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All Chapters of Traded to the Rinaldi Don: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I carried my untouched tea away from the corridor outside Marco’s study.He and my brother had just settled the details. They had chosen the convoy’s departure time, the place where my brother’s men would intercept it, and the story our family would tell about Sofia’s death.Marco had needed only one sentence to decide what would happen to me afterward. I would live on a private island under another name. He would visit when he could.He followed me into our bedroom and took the cup from my hands, as he often did.“Your tea’s gone cold. I’ll have them bring you another.”He knew I had overheard them, yet his voice remained calm. He spoke as though we were discussing an inconvenient change to our plans.“Why do I have to go?” I asked.“The men intercepting the convoy will be armed. Sofia has never been near anything like that. She’d be terrified.” Marco set the cup on the table. “You’ve worked alongside your father for years. You know how to handle yourself.”I had grown up around guard

Chapter 2

New lights lined the driveway of the Romano estate.I watched them from the car for a moment before I understood what they were celebrating. Once I “died” on the road as Sofia, she would return to Marco under my name.I had grown up in this house. My father taught me to handle the family accounts, and my mother always said we were her two most precious daughters. Whenever my brother Adrian came home from a long trip, he brought me something.After I married Marco, I rarely told them when I was unhappy. This time, I had come hoping they would tell me I did not have to go.My mother stood in the sitting room, adjusting a necklace around Sofia’s neck.I had worn it at my wedding. Mother moved the clasp, turned Sofia toward the mirror, and studied her reflection.“It needs to be a little shorter.”She noticed me and beckoned me closer.“Elena, you may look alike, but the same clothes don’t always suit you both. Doesn’t this look lovely on her?”Sofia lowered her eyes and touched the pendan

Chapter 3

On the way back from the Romano estate, our car stopped at an intersection.Dante Rinaldi’s convoy crossed in front of us. People on the sidewalk recognized the family crest and lowered their voices. One man said Dante had dealt harshly with an ally who betrayed him. Another claimed that no woman who married into the Rinaldi family had ever been happy.My mother had repeated the same stories at dinner. She had said them in front of me, then reminded me that Adrian would intercept the convoy before I reached Dante’s territory.Through the window, I saw a man in the last car signal for our driver to go ahead. He had no idea I was the woman being sent to the Rinaldis.The next day, I arrived at a neutral estate arranged by the Commission. Both families would confirm the marriage agreement there before the convoy continued toward Dante’s estate.An attendant lowered a veil over half my face. Several young women arranging my clothes whispered about Dante, assuming I could not hear them.“At

Chapter 4

By the end of dinner, I still could not hold anything steadily.The housekeeper accompanied me through the estate’s private corridor. As we passed Marco’s sitting room, I heard him speaking to Adrian.“Beyond the handover point, the road belongs to the Rinaldis,” Marco said. “Get her out of the convoy before it crosses.”“My men are already in position.”“Make sure she isn’t hurt.”I stopped outside the door.After a pause, Marco added, “Put another blanket in her car. She gets cold easily.”I looked at my reddened hands. He remembered that I disliked the cold, although he had not asked how I was doing on the terrace. Even so, his concern softened something in me for a moment.When I returned to the Moretti estate, my nightly medicine was waiting in our bedroom.Marco had arranged it years ago because I sometimes had trouble sleeping. I picked up the glass, but the housekeeper closed the door behind us.“Please don’t take it tonight, Mrs. Moretti.”Her face had gone pale.“Miss Sofia w

Chapter 5

Two rows of cars waited outside the Moretti estate on the morning I left.Sofia stood beside Marco in the coat I had helped her choose the day before. Her eyes filled when she saw me.“Be careful,” she said.Marco adjusted her collar, then came to my car. He reached toward my reddened fingers but stopped before touching them.“I’ll visit once you’re settled.”“All right.”My mother leaned toward the window. “Don’t be afraid. You’ll see your brother tomorrow.”Father was speaking to the convoy coordinator. He had instructed everyone to leave my veil in place and keep the bride’s movements private until the handover.I raised the window without looking back.The convoy left New York on schedule. Marco had put a blanket in my car. I folded it and set it aside. I ate when food was offered and asked no questions about Adrian’s plans.His two guards watched me closely at first. By evening, they seemed reassured that I had made no attempt to call home or leave the convoy.We stopped at the pl

