Page 65 of Masked Mafia's Runaway Bride

“She’s not as innocent as she pretends to be,” he continued. “The emergency with her assistant’s son? Convenient excuse, don’t you think? Right when we had a shipment to save—a shipment Sergio lost because of her. Too convenient.”

My stomach churned. Mirella. He was talking about her.

Another voice responded, calmer but equally firm. “It’s possible she genuinely had an emergency, Don Carlos. We don’t have solid proof yet.”

“I don’t need proof to smell a rat,” my father snapped. “She agreed to this engagement far too easily. A woman like her, agreeing to marry me without a fight with no persuasion from her daddy like before? No. She’s hiding something. And where was she for those five years she disappeared, huh? Why did she suddenly come back? What is she after?”

My chest tightened as I leaned closer to the door, straining to hear.

“Do you want me to dig deeper?” the other man asked.

“Of course I do,” Don Carlos barked. “I want every detail about her life. Where she was, who she was with, what she’s hiding. And I want it yesterday. So get on it. If she’s lying to me…” He trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

The other voice dropped, too quiet for me to catch his response, but my father’s sharp laugh followed.

“Good. Let’s see how innocent Mirella really is.”

I didn’t need to hear any more. I stepped away from the door, my mind racing.

He was onto her.

I didn’t know what he’d find or how far he’d go, but I knew one thing for certain: Mirella was in danger. And I couldn’t stand by and let him ruin her.

My heart was pounding as I headed back to my car, my father’s voice echoing in my head.

“Where was she for those five years?”

I knew the answer. She was becoming The Raven. If I could find out her secret, he could as well. Whatever secrets she had, they were hers to tell—not his to exploit.

I started the engine, determined to stop him no matter what, “I won’t let him hurt you, Mirella,” I muttered to myself as I drove as fast as I could.

The tires screeched as I pulled out of the driveway, heading back to the one person I couldn’t bear to lose.

I parked outside Mirella’s house for the second time that day. My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. The sound of my father’s voice still echoed in my head, sharp and menacing.

I slammed the door shut behind me and made my way up the steps. Thankfully Dahlia had let me in when I told her it was a matter of life and death and that Mirella was in danger. The house was quiet, the kind of stillness that made my pulse quicken. I tried the handle. It wasn’t locked.

Mirella’s voice reached me, low and soothing, followed by the unmistakable giggle of a child.

“I’ll read you the rest tomorrow, Alex. Now, off to your room,” she murmured.

My feet froze mid-step. Alex. The name hit me like a freight train, and before I could even process it, I heard the small voice respond.

“Okay, Mama.”

Mama.

The air left my lungs as I stumbled back into the shadows. A thousand images flashed through my mind, memories I hadn’t pieced together until now. The way Mirella shielded him, the hesitation whenever I asked her whose child it was, and how he had called Dahlia by name—I had my suspicions, but this was the proof. The little boy’s eyes were the same shade as mine.

How had I been so blind? His eyes, they were mine.

The door to the hallway creaked, and Alex padded out, clutching a stuffed bear. He looked up at me, his head tilting slightly, and he gave me a smile before wrapping his hands around my legs.

“Hi. You are back,” he said softly, his voice curious but unafraid.

“Hi,” I managed, my throat dry.

“Did you bring another dinosaur for me?”

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