Page 73 of Broken Mafia Prince (His to Break #1)

GIULIA

They warned me no one survives the love of a scarred prince.

I touched him anyway.

And now I’m dead—just like they said I’d be.

My life changed the day I turned four.

Everything I knew—ripped away. My family, torn apart. My mother and sister, gone.

As if death had singled me out.

For years, I believed I was alone.

Then I saw him again—

a boy I once knew and never forgot.

He’s all muscle and perfection now—body of a god, a face that could stop traffic. But the scar and those blue eyes? I’d know them in the dark.

He still believed he was a monster. But I saw the pain in his eyes—the same ache I’d carried my whole life. And in that moment, I knew: not all monsters wear their teeth.

I should’ve stayed away.

Instead, I let the devil whisper, “Don’t die” —and he drank me like fire, knowing it would ruin him.

Loving him was betrayal.

Touching him was war.

Wanting him? That was the part I couldn’t fight.

Some boundaries are made to be broken—especially when they come with a mouth like his.

But the truth I left behind is darker than I imagined.

And the lies? They run deeper than the scars I’ve stopped counting.

So I made a choice—the only one I could.

I died for him.

(Click Here to get Broken Mafia Bride)

CHAPTER ONE

Giulia

I raise my face to the sky, breathing in the smell of fall. A light breeze trickles through my hair and clothes, the grass beneath my feet swaying. I glance down in surprise and wiggle my bare toes.

Where are my shoes?

The sound of wings beating distracts me, and I find myself staring out over the jagged cliff at the water below. The sea is calm, undisturbed, stretching out over the horizon. I take another deep breath as I watch the sun sink in the distance, painting the sky a faded mixture of pink and orange.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve been so at peace, unburdened by…

I trail off, at a loss.

What have I been burdened by? I can’t remember, but all I know is that this feels unusual for me. A step forward brings me right to the edge. I know I should be afraid, but I’m not.

“Get away from there!” someone yells, startling me.

I whirl around, gaze flying to find where the voice is coming from. It sounds familiar, but I can’t seem to place it. There’s no one around me.

“Who’s there?” I call.

The voice echoes around me, sounding more urgent. “Get out of there right now, G…!” But I don’t hear the remainder of it before it fades into obscurity.

G? Is that me? The voice feels right somehow, like peace, and a sense of calm washes over me with a familiar warmth. I start to step away from the ledge, but the scent of roses and the ocean fills my senses, drawing me back toward it once more.

I spin toward the edge again, gazing out over the horizon. The sun has vanished completely, leaving only darkness in its wake. It’s that fleeting moment between sunset and night when the sky becomes a blank canvas.

“You stupid girl,” someone grits from right behind me.

I start to turn around to see who it is, but I never get to.

“You want to jump so bad? Well, have fun.” I’m suddenly thrust forward. I let out a terrified scream as I lose my balance and tip over the edge. It seems to be happening in slow motion, the air rushing up my face, the still surface of the water getting closer and closer.

Just as I break through the surface, I struggle to stay afloat, and then it hits me: I can’t swim.

I start going under immediately. I thrash and fight, trying to scream for help, but it only makes water fill my mouth and nostrils. The vast body of water that looked so tranquil moments ago seems to have developed tentacles, ones that drag me down without mercy, hungry to swallow me whole.

“Help!” I scream. “Help me!”

But there’s no one.

I scuffle, desperate to break free. My body jerks—and then darkness claims me.

I’m not sure how much time passes before the darkness loosens its hold.

When I wake, the ground is wet, cold, and rough. I feel lifeless.

I can’t move.

Cold mud clings to my face, mixing with damp strands of hair that obscure my vision. Everything is blurry. My eyes flicker open—just for a moment—before the darkness swallows me again.

Weakness drags at every limb, making breathing feel like a struggle. My body shivers uncontrollably, my head pounding as the soaked fabric clings to my skin. A bright ray of light cuts through the haze, forcing my eyes open just long enough to glimpse the crown of a tree.

Where am I?

The sound of water reaches my ears like the gentle splashing of fish. Then, a raven’s hoarse cry pierces the cold air, hollow and foreboding, like the voice of a lost soul.

