Page 69 of Masked Mafia's Runaway Bride

“Thank you,” I murmured, already stepping away.

I didn’t look back as I moved through the crowd, weaving toward the hallway like a shadow. My heels clicked against the marble, each step quick and calculated. When I reached the door to his study, I paused just long enough to make sure no one was watching before slipping inside.

The room was darker than I expected, the faint scent of leather and smoke lingering in the air. The desk loomed in the center, its surface stacked with papers and ledgers. I didn’t waste time pulling open drawers and rifling through files. My hands shook as I scanned documents, searching for anything. A name, a location, a sign that my father was alive.

Nothing.

The seconds ticked by. My breath came faster as desperation clawed at my throat. There had to be something here. There had to—

My phone buzzed in my pause, the vibration startling me so badly that I nearly knocked a lamp off the desk. I fumbled to answer it. “Enzo?”

“Mirella,” Enzo’s voice came through the line, breathless and frantic. My heart dropped. “It was a trap. I’ve been compromised.”

“What?” I whispered, the room spinning for a second.

“It wasn’t a lead—it was a setup,” he panted. I could hear him running, the sound of gravel crunching under his feet. “They knew I was coming. I’m trying to—”

A sharp crack rang through the line. A gunshot.

The call went dead.

“Enzo?” My voice cracked as I whispered his name into the silence. “Enzo!”

I stood frozen, the phone still clutched in my hand, my ears ringing with the phantom echo of the shot. My throat felt tight, and my chest felt like it might collapse. Enzo. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

I turned, ready to run, ready to do something, but the door opened before I could move.

Don Carlos stepped inside.

He looked at me for a long moment, his face carved from stone, his eyes dark and deadly. “I thought you might try this.”

My heart slammed against my ribs as I backed away instinctively. “I—I just got lost—”

“Don’t insult my intelligence,” he interrupted, his voice low and even, which somehow made it all the more terrifying.

My knees felt weak, but I stayed on my feet. I had to think, had to get out. “I was just—”

“Enough.” Don Carlos took another step forward, his presence filling the room like a storm cloud. “I know what you’re doing, Mirella.”

“You don’t,” I shot back, my voice shaking as I tried to hold my ground.

“Oh, but I do.” He smiled, but it was the kind that made my blood run cold. “I know you’ve been looking for your father. Iknow you’ve been sneaking around behind my back. I know you are The Raven, and I know about your son.”

The world tilted under my feet.

No.

Everything inside me went still. Cold terror pooled in my stomach as his words sank in. He knew. He knew about Alex. He knew about everything.

Don Carlos’ smile widened, but his eyes were empty. “You will come with me now, Mirella. If you don’t, your father and your son will die. I have them with me,”

I felt the ground fall out from under me, but I couldn’t let it show. My hands balled into fists at my sides as I forced myself to stand taller and look him in the eye.

“You’re bluffing,” I managed, though my voice barely held.

“Do you really want to test me?” his voice dropped, soft and chilling. “We both know what I’m capable of.”

For the first time, I had no words. Nothing to throw back at him. Because I knew he wasn’t lying.

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