Page 5 of Mine Again (Mafia Bride #2)

Chapter Four

Isabella

“ W hat happened?” Luca snaps, his words cutting through the room like a whip.

His whole body stiffens as he listens. Whatever he hears makes his face go hard. Cold. Like something inside him has clicked into place, something that doesn’t belong in this room filled with butterflies and rose petals.

Leonora’s voice continues to crackle from the phone, but I can’t make out the words anymore. My heart is pounding too loudly, the rush of blood in my ears drowning everything out. Each beat echoes in my skull like a warning.

Something is wrong. Very wrong.

Luca shifts the phone between his ear and shoulder as he grabs his pants and pulls them on. He doesn’t rush me, but moves with a kind of controlled urgency, handing me my clothes without taking his eyes off me for long.

“Here,” he murmurs, tension coiling in his muscles. “Take your time, farfalla .”

But we both know there’s no time.

I nod, my fingers trembling as I dress. My bra, my panties, my skirt, my top. My body is clumsy, shaky, like it’s not quite mine. I slip into my heels as he hangs up the call.

He paces the room once, twice, three times, then stops abruptly. His jaw is clenched so tightly it looks painful. His whole body radiates with a fury he’s barely holding back.

Then he explodes.

“FUCK!”

The word detonates in the air. He grabs the hanging veils and tears them down in one violent motion, the sound of fabric ripping louder than it should.

“FUUUUUCK!”

My heart slams into my ribs. My hands grip the edge of the bed. I’ve never seen him like this.

Yes, I’ve felt the storm in him. The pressure beneath the surface.

But this? This is it breaking loose .

And it terrifies me.

Not because I think he’ll hurt me. Never that.

But because he’s always so calm and controlled. For him to fall apart like this, something terrible must have happened.

“Luca?” I whisper carefully. “What’s going on?”

He doesn’t answer, but just stands there, breathing hard, his eyes wild with something I can’t name.

I take a step toward him, needing to understand what shattered the world we were wrapped in only moments ago.

“Please,” I try again. “Talk to me.”

His eyes find mine, but I can’t read him.

He casts one last glance at the room and the bed where we made love, feeling so close and invincible.

My gaze follows his, and I’m not prepared for the inexplicable wave of loss rolling over me. It’s as if we’ve already crossed some invisible line and there’s no going back.

“Luca?” The question is fragile, unsteady, born of fear I don’t yet understand.

He still doesn’t answer, gripping my hand and pulling us toward the door with determined steps.

“My parents are waiting by the back exit,” he finally says as he opens the door, his eyes sweeping both ways before he steps into the corridor. “My mother’s hysterical. She kept saying we have to leave.”

Leave?

My chest constricts, and my breath shortens until it feels like I’m drowning in invisible air.

“Leave?” I repeat higher pitched than I mean it to be. “Why?”

Is it possible for my heart to stop while it’s beating far too fast?

“I couldn’t make sense of her,” he replies, jaw clenched, as we hurry down the corridor. Our footsteps seem thunderous, even on the muffled hush of the carpet.

“It sounds like my father did something he shouldn’t have.”

I blink. “What… what did he do?”

“She wouldn’t say over the phone.”

My heart skids to a halt. “But… why did she call from an unknown number? None of this makes any sense.”

“Burner phone,” he mutters, and a chill engulfs me, far colder than the air conditioning in this place.

Luca’s hold on my hand grows firmer with every step toward the elevator. When the doors slide open and we step inside, he pulls me against him. His heartbeat hammers in time with mine, just as frantic, just as lost.

He buries his nose in my hair like he needs me to anchor him. Like he’s memorizing my scent.

The ground floor arrives too soon. Instead of heading for the main entrance, Luca leads me down a narrow corridor that’s dim and sterile under the fluorescent light. At the end, he pushes open a heavy door marked with an emergency exit sign.

Outside, a sleek car idles by the steps. Luigi Caruso paces in front of it.

It’s strange seeing Luca’s father without the usual ring of men at his side. As one of the high-ranking capos in the De Marco empire, he’s always guarded .

Not tonight.

Everything about him is different. He looks… unhinged.

That’s not him. Like my father, he’s always in full control. Unreadable. Distant.

But right now his face is tense, his suit jacket rumpled, his eyes scanning the shadows like he’s bracing for a monster to leap out.

If Luigi’s cracking, then the whole world must be tilting.

When he spots us, he shouts, “Get in, Luca. Now.”

Leonora appears from behind the car and rushes toward me, pulling me into a fierce hug. Her whole body trembles, tears streaking her cheeks.

What the hell is happening?

