Page 46 of Broken Mafia Prince (His to Break #1)

GIULIA

“ I ’m at your door,” I say into the phone.

There’s a pause. “What do you mean, you are at my door?”

“Can you just come open the door for me?” I sigh.

There is another, much longer pause on the line, and then I hear the sound of shuffling, as if someone is putting on clothes. “Give me a minute.”

I chuckle into the phone. “Are you there with someone right now?”

I don’t need to see her to know she’s rolling her eyes. “Don’t be silly, I’m not with anyone. Just give me a minute for damn sake, I don’t want to flash the whole hallway.”

I glance around with a small smile. “The whole hallway?” I ask. “You’re the only one that lives up here. You and your nonexistent neighbor.”

It’s been a running joke between us that the guy who lives in the other apartment, sharing the top floor, is invisible.

Sometimes we like to imagine that he looks like one of the book heroes: tatted, six-foot-four, and growly.

But then again, I can’t really say that those men are entirely fictional when I’ve experienced Raffaele Gagliardi.

I haven’t seen my cousin in a while, and the truth is that I have missed her. For her own sake and mine, I had to cut everything from my old life out entirely. I ran away to a perfect new life—though it turns out that perfect new life is only a smokescreen.

A moment later, I see the scanner on the door flash green, and then the foyer door slides open, revealing a scantily dressed Isabella.

She’s still as drop-dead gorgeous as she’s always been.

Or maybe even more. Her cheekbones are sharper than they were the last time I saw her, and she’s cut her hair into layers that perfectly accentuate her face.

Isa crosses her hand over her chest and pops her hips out to one side, staring me down.

“Hi,” I say nervously, running my hands up and down my arms to ward off the awkwardness.

“Hi yourself,” she says back flatly.

“It’s been a while.”

“For god’s sake, Giulia, are you really going to do this right here?

” she snaps. “You suddenly up and disappear, and now you’re in front of my door, acting like I’m some stranger.

Where the hell have you been? Why would you even do something like this, and how?

Why do you think it’s all right to return whenever you feel like you’ve had enough? ”

“Look, I’m sorry, it was complicated.”

“When is it ever not?” she demands. “It’s always complicated with you, but somehow I’ve stayed. You know that I would always have stayed. Through the thick, the thin, the everything.”

The hurt in her voice makes me flinch. “I’m sorry, Isa.”

She nods. “Whatever. Come in.”

“I told Father that I was coming over to your place,” I inform her as soon as I step into the apartment.

The last time I was here, it looked like something from a real estate catalog.

It seems she’s put some work into it. It actually looks lived-in.

There are colorful throw pillows over the sectional, stunning photo shoots of her hanging around the house, and other little personalized touches. It feels homey.

“Okay?” she drawls. “Why are you telling me that you told your dad that you’d be here? Is that news or something? Is there a reason you told him that?”

I swallow, suddenly hesitant to speak. “Well, the thing is…” I trail off, unsure of how to finish my words.

After not seeing her in so long and how I just disappeared from her life, I don’t feel like it’s fair for me to ask her for any favors.

But then again, there’s no one else I could ask for this, and the last thing I want is for my father to worry about where I am and send his hounds to hunt me down and discover me with Raffaele.

My father would definitely have something to say about it, and even worse, I wonder what my so-called fiancé’s reaction to it would be.

“Spit it out. What the hell is going on? I’m tired of being kept in the dark,” she says, impatience lining her words.

“Raffaele asked to meet up.”

Isa freezes. “Raffaele. Do you mean Raffaele Gagliardi? The same one you left this city because of? The same one that your family has a centuries-old rival with?”

“Centuries-old?” I raise one eyebrow. “I think you’re exaggerating a little bit.”

“I’m not doing any such thing. Have you forgotten how quickly things escalated from being allies against the Syndicate to that sordid emotional mess?”

“That’s not true,” I deny. “This is different, okay?”

