Page 71 of Broken Mafia Prince (His to Break #1)

RAFFAELE

“ T hey’ve stopped moving.” Matteo’s voice is grim.

The evening sun hangs low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the empty highway stretching endlessly before us. We’ve been driving for what seems like hours, and every mile feels like a ticking bomb inside my chest.

The city lights are long gone behind us, replaced by barren roads and tall, scattered trees that blur past in a haze.

Somehow, Matteo managed to hack into every surveillance feed in the city, tracking the last-known signals from Giulia’s and Isabella’s phones.

The trail led us to some run-down park at the edge of the city.

We traced the last car that left the area this morning—same timeframe Giulia and I were supposed to meet.

Matteo glances at the screen in his hands, his jaw tense. “We’re too far out. This isn’t just a random detour.”

No shit. This has foul play written all over it, but I’m too fucking furious to dwell on the details.

The dry heat of the asphalt and the distant hum of the engine remind me that every second we waste could be the difference between life and death.

All I can think about is getting to her. Giulia. My Giulia . The woman I love more than my own damn life.

Isabella’s phone went dark around the same time as Giulia’s, which means they likely shared the same fate.

My grip tightens around the steering wheel until my knuckles ache. “What does that mean?”

Matteo hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck. “They’ve either gotten to their destination…” He pauses, his voice dipping lower, “Or?—”

“Don’t say it.”

I won’t entertain that thought.

I don’t even want to imagine a life where Giulia doesn’t exist. I refuse to imagine that some bastard has stolen away the best thing that’s ever happened to me. What’s the aim of the strategizing, the war, the rebellion—any of it—if I don’t have her at the end?

If something’s happened to her… if she’s—no. I can’t go there. I won’t go there.

I’m not a praying man, but I pray at that moment, harder than I’ve ever done in my life.

Matteo shifts beside me, suddenly sitting up straighter. His eyes snap to the road ahead. “Right there!”

I slam my foot on the brake, the tires screeching as the car jerks to a halt. Gravel kicks up behind us, and I yank the wheel to the side, narrowly avoiding the edge of the ridge.

Matteo shoots me a glare. “You trying to kill us before we actually save her?”

But I’m not looking at him. His gaze is fixed on something off to the right—a beat-up old Volvo parked sits at an awkward angle, its doors and trunk slightly ajar like someone left in a hurry.

My heart thunders. I know without a doubt—she’s here. And so is whoever took her.

I don’t wait. I don’t think. I throw the car into park and reach for my gun.

I’m coming for you, Giulia.

“Is that the car?” I ask.

“Seems like it.” He uses his thumb and forefinger to enlarge the image on the computer screen he’s been using to track down the dead motherfucker who took my woman. “But I’m not?—”

I don’t wait to hear the rest of what he has to say. I jump out of the car, checking my gun to make sure it’s loaded. Every one of these bullets is going straight into that bastard’s skull.

“Are you planning to canvas this entire area in search of them?” my friend calls as I start my search.

“I’ll turn every stone and dig through the mountainside if that’s what it takes.”

“We have to use more tact.”

“Tact?” I spit, spinning around and heading toward him. I grab him by the collar. “While we fuck around trying to be tactical about this, my wife could be hurt.”

“And while you’re tramping about like a bull in a China shop, you could walk right into a trap.”

“Fuck their trap,” I bite out.

“If you get killed, how the bloody hell do you plan on saving her?” He pushes me off him. “Did you also think about the fact that you may alert whoever has her to take drastic action while you’re stomping around?”

A part of me knows what he’s saying is logical, and if I were in my right senses, I’d have been making these points, too.

Unfortunately, that part of me is buried under layers of fury, rage, and violence.

The blood in my veins is bubbling like lava, and the only thing I can think of right now is destruction.

Have I failed Giulia? I flinch away from the recurring thought.

The ‘ifs’ have played in my head like a broken record since the moment I realized that something was wrong.

If I’d never made her leave the safety of her house to get married.

If I’d never asked her to marry me in the first place.

If I hadn’t been such a possessive bastard and left her with Alessandro.

If I had let her walk away and made any effort to forget about her. If I’d never come into her life.

In that silent moment, I catch a glimpse of the man I used to be—haunted by doubts and regrets that now burn as fiercely as my rage.

