Married to the mafia lord
img img Married to the mafia lord img Chapter 4 4
4
Chapter 6 6 img
Chapter 7 7 img
Chapter 8 8 img
Chapter 9 9 img
Chapter 10 10 img
Chapter 11 11 img
Chapter 12 12 img
Chapter 13 13 img
Chapter 14 14 img
Chapter 15 15 img
Chapter 16 16 img
Chapter 17 17 img
Chapter 18 18 img
Chapter 19 19 img
Chapter 20 20 img
Chapter 21 21 img
Chapter 22 22 img
Chapter 23 23 img
Chapter 24 24 img
Chapter 25 25 img
Chapter 26 26 img
Chapter 27 27 img
Chapter 28 28 img
Chapter 29 29 img
Chapter 30 30 img
Chapter 31 31 img
Chapter 32 32 img
Chapter 33 33 img
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Chapter 4 4

Shawn

I closed the door behind me, the click of the lock echoing like a gunshot in the silence. Every fiber of my being wanted to go back, to hold Maya in my arms and tell her everything, the truth about who I was, the danger we were in, and how desperately I was trying to save her life. But I couldn't. Not if I wanted her to live.

The weight of my wedding band burned against my chest where it hung on a chain beneath my shirt, hidden from view but impossible to ignore. I'd removed it from my finger this morning, the most painful act of my life. Three months of marriage. Ninety days of happiness I never thought possible for someone like me.

My footsteps echoed down the marble hallway as I made my way back to the master suite, where Vivian waited. The suite Maya and I had shared just yesterday morning. The bedroom where I'd kissed her goodbye, promising her an anniversary surprise while knowing what awaited us both.

Vivian lounged across our bed, my bed now, her red hair spilling across the pillows where Maya's head had rested. The sight made bile rise in my throat.

"There you are, darling," she purred, patting the space beside her. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about your fiancée."

I remained in the doorway, my hands clenched into fists. "Why did you push her?" The words came out as a growl, barely containing my rage. "I warned you not to lay your hands on her, didn't I? If I'm to do this, you won't touch a hair on her head."

Vivian's seductive smile twisted into something ugly. She sat up, smoothing down her tight black dress. "Oh, please, I barely touched her. Besides, she was about to throw herself at you." She examined her manicured nails. "The only reason she's alive is because you agreed to marry me, my first love." Her voice turned mocking on the last words. "I wonder how you, a mafia don, captured the heart of that nerd. Does she even know her father fucked you up this bad and he's now dead?"

I crossed the room in three strides, looming over her with barely contained violence. "Don't you dare utter a word to her. Not one word."

Vivian didn't flinch. Instead, she looked up at me with cold calculation. "I call the shots, remember? Her sister is still alive. Her parents' deaths were drastic, of course, but their greed caused it. I don't want her near you, or her sister dies too."

"What do you mean?" I stepped back, ice flooding my veins. "Your father said to marry you, and I did. Isn't she safe?"

"Is that why you can't let her go?" Vivian taunted, rising from the bed to circle me like a predator. "You're so pathetically in love with her."

"Yes," I admitted, the word like glass in my throat. "I can't let her go because I know the moment she steps out of here, she's dead."

"I won't kill her," Vivian said, examining her diamond engagement ring, the gaudy monstrosity that had replaced the simple, elegant band I'd placed on Maya's finger three months ago.

"But your father will," I replied, my voice hard. "And don't threaten me with her sister, because I'm bringing her with us to Italy."

"What?" Vivian's eyes widened with rage.

I stepped closer, using every inch of my six-foot-three frame to tower over her. "I still call the shots, remember that. Don't touch her, or you won't like what's coming."

Before she could respond, I turned and left the room, slamming the door behind me. The guards stationed throughout the mansion straightened as I passed, a grim reminder of the empire I'd built and the power I wielded, power that, for all its reach, couldn't protect the woman I loved from the truth of who I was.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. A text from Marco, my most trusted lieutenant: Surveillance in place around Dr. Cohen. No sign of Bertolucci's men yet.

I texted back: Double the watch. They'll come for him next.