She gives me a look like I’m not fooling anyone. “Uh-huh.”

“I mean, this isn’t a social visit. I’m not just going to see him for the fun of it. We have something important to discuss. This could be the difference between life and death.”

“You really mean that? After all this time, Raffaele suddenly wants to give you information that can help your family. Does that even make any sense? He is the freaking Don now.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense. We are not exactly friends, but we are like allies or something, I don’t know.”

She throws back her head and lets out a bark of laughter. “Allies? How strange.”

“Strange? What do you mean?” I ask curiously.

She doesn’t reply immediately. Instead, she heads over to the kitchen, and I follow after her. She stops at the kitchen and pulls out a bottle of wine from one of the racks at the side.

“Want one?” she asks.

I do, because it feels like my nerves are shot to hell, but I also know that I have to be completely clear-headed if I’m meeting up with Raffaele.

I can’t promise what will happen there, even though I keep on telling myself that we’re just going to have a conversation and I will go straight home afterward.

The truth is that I don’t trust myself with him, and I’m sure that Isa can tell.

“No, thank you,” I finally say, shaking my head.

“More for me, I guess,” she says, pouring herself another glassful and tossing it back.

I wait until she’s finished to ask again. “What do you mean by what you said?”

“What did I say?” she replies evasively.

“I talked about us being allies, and you sounded derisive.”

“Don’t be stupid, Giulia. We both know that Raffaele is neither your ally nor a friend. He is the kind of person who uses everyone around him for his own advancements. Who knows what he wants from you now?”

“But I have nothing to give.”

“You may think that you don’t, but he’s definitely after something, and if I were you, I would stay as far away from him as possible. Remember what got you into this mess—it was him.”

My eyebrows fly up into my hairline. “Come on, Isa, it wasn’t him, it was the Syndicate.”

“And how do you know it’s the Syndicate? Are you really just going to believe everything he tells you?”

“Why would he go through all the trouble of planning a hit when he could have just easily shot me any one of those times I was with him with my guard down?”

“One thing you need to know about Raffaele is that his mind does not work like ours. He’s always five steps ahead, and even though sometimes it feels like he’s going through the long route, you have to believe that he knows what he’s doing.”

I frown. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just going there to collect some information. I don’t plan on telling him anything.”

“Hmm,” she hums. “Oh, well, best of luck. But for god’s sake, don’t be stupid enough to let him lure you into his bed.”

My cheeks heat up at her words. “Of course I won’t,” I deny hotly. But a part of me is laughing, insisting that we both know what will happen as soon as I set my eyes on him.

No , I argue with myself, I’m stronger than that. There is no way I’ll willingly go into his bed after not seeing him for two years.

“I would never do something like that,” I continue.

“Good, because the Raffaele you knew before is long gone. The new him is a chronic heartbreaker, a womanizer. He’s gone through the entire female population of Chicago more than once.”

“W-what?” I stammer.

Her eyes narrow at me. “Did you think that he was just here being celibate and waiting for you? Don’t be crazy.”

The truth is that I never expected him to sit around waiting for me, but hearing the confirmation that he didn’t hurts a bit. Which sounds a lot like hypocrisy, because after all, I’m engaged to be married.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s not like we are reconnecting in that way. This is different.” If I keep telling myself that, maybe I’ll eventually believe it.

She gives me a long look. “How dumb do you think I am? We both know that as soon as you set your eyes on him, you’ll be all over him like a rash. Trust me, I have been the one around Raffaele, and he is no good. He’s bad news.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I fire back.

“Trust me, you haven’t seen him this bad. He drinks too much, and his apartment has become a revolving door of women.”

Does that mean Raffaele has also been deeply hurt and bothered by what went down between us? For some reason, I’ve been assuming that I’m the only one wrecked by what happened between us. I know I’m the one who walked away, but it hasn’t been easy at all. But it was what was best for both of us.