For a fleeting moment, I recall Giulia’s laughter on a warm summer day—the sound that once made me believe I could conquer the world.

Now, that memory is a ghost, whispering what might have been.

Thinking such things isn’t going to help. I know that, but still…

“You know that we?—”

The sound of a gunshot cuts off his words. My heart stops beating for a second, then kickstarts with a painful thud. My legs move even before the rest of me is aware I’m moving. I fly forward in the direction of the sound.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Matteo running after me.

We hurtle down the rugged cliff, landing on a narrow, fading strip where the dying light casts our long, distorted shadows—a treacherous stage where every step echoes impending danger, and there, at the edge, I see two figures standing.

Giulia is struggling against the grip of a man I’ve never seen before—big, mean-looking, and built like a wall. Her face is bruised and swollen, with a thin trail of blood running from her lip down to her jaw.

The once-pristine white dress she’s wearing is now dirty and torn, clinging to her like a reminder of how much she’s been through. She looks exhausted, like every part of her is screaming for rest, but she doesn’t stop fighting.

Not for a second.

My chest tightens with something fierce… love, anger, desperation. I take a step forward, every nerve in my body screaming at me to tear her away from him.

She sees me first.

“Raffaele!” Her eyes widen with panic.

That’s when the man holding her finally notices me. His dark, beady eyes widen for a split second before narrowing with cruel delight. In a blink, his thick arm wraps around her neck, yanking her close to him like she’s nothing more than a rag doll.

“Take another step, and your pretty brunette’s brains will paint the side of this mountain.”

My stomach drops.

It’s only then I see it—the gun, its dark barrel pressed against the side of Giulia’s head. A cold, sick feeling crawls over me, wrapping around my chest like a vice.

A red haze clouds my vision. I swear if I blink, I’ll lose control. I shift forward, ready to do something—anything—to get her away from him.

But Matteo’s hand clamps down on my arm, fingers digging in hard.

“You’re going to get her killed, you dumb fuck!” Matteo’s voice slices through the chaos.

I feel his fear mingling with my anger—a reminder that this fury might blind me to the very danger I’m desperate to escape.

“Listen to your pal, Raffaele,” the captor jeers, his grin a venomous promise.

Giulia’s eyes lock onto mine, wide and pleading. I can’t let her down.

“I’m okay, baby,” Giulia speaks up for the first time, voice clear and strong. She even goes as far as offering me a small, reassuring smile. “It looks worse than it is, but I’m fine, I promise.”

The bastard laughs again. “You heard her, she’s fine. So why don’t you run along since you’re not needed?” he taunts. “Or do you plan to watch while I put a bullet in her pretty head?”

“I’ll rip your head from your fucking spine first!” I growl, taking another step forward.

“Uh-uh.” His eyes narrow, face hardening. “Not another step, Gagliardi. You don’t want to test me.”

“Raffaele, stop,” Matteo hisses in my ear. “You’re going to get her killed.”

“Who sent you?” I ask. “Did my father put you up to this? Or is it the Syndicate? Whoever you’re working for, I’m going to find them and kill them slowly, until they beg for death.”

He cocks his head. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ll have to find them first for that to happen.”

I watch in frozen terror as he takes a step back, putting them right at the edge.

Giulia’s gaze meets mine, and I can see how hard she’s trying not to look scared.

Helplessness washes over me, and I feel like the weak, pathetic child again.

The one from years ago, who was bullied for his hideous scar, his poor grades, his lack of friends, his ugly dog.

“The powerful and untouchable Raffaele Gagliardi, the family executioner, the ruthless has-been brought down to his knees because of a woman.” He throws his head back and lets out a bark of laughter, the sound ricocheting around the hills, ringing in my ear like a mockery of all the effort I’ve put into protecting her.

I growl. “If anything happens to her, there’s no corner of the world you and everybody you care about on earth will run to where I won’t find you,” I swear, fingers curling into fists.

I take a step closer, my eyes never leaving Giulia. Each deliberate step is driven by a desperate need to protect what matters most.

“I’ll make you regret this. Let her go. Don’t make me end you.”

He shifts sideways, every movement calculated—as if studying my every move. The slightest misstep could cost everything.

“Back off! I’m going back to my car, and you’re going to let me leave—or I swear I’ll fucking kill her right now!” he spits out in a sharp voice.