I am lying on my belly, my neck twisted to an uncomfortable angle, and my arms sprawled limply beside me. The wet strands of hair stuck to my face feel like worms burrowing into my skin.

Then I hear footsteps.

They sound like boots. Slow. Purposeful. Approaching me.

My body betrays me. My eyelids grow heavier. I try to stay awake, to fight it, but my eyes shut again just as a blurry image of a man’s legs comes into view.

A soft touch brushes my wrist. Then the grip on my wrist tightens. A rush of cold sweeps over me, seeping into my bones. I want to pull away, to resist, but my body feels heavy and unresponsive. My mind floats between awareness and unconsciousness, trapped in a dream that feels all too real.

I come to when the grip on my arms shifts, and the man suddenly begins pulling me upward. I hear the sound of water sloshing beneath me and feel the weight of my wet dress tangling around my legs.

My head spins as I try to dig into my memories, searching for answers to the questions plaguing my mind. But I can’t seem to find them. The iciness of the water seeps into my bones, making my teeth chatter. The arms tighten around me, drawing me more firmly against a warm body.

“Shit, you’re bleeding.” The man’s voice seems to be coming from miles away.

Only then do I feel a sting in my side. I try to move my body, but blinding pain slices through me, making it difficult to breathe. My eyelids feel so heavy, and I have to fight to get them to part open. I spot a canopy of trees over us before darkness swallows me again.

There’s a faint smell of smoke, and I no longer feel cold at all.

Heat replaces the chill, the rough ground traded for something soft beneath me.

My eyes come back into focus just long enough to see that I’m inside a house, and the smoky smell is coming from a large fireplace at the corner of the room.

“Wake up,” a feminine voice says. “Wake up, baby.”

A woman appears behind my eyelids, staring down at me with apparent concern. She’s beautiful, and I feel my hands reaching for her, wondering if it’s an angel. It must be why her voice manages to soothe me, relaxing my tense muscles.

My eyes flutter open, and I wince as a flood of blinding light hits me. I try to sit up, but my body feels like I’ve run into a battering ram. I wince, falling back into the bed. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, and I see that I’m in a sparsely decorated room, and a man is leaning over me.

“Hey, you’re okay,” he says.

Panic grips my chest, and I surreptitiously move my legs, trying to see if they’re bound. The man’s face is unfamiliar, and warning bells go off in my head. I try to sort through my memory to piece together how I got here, but there’s nothing but fog where my memories should be.

The panic only rises the more I try to remember, to no avail.

“W-what have you done to me?” I croak through my dry throat.

“Don’t talk. You need water.” He steps away, my eyes tracking him across the room to a water dispenser. I watch as he grabs a glass from the table nearby and fills the cup.

My throat spasms at the thought of finally getting some much-needed moisture, but I tamp down my thirst. What if there’s something in the water? I can’t just drink whatever he gives me.

“Here.” He tries to hand the glass to me.

“No.” I recoil from his hand.

One of his dark golden eyebrows hikes up. “Take the water. You must be very thirsty,” he adds, but this time his voice is firmer.

I start to shake my head, but he grumbles something under his breath, then catches my head in his hands to hold me still. He forces my mouth open and empties the cup down my throat. I choke on the water, much of it spilling over my jaw.

The man shoots me a scowl after the glass is empty and moves across the room to drop the empty glass.

I don’t know how long I’ve been here, or where exactly I am, but I need to get out. The question is how? I’m not exactly in the best shape to make a grand escape, or even a not grand one.

The fact that I can’t remember anything is also a problem.

Where can I possibly go since I don’t even know where I’m coming from? I tamp down the terror that’s welling up inside me. The first step is getting as far from this man as possible. I eye his broad shoulders and corded arms with mounting dread.

The sound of a ringtone slices through the tense silence of the room.

“Go back to bed,” the man orders. “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re too weak.”

If he thinks I’m just going to lie down here and obey his orders, he’d better think again. I nod slowly, blinking at him with my most innocent expression in place. He narrows his eyes at me, not looking fooled one bit, but eventually he picks up his call.

“Yeah, she’s still here,” I hear him say before he disappears from the room.

I swallow the gasp that almost slips out of my mouth. He must be informing his gang about my whereabouts. The urgency to escape becomes more pressing.

