Page 31 of Dark Mafia Bride

A tension-filled silence follows her words. Antonio shifts in his chair while Bianca leans her head on her brother’s shoulder, hiding her face in her hair. Vittorio glances up from his magazine, briefly looking at me as if questioning why I’m not stopping the argument. When I return his gaze with a blank expression, he sighs and goes back to the page in front of him.

Meanwhile, Aunt Marta’s knees bounce uncontrollably as Aunt Francesca pats her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

“Camilla...you should let this go. It’s been ages,” she says softly, trying to soothe her.

“If anyone hasn’t let it go, it’s Marta.” Zia Camilla shrugs. “I’m not the one boiling with anger. I just answered a question the boy asked…”

Leonardo’s sharp chuckle cuts through her sentence.

“You’re just a sick, bitter widow.”

The look on Zia Camilla’s face is almost comical. Her eyes widen in shock as she sputters, “Excuse me?”

“Even before your husband died, he hated your guts. He only married you for your money and status, and even that wasn’t enough to keep him. He wanted a divorce, and when you wouldn’t grant him one out of shame for what people would say, he cheated on you with a younger woman, had kids with her, and brought them to your matrimonial home…”

“You little?—”

“Your husband’s family accepted them because they hate you, too,” Leonardo continues with a dark chuckle. “Even your children never call or visit. I’m guessing they don’t want your poisonous attitude rubbing off on their kids. You should be grateful that your brother took you in after your terrible marriage nearly tarnished the Greco name…”

“You bastard…”

“Enough.” My sharp voice booms across the room.

Zia Camilla’s face flushes with rage, while Leonardo wears a look of satisfaction. I still have work to do tonight, so I don’t have time for this argument to drag on.

“No one is pregnant, this wedding will proceed exactly as planned, and there will be no more discussion on the matter.”

As I turn to leave, the argument erupts behind me, louder than before. I retreat to my office in the west wing of the mansion, far from the noise, and close the heavy oak doors behind me.

I barely have time to sit before my phone buzzes, and the name on the screen sends a wave of memories crashing over me.

“Word in the air is that you’re getting hitched.” Dario’s voice floats through my ear the moment I answer the call.

I chuckle despite myself. “Is that why you called at this hour?”

“Hey! I just got the invitation from your assistant. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a prank.” He laughs over the line.

“The same way I was shocked when you married Ginevra. How is she, by the way?” I ask.

Ginevra is the woman who managed to bring my old friend, a ruthless businessman with underground ties like mine, to his knees.

“She’s fine, and don’t try to change the subject. We’re talking about you here. Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy for you. Being married is great…”

I roll my eyes.

“...but I can’t believe you want to become a family man. You were the one who reminded me how dangerous it is to raise a family in a world like ours, and I’m not even as deep as you are. You basically run the underworld. Heck! You’re even more powerful than I am, and I’m the reason you’re alive today.”

“You always have to remind me, don’t you?” I chuckle, though the sound is humorless.

His words pull me back to years ago, before I took control of the Greco empire, before I became The Reaper. My father had just died, and at just eighteen, I became a target for the mafia bosses and gang leaders with whom my father had dealt. They wanted me gone. They wanted to take over the Greco empire.

I’d been invited to a bar to meet my father’s friends, who claimed they wanted to help me out. They knew I didn’t have much experience in the business world, and they’d offered their assistance. When I arrived at the location, Dario, a street thug at the time, pulled me back just before I entered the bar. He revealed that he’d overheard some men’s conversation as they entered the bar. They’d planned to kill me—powerful men lying in wait for an eighteen-year-old boy.

Dario saved me that night and taught me how to survive in the darkest corners of our world. We became close, but as we grow older, our paths diverged. I became The Reaper, the king of the underworld, while Dario immersed himself in various businesses and the corporate world. Yet, despite our differences, we’ve remained bound by loyalty and the friendship we still share.

“Having a family means you now have a weakness, Ettore,” Dario says, his tone darkening. “You may not be as involved as you used to be, but these rivals won’t rest until they take you down. To them, you’re still The Reaper—their biggest threat.”

“I’ll be fine, Dario,” I reply with a chuckle, even though it feels hollow. “Being a family man sure has made you worry too much. You know who I am. I never let my guard down.”

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