Chapter 6

ELENA’S POVI silenced my phone and followed the Commission coordinator toward the house.At the steps, he glanced at my veil.“Before we complete the handover, is there anything I should know?”“Yes. But I need to tell Dante myself.”He studied me for a moment, then led me to the entrance.The man who had offered me his coat at the neutral estate met us there. He noticed my bare hands and asked someone to bring me a warmer coat. This time, no one stopped him.We followed him into a study where Dante Rinaldi stood beside a table covered with documents.He was younger than I had expected. When we entered, he put down the file he was reading and looked from the coordinator to me.“Was there trouble on the road?”“No,” I said.The coordinator set down the signed handover papers. Dante read the revised arrival time and lifted his eyes to mine.“You changed the schedule.”“Yes.”“Your family knew?”“No.”The coordinator shifted beside me. Dante dismissed him and his own representative with

Chapter 7

ELENA’S POV“Yes,” I told Dante. “I want to stay.”He gave a small nod and asked his representative to show me to a guest room. No one took my phone or told me where I was permitted to go. A guard stood outside the main entrance, but he was there before I arrived and remained there after I passed him.I slept for a few hours. When I woke, my phone showed twelve missed calls from Marco and five from Adrian.His latest message came after my reply: I read what you said. We need to talk in person. Don’t sign anything before I get there.I set the phone aside.By morning, a Commission representative had arrived to hear my account. Dante had arranged for the meeting to take place in a room near the entrance so that neither family could claim he was keeping me hidden.I told her my real name, then explained the planned interception and false report of Sofia’s death. She wrote down the details and asked whether I had come to the estate willingly.“Yes,” I said. “The change to the convoy’s sche

Chapter 8

MARCO’S POVMarco heard Elena ask for a divorce in front of the Commission representative.His first impulse was to tell her they could discuss it at home. Then he remembered her question: Which home?He had no answer.Adrian argued that the original plan had been meant to protect both sisters. The representative asked him to describe exactly how Elena would have lived after the staged attack. Adrian listed the house, the guards, and the arrangements for keeping her identity secret.Each detail sounded reasonable on its own. Together, they described a life Elena had never chosen.Dante requested a recess so the representative could review the handover documents. Elena left the room with her. Marco started after them, but Adrian caught his arm.“Let her calm down.”Marco pulled free. “Stop saying that.”He went back to New York without Elena.Sofia was waiting at the Moretti estate. She still wore Elena’s coat. When she saw him come in alone, she looked past him toward the driveway.“Wh

Chapter 9

ELENA’S POVMarco waited in the same meeting room where I had asked for a divorce.He stood when I entered. The papers lay on the table between us, beside a letter from his attorney. Dante had offered to have a Commission representative present, but I had asked my own attorney to attend instead.Marco did not come toward me.“I’ve signed what I can sign now,” he said. “My attorney will cooperate with yours on the remaining filings.”I sat down and read the first page. The documents acknowledged that I had entered the marriage as Elena Romano and that Sofia’s recent use of my name had no standing. They also separated my accounts and property from Marco’s.He had begun undoing the arrangements that would have erased me.“I received the medical records,” I said.His face tightened. “I should have told you the truth years ago.”“You should have asked me before arranging the medication.”“I know.”He did not say he had been trying to protect us. Perhaps he had finally heard how little that

Chapter 10

ELENA’S POVI accepted the Commission’s independent position.The appointment was based in Philadelphia. I would oversee the settlement between the Romanos and the Rinaldis, report to the Commission, and keep my own residence. Neither family could remove me because I disagreed with them.I told Dante before the final agreement was signed.He listened, then said, “That sounds like the work you wanted.”“It is.”“I hope you’ll still argue with me when my proposals are wrong.”“I expect I will.”He smiled. He did not ask me to reconsider the position or offer a better title to keep me at his estate.The signing took place two days later. My father represented the Romanos, while Dante signed for his family. The agreement divided the disputed business holdings, required independent audits, and ended the marriage arrangement that had brought me to Dante’s door.My father read the final page twice.“When you’re ready,” he said quietly, “you can come home.”I looked at him across the table. He

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