Pocketing the phone, I walked toward the small room where Maya was being kept. I'd chosen it specifically, centrally located in the mansion, easily defensible, with multiple escape routes. The two guards outside nodded respectfully as I approached.

"Any movement?" I asked.

"No, sir," the taller one replied. "She's been quiet since the maid brought dinner."

I dismissed them with a nod, instructing them to keep watch from the end of the hallway. Then, using the key I kept in my pocket, I unlocked the door and slipped inside.

Maya lay on the bed, her crimson dress, the one that made her eyes shine like fire, crumpled around her. For a moment, I thought she was asleep, her chest rising and falling in the even rhythm I'd memorized over our nights together. I pulled the blanket up to cover her, unable to stop myself from drinking in the sight of her face.

Three months ago, I'd promised to protect her from everything. I never imagined the greatest threat would come from my own world, or that I'd have to break her heart to save her life.

I turned to leave when her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength. I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs as her eyes opened, alert and piercing.

"You aren't asleep," I said, my voice rougher than I intended.

"Who can sleep peacefully in this situation?" Maya sat up, her fingers still wrapped around my wrist like a lifeline. "Why are you doing this to me? Please, let me go if you don't love me anymore." Tears welled in her eyes, and the sight shattered something inside me.

I knelt beside the bed, reaching out before I could stop myself to brush a tear from her cheek. "Stop crying," I whispered. "You know I don't like it when you cry."

The familiar words slipped out before I could catch them, words I'd said a hundred times when she came home exhausted from losing a patient, when she pushed herself too hard and forgot to eat, when she woke from nightmares about the operating room.

I glanced around the room, painfully aware that my every move was being watched, that my every word was being monitored. "Just endure for tonight," I said, choosing my words carefully. "I'll fix you a better room tomorrow. I'll be just outside if you need anything."

I pulled my hand from her grasp, the loss of contact, physical pain. Her questions hung in the air between us, but I couldn't answer them. Not here. Not now. Not if I wanted her to survive this.

As I closed the door behind me, I heard her begin to sob, the sound driving daggers into my chest. I signaled the guards to resume their posts, then walked down the hallway, away from my wife's tears, away from the life we'd built together.

In my office, I locked the door and pulled out Maya's phone, which I'd taken earlier. It lit up with another call from Lina, Maya's sister. I stared at the screen, at the photo of the two sisters that served as Maya's wallpaper, taken on our wedding day. Both of them were smiling, unaware of the darkness that had been closing in around us all.

I answered my call, my voice dropping to the cold, calculating tone I used for business. "Lina is being brought here tonight," I said without preamble.

"If you want both sisters to survive, you'll follow my instructions exactly, that was our deal." The voice on the other end was hate-filled.

"The deal changed when you put a hit out on her father," I replied, ice in my veins. "Now I'm making a new deal. The sisters live under my protection. Or no one walks away from this. Your choice."

I ended the call and dialed my head of security. "Bring my wife's sister here tonight," I ordered. "Alive. Now."

Hanging up, I moved to the window overlooking the grounds of the estate I'd built to house my empire, an empire Maya knew nothing about. I was Shawn Harrison, a respected businessman by day, ruthless mafia don by night. I'd kept my worlds separate until three months ago, when I'd broken my cardinal rule and married a woman who had no idea what lurked beneath the surface of my life.

I would die before I let anyone take her away from me. Even if it meant she had to hate me first.

The phone in my hand vibrated with an incoming message. A photo of Lina, blindfolded but unharmed, in the backseat of one of my cars. Good. Phase one complete.

Now I just needed to keep Maya alive long enough to get her out of the country, away from the blood feud that had claimed her parents and would claim her too if I failed.

I just needed her to hate me enough to stay away until I could eliminate the threat.

I just needed to be the monster they all thought I was, when all I wanted was to be the man Maya had fallen in love with.

My wedding ring burned against my chest, a reminder of promises I'd meant to keep, of a life I'd dared to dream I could have.

"I'm sorry, Maya," I whispered to the empty room. "I'm so sorry."

            
            

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