Page 100 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
“Don’t you dare talk about him.”
Enrico tilted his head. “You want the truth? You left that little voice note for your brother that Lorenzo didn’t do it. Well, it is true. Fine. I killed your father.”
Silence. Deafening. My breath caught in my throat. I had not thought about it. I knew it was not Lorenzo, but I didn’t even stop for a minute to think or guess who could be the culprit.
“You… what?”
“He got in the way. He got nosy. So, I ended it. And I framed that pretty boy of yours while I was at it.”
I staggered back like he’d hit me. Matteo clutched my hand tighter.
“You killed him.”
“Correction. I had him killed. I don’t get my hands dirty.”
I wanted to scream. Cry. Rip him apart. But I couldn’t fall apart. Not now. He had my father killed for no reason, his own brother. I wasn’t really a fan of my uncle, but I had always considered him family. I didn’t know he was the goddamn Devil. “Why now? Why all this?”
“Loose ends, Maria. And you’re one of them.”
He pulled a little device from his coat pocket. Pressed something. A red light blinked on.
A timer.
No.
“The bomb’s set for an hour’s time. I have already called Luca. You wanted to tell him the truth? Well, Luca’s on his way. You two can be together, and then—boom.”
I lunged toward him. “You monster!”
Two goons stepped out of the dark, grabbing me before I reached him. Matteo screamed. I fought with everything I had.
“Let him go! You bastard!”
Enrico waved the guards off. “Relax. You’re both alive for now. Let’s keep it that way.”
I dropped to my knees beside Matteo and held him close. He was shaking. I was shaking. I tried to think. Think. THINK.
Enrico walked away like he was heading to brunch, leaving us with the blinking light and the countdown.
I reached into my pocket. My phone was gone.
But maybe I had dropped it before the blackout. Maybe Lorenzo got the message. I was trying, but I didn’t even know if I had hit the send body before I blacked out.
Please let that be enough. This can’t be the end after everything we have been through.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
LORENZO
I had woken up without her by my side. There was this familiar emptiness, hollow, eerie, and brain-wrecking.
We had made passionate love to one another last night, but there is no way she had changed her mind this morning. Was that why she left? Had she regretted her actions?
Does she hate me?
My phone buzzed, and the moment I saw her name, my stomach sank.
Enri...
