Page 47 of Mafia Don's Twisted Union

Bianca shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes. “You keep saying that, but all I see is chaos and danger. Dario is dead, and now I find out you’re part of the reason why. How am I supposed to be okay with that?”

Carlito’s expression darkens, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he steps back, giving her space to process her emotions.

Bianca’s gaze shifts between us, her anger giving way to something softer—hurt, betrayal, fear. “I need air,” she says quietly before turning and leaving the room, the echo of her footsteps fading down the hall.

The silence she leaves behind is deafening. My eyes linger on the doorway, my heart heavy with the weight of everything that just unfolded.

Carlito lets out a slow breath, his shoulders sagging slightly as he turns to me. “This is why I didn’t want you to know,” he says quietly. “Why I didn’t want any of this to touch you.”

I fold my arms, my gaze hardening. “You can’t keep using that excuse, Carlito. I’m not some fragile thing you can shield forever. You don’t get to decide what I can or can’t handle.”

His dark eyes meet mine, filled with a mix of regret and something deeper—something raw. “You’re right,” he admits, his voice barely above a whisper. “But it doesn’t change the fact that this world is dangerous. The less you know, the safer you are.”

“Do you really believe that?” I ask, stepping closer. “Because from where I’m standing, keeping me in the dark has only made things worse. I’m walking blind through a minefield, Carlito. I need to know what I’m up against.”

He hesitates, the conflict in his expression evident. “Mia,” he begins, but I cut him off.

“No more half-truths,” I say firmly. “You owe me the full story. About Matteo Russo. About my parents. About this inheritance. Everything. And those messages—who sent them?”

Carlito’s expression hardens, but there’s a flicker of something in his eyes—pain, maybe. “The messages,” he repeats, his voice low. “They’re from the same man who killed Dario.”

I flinch, the weight of his words sinking like a stone in my chest. “What?”

“His name is Dominic,” Carlito continues, his voice tense but deliberate. “He’s working for Matteo, trying to manipulate you into giving them exactly what they want.”

Dominic. The name feels foreign on my tongue, sharp and unfamiliar. But it’s what Carlito says next that sends a chill down my spine.

“Matteo isn’t just some rival businessman,” he says, his tone darkening. “He’s the head of a Mafia faction that has been at war with my family for decades. He’s my greatest threat—and now, he’s yours.”

I stiffen at his words, my chest tightening. “And Dominic?”

“Matteo took Dominic under his wing,” Carlito explains. “Not out of kindness, but to use him. Matteo saw your father as his greatest rival, and when Dominic came of age, he molded him into a weapon—a way to hurt your family from the inside.”

The room spins as I process his words. My brother. A weapon. The man who killed Dario.

“And my mother?” I ask, my voice trembling.

“She loved your father, but she struggled with the Mafia life they built together,” Carlito explains. “She tried to shield you from it, to keep you as far from their world as possible. That’s why they kept Dominic a secret—because he was already entrenched in it by the time you were born. They didn’t want you to follow the same path.”

I clutch the edge of the desk for support, my mind racing. The pieces are starting to come together, but they don’t form a picture I can understand.

“And my inheritance,” I murmur. “That’s tied to all of this, isn’t it?”

Carlito nods. “Your inheritance is tied to a key piece of property your father used to cement his power—land that Matteo has been trying to claim for decades. When your father died, it passed to you, but Matteo’s never stopped scheming to take it for himself.”

He pauses, his gaze softening. “Your father wanted to protect you, Mia. But in trying to shield you, he left you with a target on your back. That property isn’t just land—it’s a symbol of power, of legitimacy. If Matteo gets it, he’ll use it to tip the scales in his favor, and he won’t care what happens to you in the process.”

I feel the ground shifting beneath me, the weight of my father’s decisions and their consequences pressing down on my shoulders. “He wanted to protect me,” I murmur, more to myself than Carlito.

“Yes,” Carlito says softly. “But in doing so, he created something Matteo sees as leverage. That’s why Dominic is here—to finish what Matteo started years ago.”

The room feels smaller, the air heavier. I don’t know whether to feel angry, betrayed, or grateful. Maybe all three.

As the weight of his confession settles over me, a single thought burns in my mind:If Carlito is the man I’ve married, what else has he kept from me?

Carlito’s phone buzzes on the desk, the screen lighting up with a message from Leo:Dominic has been spotted near the property. He’s making his move.

Chapter 22

---