Unfortunately, what’s best is never the easy thing. A lot of the time, I have felt like I made a horrible mistake, and I fight the urge to come running back into his arms.

I cope by immersing myself into any work or hobby I can get my hands on and diving into this new relationship with Alessandro. Maybe being with so many women and getting drunk is his way of pushing through it.

“Not to talk of how dangerous he’s gotten,” my cousin continues.

“Dangerous?” I ask. “What do you mean by dangerous? I don’t know a single made man who’s not dangerous.”

A look of horror crosses her face, and she shudders.

“This is different. I hate to bring it up, but you need to know. Raffaele is far colder-hearted and crueler than Edoardo. He kills people without hesitation and tortures them whenever he feels like it. And I can tell that it gives him real pleasure.”

My stomach twists at her words. Is hurting other people a way of distracting him from the hurt he’s feeling?

“He must be so wrecked,” I say quietly.

“Don’t be delusional,” she scoffs. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said? This isn’t the sign of a man who is hurting. This is who he is when he’s not trying to fool you by acting like the perfect gentleman.”

“I need to see him. I need to talk to him now more than ever, I need to… I don’t know, do something. Maybe fix this.”

“There is no ‘fixing this.’ You’re getting married, for god’s sake. What do you think your husband will say about this when he finds out that you went to talk to your ex-fling?”

I lick my suddenly dry lips. “He wasn’t a fling.”

“Christ Almighty, you’re acting real childish right now.

Did you think that a few kisses and sweet nothings make for a relationship?

Even if you had stayed, you wouldn’t have had the perfect life with Raffaele.

Eventually, you would have found out who he truly is beneath the tailored suits.

And you would have been horrified, just as horrified as I am.

I’m telling you this for your own good.”

I know she cares about me. I know she’s saying all this because she doesn’t want to see me hurt.

The problem with what I had with Rafael wasn’t just that he was from a rival family.

Part of it is also that something about him calls to me so instinctively.

As if I can’t stay in his presence without falling right into him.

It’s both terrifying and exhilarating, and I constantly feared that one day he would realize he couldn’t do this anymore and leave me irreparably shattered.

I hadn’t wanted to give myself over to someone so capable of hurting me.

And I’m not sure that anything has changed.

He can hurt me in a million different ways.

The worst part is that even after he’s hurt me, I know that if he crooked his finger, I would run right back, leaving a trail of blood behind from the wound in my heart.

This is a mistake. You’re making a mistake , a voice inside my head roars at me. Don’t do it!

Not for the first time, I ignore the voice. I draw in a deep breath and rise to my feet. “If my father calls, tell him that I’m with you.”

A look of incredulity clouds her face. “After everything I just told you, you’re still… Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“I don’t know.” I grin. “It’s a creation flaw.”

“Evolution,” she retorts immediately, as I knew she would.

Our eyes meet and hold. We’re both smiling this time around, some of the tension gone.

A puff of air escapes her mouth, and eventually, she shrugs. “Fine, just be safe, okay? I hate to say I told you.”

“I heard your warning loud and clear. I’ll be safe, I promise,” I tell her, turning around and heading for the door.

“He’s just going to hurt you. The only thing Rafael Gagliardi knows how to do is break things.”

Her words give me pause. There’s a hint of something lying beneath them.

Something I can’t put my finger on. I glance over my shoulder to meet her eyes, but she’s already looking away, gaze fixed on the glass of alcohol she’s swirling around.

I wonder what he’s done to her. I don’t think too much about it, though.

I’m too excited, nervous, and a combination of other things about seeing Raffaele again after so long.

As I make my way to the elevator. I hope his self-restraint is better than mine.

Isa is right to doubt me. I can tell myself from now until tomorrow that it’s just a discussion we’re going to have, that I need to find out what he knows, but the truth remains that now, even after all this time, I still want him.

No man has been able to do it for me since him.

And I have a feeling no man ever will.