Page 8 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
“For your inheritance.” He ignored my jab, stepping closer.
I stiffened. “Luca—”
“Just listen.” He let out a breath, his expression oddly serious. “My clause is impossible. Finding Shade? It’s like hunting a ghost. I don’t even know where to start. But you—your clause is doable.”
Dread coiled in my stomach. “What are you saying?”
“I found you a husband.”
My brain short-circuited. “You what?”
He grinned like he hadn’t just ruined my life. “It’s perfect, Maria. He’s someone we can trust. Someone who won’t actually expect a real marriage.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “Luca. Who?”
His grin widened. “Lorenzo.”
The air vanished from my lungs.
No. No, no, no, no, no. I could barely breathe.
“You’ve lost your goddamn mind,” I choked out.
CHAPTER TWO
LORENZO
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and quiet suffering. I hated it. I hated the sterile walls, the low sound of machines keeping people alive, and the exhaustion in the eyes of the patients and their families. Most of all, I hated leaving my mother here.
She adjusted her silk scarf over her head, the only betrayal of what chemo had done to her. Everything else—her posture, the steel in her eyes, the firm press of her lips—was as composed as ever. A “Bianchi” didn’t break, and this was freaking Isabella Bianchi, a woman of steel.
I walked her to the entrance, already dreading the moment I’d have to turn away. She squeezed my arm before I could say anything. “Lorenzo.”
There was something about the way she said my name, a softness that cut through all my walls.
I sighed. “Sì, Mamma.”
“I don’t want to die knowing you’ve lost yourself.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched. “You’re not dying.” We both knew that was an inevitable truth. It would take a miracle to heal her because treatment was failing.
“Not yet. But I will, one day, and I need to know you will have more than this business. More than power, money, and revenge. More than the darkness you have let consume you since you lost your Papi.” Her eyes locked onto mine, which were the same color but holding so much more wisdom. “I need to know you will love. That you will live.”
There it was. The deal. The absurd condition she had thrown at me when she updated her will.
I gave her a tight smile. “Mamma—”
“You know my terms, Lorenzo.” She patted my cheek like I was still the boy she used to read to at night. “Find a wife. Find love.”
It wasn’t just about my inheritance. She wanted to fix me. As if I wasn’t already too far gone.
I opened my mouth, but she was already walking toward the doors, shoulders squared, back straight. A soldier heading into battle.
I exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand down my face before heading back to my car. My phone buzzed the second I slid into the driver’s seat. Luca’s name flashed across the screen.
Perfect timing.
I put him on speaker and pulled out of the parking lot. “If this is about your latest disaster, I’m busy.” I love Luca, I mean he is my best friend, but he was always getting into one trouble or the other, and he was kind of irresponsible.
