Page 44 of Broken Mafia Prince (His to Break #1)

GIULIA

“ C an we make it a fall wedding?” someone asks. “That way, the relatives in Italy will be able to attend.”

Someone else snorts. “Nobody cares about the relatives in Italy.”

Another person adds that they’re important, and from there, the discussion escalates into yet another argument. I sigh and tap my freshly manicured nails against the arm of the chair, wondering at what point the men will let me, the bride to be, put in any word about my own goddamn wedding.

“Father Rick tried to sell my godson out to the FBI last year,” my future father-in-law spits. “We won’t be having the wedding at his chapel. He likes to act like he has direct access to god’s ear, but he was at The Vineyard the other day with a redhead.”

I don’t like Father Rick either, so I nod in agreement. My father catches my eye and shoots me a look. I only shrug, disinterested. I don’t know if I’m just uninterested in my own wedding, or if it’s because they won’t let me get a word in edgewise.

I glance over at Alessandro and find him frowning at whatever he’s doing on his phone. At that moment, one of Father’s men approaches with his phone. Father excuses himself to take the call, and I desperately wish I could leave just as easily.

A sigh slips out of my mouth, and I adjust myself on the uncomfortable high-backed chair for the millionth time that afternoon.

I tune out their conversation and turn my face to look out the window.

Outside, a sea of green stretches as far as the eye can see.

This house actually feels like home, unlike the old one.

Moving out of there and starting over—or at least trying to start over—is the best decision I’ve ever made.

This isn’t exactly what I’d envisioned when I locked up our house and disappeared from Chicago.

Except for the fact that we’re in a cozier house, far from the Syndicate’s watchful eyes and away from the Gagliardi rivalry, nothing much has changed.

How deluded I was to think that Father would settle into a regular man and forget all about the mafia.

“A honeymoon is a waste of time,” my father-in-law scoffs. “There’s much more for Alessandro to do here than?—”

I’m not sure how he means to finish that statement, and I’m not sure I want to find out. I leap to my feet, my chair scraping loudly against the floorboards. All eyes fall on me, looking confused that I’m still in the room.

“Excuse me,” I say. “I need to go check up on my father.”

I slip away before any of them can respond, relieved to be far away from the discussion. Getting married to Alessandro is something that I thought about logically. I weighed the pros and cons and accepted it.

My fiancé is a good man, but I really thought I’d be done with this entire life. Silly, I know.

I move silently down the hallway to my father’s study to see what he’s up to.

Ever since his near-death experience, I’ve found myself worrying about him more often.

It was watching him lying limp and pale in that hospital bed that made me realize that I didn’t want to lose him.

Since then, I’ve been paranoid about letting him out of my sight for too long.

Being around him is still difficult, though, and we still butt heads. I stop at his study door and rap my knuckles against the door. When I don’t hear a response after a minute, my eyebrows draw into a worried frown, and I push the door open, stepping in.

There’s no sign of my father at all, and I’m about to walk right out when my eyes fall on his table. He’s usually anal about his work space, so it’s surprising to see his desk in such a disarray.

I move closer to tidy it up.

I pick up some of the documents and arrange them into one neat pile, too distracted to even read what’s written on any of them. I’m not all that interested in the usual drugs, guns, and money-washing trifecta anyway. Something catches my eye as I’m about to turn away from the desk.

Confusion washes over me as I stare at the document at the very top of the pile.

“What the hell?” I mutter as I grab it, my gaze flying through it.

Horror washes through me, my face draining of color the longer I read through the print. I slap a palm over my mouth to keep my gasp in. I step closer to the table, rifling through the pile I’ve just put on. Each one I pull out makes my stomach clench tighter.

I hear a sound outside the door. Without a second thought, I gather all the documents and rush out the door. I don’t dare take a single breath until I’m behind the locked doors of my room. I spread out the stolen documents on my bed. This time around, I take my time going through each one.

By the end of it, I can’t help but feel like invisible strings connect me to the hands of a master puppeteer.

Does Alessandro know about this? Does he know that this entire marriage is just one big business deal?

After everything Father told me about this marriage being a means to keep me safe, so he won’t have to worry so much about me, the truth is finally right before me.

I can’t believe I thought my father cared about me. I let myself trust him. I convinced myself that the love we’ve grown over this time was real, that he wouldn’t sell me off like some pawn anymore. But here I am again—he’s done it again. Sold me, just like before, all for his gain.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise. I should have known better.

After all, this is the man who tried to marry me off to a stranger, all to improve his power, his wealth.

Still, this betrayal feels like a knife to the chest. The rug has been pulled out from under me, and I’m falling into a reality I thought I’d escaped.

Apparently, I’m worth a million dollars of guns, two crates of coke, and an alliance for a future war with the Gagliardis. I’m still absorbing this new information, trying to work through the crippling betrayal I’m feeling, when there’s a knock on my door.

“Giulia?” my fiancé’s voice calls from the other side of the door.

A part of me wants to ignore him, but the other part wants to figure out if he’s in on this. Does he know I’m being sold like cattle? Gathering the files, I push them under my bed and steel my shoulders before going for the door.

“Are you all right?” he asks, brown eyes running over my body.

