Page 61 of Broken Mafia Bride

Because the alternative?

The truth?

Is that my life has been hell for years… for absolutely nothing.

The woman who shattered me has been living her best life—healthy, happy, fucking some other man, building a family—while I’ve been on the longest, slowest suicide mission in history.

I feel like a bloody fool. Like the biggest idiot alive.

Giulia’s been here,alive, this whole time. And she didn’t give a single fuck about me or the life we built together—the life we were supposed to have.

She took the first chance she got and disappeared. Left Chicago. Leftme. Like I meant nothing.

Not once did I let myself imagine she was pulling the same stunt she did all those years ago—walking away without warning. I told myself this time was different.

This time, we were arealcouple. Withrealplans. A future.

And while I was out here destroying myself piece by piece, she was living a goddamn storybook life in a picture-perfect house with that fucking fisherman.

I want to go after her. I want to grab her, shake her, scream in her face. I want to demand answers, tear the truth from her lips, force her to look at me the way she used to—like I was her whole fucking world.

But what if she doesn’t look at me like that anymore? Was I just a mistake? Did she ever really love me?—

What if she left because I was never enough?

The idea of her playing house with someone else makes me sick. I was supposed to be that someone. I was supposed to build that family with her.

And now I don’t even know if shewantedthat family with me—or if the idea of it ever even made her happy.

Maybe it was all a lie. MaybeI’mthe lie.

And still—some pathetic part of me is waiting to hear her say my name the way she used to. Holding on to the tiniest fucking hope that she’ll come back to me.

Still hoping she looks at me andfeelssomething.

Because if she doesn’t…

Then I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep breathing at all.

Who else knew about this?

Isabella moves to go after her, but I catch her arm, grip hard.

“Did you know about this? Did you know she was alive?”

Her eyes go wide. “No. I swear, I didn’t know anything.”

I yank her closer, my voice low and sharp. “Don’t lie to me, Isa. You’re telling me Re Ombra never once mentioned her?”

She yanks her arm free, shoving me back. “Do you really think I’d stay silent while you drank yourself to death and threw yourself into those underground fights like you had nothing to live for?”

Then she pauses—eyes narrowing, voice harder now.

“Honestly, how the hell didn’t you find her? With all your power, all your connections, all your fucking resources? What were you really looking for, Raffaele?”

She doesn’t wait for an answer. Just turns and takes off after Giulia, calling her name.

Pepe glances after them, brows pulled tight. “What the hell was that about?”