My head whirls when I sit up too fast, vision going spotty.

I cup my head in my hands as bile rises in my throat. I bend over the bed and retch onto the tiled floor.

Tears spring to my eyes.

What the hell happened to me? Even breathing feels like my lungs are on fire.

I throw my legs over the bed and carefully stand, knowing that any second now, my captor will be back. Every movement feels disconnected, like I’m operating a body that doesn’t belong to me. If I run in my condition, it won’t take him more than a minute to catch up with me and chain me to this bed.

A shudder moves through me at that thought.

I need to slow him down before I start my escape. I stagger over to the desk across the room, feeling a tightness at my side. I pause when I catch my reflection in the mirror. I look worse than I feel, and that’s saying a lot because I feel like shit.

I’m in a man’s oversized T-shirt, my hair a tangled nest. My skin is wan and sallow, and there’s a bump under the shirt where someone’s taped me up.

I hurriedly tear my eyes away from the image and continue my mission.

I start rifling through the drawers, not sure what exactly I’m searching for, a weapon or some information.

“Sure,” I hear the man say, followed by approaching footsteps.

Luck shines my way when I pull out the last drawer and spot a gun. I lift it carefully in my hands, expecting to feel weird, but instead, it feels right, familiar, like handling a firearm is a part of me.

Now I know I can’t swim, my name probably starts with the letter G, and I must have a job that requires some weapon handling.

There’s no time to digest the information, though, because at that moment, the door flies open, the man bursting in.

“I thought I said not to do anything stupid,” he growls, stomping toward me. “You’re going to?—”

I raise the gun on shaky hands, aim it at him, and squeeze out two shots, my body jerking backward with the force of the gun’s recoil. My stomach churns as the man drops to the ground, his shirt darkening with blood.

“Oh god,” I whisper under my breath, staggering away.

The gun slips from my clammy hands and drops to the ground with a too-loud clatter. I can’t draw enough air into my lungs, but none of that matters now. This is my chance to escape.

“Wait,” the man gasps from the floor, his hand pressed to his shoulder. I don’t wait around to hear whatever he has to say. It’s probably a way to keep me here until his backup can get here.

I drag my tired body out of the room, down the hallway, and finally out the front door of the house. I come to a screeching halt as I take in my surroundings. There’s thick vegetation stretching for miles. Where the hell is this place?

The air smells of pine and damp earth.

I turn around in a circle, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit,” I exclaim.

I have no idea which direction to even go. My heart begins to thud violently in my chest as I consider my options. I don’t know who the man is or what he plans to do to me, but heading into the forest could be a death sentence. I could trip and die, starve, or encounter a hungry predator.

I shouldn’t have dumped the gun.

“Damn it,” I bite out, almost face planting when my head begins to spin again, the world becoming one big blur for a moment.

One thing is sure, though: I’m not running back to my captor with my tail tucked between my legs. Defiance, pride, and an iron will stiffen my spine, and I take a deep breath.

Without further hesitation, I start moving ahead. Each step leaves me gasping for breath, but I don’t allow myself to stop. I fight through the exhaustion, the pain, the gnawing in my stomach. Something tells me there’s more at stake than just my life.

Tears blur my vision and trail down my cheeks, but I ignore them, just like I ignore the thorns pricking at my bare legs and feet.

One foot in front of the other, that’s all I need to think about. I have to stop when nausea causes my stomach to spasm painfully. I bow over, gasping and sobbing.

“One more step,” I tell myself. “One more.”

Just then, I hear the snap of a twig nearby. I freeze, cocking my ear and waiting. It’s probably just an animal, or I might have heard wrong.

I take another step, or at least, I try to. My legs buckle under me, and I crash to the forest ground, sharp thorns slicing at my palms when I try to break my fall.

A frustrated howl tears out of my throat. Am I going to die here, in this strange place, knowing barely anything about myself?

There’s no iota of strength left inside of me, and I suspect I’ve ripped the stitching at my side.

I’m starting to fade out of consciousness, staring up at the birds circling in the sky and the way the trees sway in the breeze. I hear a twig snap again, closer this time. I turn my head to the side and see the man scowling down at me.

“I told you not to do anything stupid!”

“G-go to h-hell,” I croak out before the world goes dark again.