce agreement in front of him."Sign it."Vito looked down at the papers. The small smile on his lips faded."You're my Donna. Always."He pushed the papers back. Veins stood out on the back of his hand. "I'm not signing."I pulled out a chair and sat down."Without your signature, I can still get a default judgment. What's the point of dragging it out?"His lips moved.I didn't give him a chance to speak."Or would you rather the whole East Coast know that the Donna of the Marcello family sleeps beside Luca every night?"Vito looked at my hand, laced with Luca's.His breathing

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