“Yes,” I say shortly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He stares at me with puzzlement. “You left in a hurry, said you were going to check up on your dad, but then he came back to the room and you were still missing. I thought I’d check up on you.”

I search his eyes, unsure what I’m looking for. I want to believe that he genuinely cares about me and knows nothing about our family’s underground machinations, but that damned word from the last document I’d read comes to my head.

“NON-REFUNDABLE.”

Not only am I a commodity, but I’m also a nonrefundable one. Which means Father doesn’t plan on changing his mind anytime soon about the terms of the contract. There’s no hope of him suddenly developing a conscience and realizing how fucked up this is.

Is he so eager to get rid of me, his real family, or does he just see me as a pawn on his chessboard, and this is one of his long-awaited moves? All the progress I thought we’d made in our relationship since leaving our old life has just been in my head.

“I’m fine,” I reply.

He steps closer. “Talk to me, Giulia, what’s going on? You’re clearly upset, and if it’s something I did, I can fix it. I care about you and?—”

The mouth falls open of its own volition, the words tumbling out. “Are you aware that this marriage is a nonrefundable business deal?”

Alessandro pauses, his eyes shuttering. “I don’t understand.”

I spin toward my bed and drop down on my knees, pulling out the stolen documents. “Here.”

Instead of taking it, he just clasps his hand behind him and sighs. “Darling, you’re not supposed to snoop through people’s things. You shouldn’t have gone through your father’s things in the first place.”

“Do you know what’s on here? It’s…” I trail off at the slightly annoyed look on his face. “Oh my fucking god. You know all about it!” I accuse.

He just shrugs. “What kind of marriage did you think you were going to end up in as a mafia daughter? Don’t be daft, Giulia.”

“I refuse to be sold!” I say firmly, meeting his gaze.

A single step forward brings him into close proximity with me. “Listen?—”

“You lied to me,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Lied to you?” He scoffs. “When did that happen? What part of anything I’ve ever told you has been a lie? Nothing has changed.”

I stare at him, wondering if he’s being serious right now. What does he mean by nothing’s changed? “On the contrary.”

His hand reaches out and grabs me by my waist, firm enough to catch and hold my attention but loose enough for me to slip out of his hold if I want.

“Listen, Giulia,” he says in a condescending tone, eyes hard on me. “We like each other and we get along well. Let’s not think about what’s going on under the surface. I like you, and you have my assurance that I’ll treat you well when we get married.”

“When?” I ask, plenty of derision dripping from that single word.

His mouth curves up into a smirk that makes me take a step back, but his hold tightens, keeping me in place.

“When,” he clarifies. “There’s no getting away from this. This is as good as it’s going to get for either of us, so why resist it?”

The thought of this being the best thing I can get makes a flash of disappointment move through me.

Can this really be it? Sold by my father to a man who merely likes my presence, all so that he can further an endless vendetta against the Gagliardis.

Raffaele was right when he said that we’re puppets for men who care nothing about us.

I uprooted my whole life and anything that could have been with the man I loved, all for my father’s safety. I’ve been living with a bleeding heart for two years for a man who’s been hunting for the highest bidder to cart me off to.

A small hysterical laugh slips out of my throat.

“This arrangement would give us all what we want,” my fiancé continues. “Stop being so stubborn and petulant, and you’ll recognize that this makes the most sense.”

“Get your freaking hands off me,” I growl.

Raffaele was going to offer me the world on a platter of gold, with the heads of all my enemies, and he was going to give me paradise. I said no and chose my father. At what point in my life will I learn to finally stop choosing wrong?

Another chilling thought moves through my head.

What if everything I’ve ever known about the accident that took my family has been a lie?

I still remember that Father was more focused on killing the driver than checking to see if his own family was safe.

Could it be that he’d been after the driver because he knew the man?

Could that whole day just be an effect of Father’s greed and association with evil men?

After all, if he could lie about this engagement, what else has he lied about?

“Don’t think too much about it, doll,” he eventually says, releasing me. There’s a hard glint in his eyes that warns me that I shouldn’t do anything stupid to mess with the plan. “It’s just the way of things.”

I wait for him to leave the room before I can finally unclench my trembling legs. My knees give out under me, and I drop to the floor, breathing hard. I press a palm to my stomach, trying to stop the awful rolling, but it persists.

That feeling of being without an anchor and left to float around without a destination on open waters hits me now. It’s been over a decade since I felt this way, and I stupidly thought I’d never feel like this again. Betrayal tastes like ash in my mouth and stings my skin.

I’ve been lied to by the two people from this new life that I thought were in my corner. Tears sting the back of my eyes, but I hurriedly blink them back. This isn’t a time to cry. This is a time to strategize and find a way to escape the plan where I end up as Alessandro’s wife.

But how?

It feels like my world has been turned on its head, and I no longer know how to make sense of it. Exhaustion makes my limbs feel twice their weight. Who can I trust? Who can help? Who can get me out of this mess?

There’s no one. The only person I have is myself.

I ignore the voices chanting Raffaele’s name in my head. I tell myself that I’m not that desperate, that he’s not even an option, but I can’t deny the burning urge to burrow into his arms and let him fix this.

Fix everything like he once promised.