Page 83 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
LORENZO
I made a mistake coming back. I knew it the second I stepped foot in this place again, but I let myself believe it would be different. What a fool I had been, thinking that maybe the past had settled.
But no. Luca’s been digging, and if there’s one thing I know about my Luca in the years that we have been best friends, it’s that he doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants. He might be considered reckless and not so serious, but when he sets his mind on something, especially with an external push, which in this case comes in the form of Enrico, he is like a hound chasing a scent. And what he wants is the truth about Shade.
I rubbed my temples, pacing in my office. Shade. The name sat heavy on my tongue, like a curse I could never shake off. I wasn’t the one who set up Maria’s father or killed him. But I might as well have been. I didn’t do enough. I stood there, helpless, watching a man I admired fall, and now?
I ran the city and the underground world, so I don’t know how someone could have killed him and gotten away with it freely without me knowing about it or who it was. I searched, but all the clues led to a dead end.
Now he was gone, and the world believed Shade had pulled the trigger. Maria believed it, too.
And after last night? Damn it. I sat on the edge of my desk, exhaling sharply. I had convinced myself that what we had was just for show, a convenient arrangement that served its purpose. But after last night, after the way she looked at me, after the way she felt in my arms, I knew I wanted more. I needed more.
I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. More was reckless. More was stupid. More was something I couldn’t afford when my entire past was one misstep away from blowing up in my face.
The door swung open, and Dante strolled in like he owned the place. He probably would one day, at the rate he was going.
“Back from paradise, huh?” He smirked, dropping into the chair across from me. “How was the trip?”
“It was a business trip, Dante.” I crossed my arms, leaning against the desk. “Not a honeymoon.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” he muttered. “You and Maria looked really cozy the other night at the gala. Those pictures are making the front page,” he paused, “especially the one you two were dancing. Who knew you could dance. I thought you had two left feet?”
I shot him a glare, but he just shrugged.
“Anyway,” he continued, stretching his legs out, “shipment came in last night. No problems. Everything’s running smoothly.”
“Good.” I nodded, but my mind wasn’t on the shipment.
Dante studied me, his smirk fading. “Alright, what’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.” I looked away, but Dante wasn’t buying it. He never did.
“You look like someone just told you your puppy got run over, and we both know you don’t have one, so shoot.”
I exhaled sharply. “Luca says they’re close to figuring out who Shade is.”
Dante stiffened. “That’s bad.”
“No kidding.”
Dante leaned forward, his expression serious. “Lorenzo, you need to tell them.”
I shook my head instantly. “I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
I pushed off the desk, pacing again. “Maria would never forgive me. She’d think I killed her father. That I pulled the trigger on him?”
Dante ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. “You didn’t kill him.”
“But I didn’t save him either,” I shot back. “And that’s just as bad.”
Dante was quiet for a moment, then sighed. “That was not on you. How could you have known? Lorenzo, listen to me. If you come clean now, you can control the narrative. You can tell them what really happened.”
“They won’t believe me.”
“They might.”