Luca doesn’t release my hand. If anything, his grip tightens, his thumb pressing against my skin like he’s making sure I’m still here.

“I’m so sorry, Isabella,” Leonora chokes.

Sorry? For what?

“Leonora, get in the car!” Luigi barks. “Luca, say your goodbye. Now.”

Goodbye? What is he talking about?

Luca turns to me, panic flashing in his eyes. Real, raw panic. I’ve never seen him like this.

His unraveling knocks the air from my lungs. It’s like watching the sun fall out of the sky.

If he’s scared, truly scared, what hope do I have of holding it together?

“Come with me,” he blurts, clutching my hand like it’s the only truth he has left.

“What?” three voices say at once, mine among them.

Luca pulls me a few steps away from his parents. It doesn’t give us real privacy, but even that small distance from the people trying to tear us apart is like a breath of air in a suffocating room.

“I can’t leave you. You belong with me, Isa. You always have.”

His words hit like a lightning strike to the chest. My heart lurches, tears prickling behind my eyes .

He’s said sweet things before, whispered promises against my skin. But this?

This is different.

This is desperation.

This is about our forever.

Something deep inside me twists. That aching, knowing part of me that’s always felt tethered to him.

Truth is, I don’t know how to be without him. He’s part of me.

I don’t hesitate. “Yes. I’ll go anywhere with you.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Luigi snaps, stepping forward. “She cannot come. It’s going to be damn near impossible for the three of us to leave Sicily unnoticed.”

He throws his arms up dramatically, so unlike the cool, unyielding capo he usually portrays. Then something shifts in his expression, as if a thought has just struck him.

“It’s too dangerous,” he says coldly. “You don’t want to risk Isabella’s life, son.”

Luca freezes for a beat, then begins to pace, raking a hand through his hair, torn in two. His face contorts with torment.

“Lucanardo!” Luigi growls, using his son’s full name. I’ve only ever heard it twice in my life, and both times, it meant trouble.

He means business now, striding toward us, his face carved with urgency.

“Get in the car. We have to go!”

Luca’s eyes find mine. They search, apologize, and say everything he can’t.

“Don’t leave me, Luca,” I whisper, as the tears come fast and unstoppable.

“She’s not safe with us,” Luigi repeats more forcefully.

My eyes plead with Luca. Everything blurs. All I know is my love, my everything, is slipping through my fingers.

I see it. The moment he decides.

His eyes shutter, sealing something away.

“No,” I breathe. “No. Don’t you dare. ”

“I’ll come back for you, Isa,” he says with painful conviction.

“No. Luca, please. Let me come with you.”

“You can’t,” Luigi yells, clearly wanting me to let go of his son.

“You don’t get to decide this for me!” I snap at him, all pretense of respect gone.

Luca grabs my shoulders, his eyes locked on mine. “Papa is right, farfalla . It’s too dangerous. I will not risk your life.”

His eyes bore into me, willing me to understand.

“I swear to you, Isa. I will come back.”

“When?” I sob. “When?”

“I don’t know. But I will. Wait for me.”

And I know without a doubt that I would wait an eternity for him. He’s everything.

But I’m too stunned to speak, too stunned to move.

Luca is really going to leave me behind.

Luigi grabs his son’s arm again, trying to haul him toward the car, but I yank at Luca’s shirt, my fist curled in the fabric… it’s the only anchor I have left.

Luca wrenches free of his father’s hold and crashes back into me, his mouth finding mine with a desperate, searing kiss.

He pulls me closer against his body as our lips move like they’re saying all the things we don’t have time for.

The promise. The passion. The goodbye.

Luigi grabs him again.

“For fuck’s sake, Luca. They could be here any second. We need to leave. Now.”

Luca presses one last kiss to my lips, featherlight and final.

“Remember,” he whispers. “I will come back for you. Always.”

I want to believe him, I do. The conviction in his eyes should be enough. But my soul is screaming.

Don’t leave me.

I cling to him, but the space between us grows with every reluctant half-step he takes. Our fingers stretch toward each other, only our fingertips touching now. Until, one by one, they slip away .

“Luca,” I croak, frozen in place.

When his last finger lifts, the dam breaks.

Sobs rack my body as Luigi slams the car door and rounds the hood. I’m shaking, gasping for breath.

“No! Don’t go. Don’t go.”

The engine revs. I snap out of my stupor, running toward the black Audi. I lunge for the car door, yanking at the handle like I can change the course of events with sheer will.

“I’m coming with you. I am. ”

But Luigi locks the doors.

I slam my hand on the window, desperate.

Luca mirrors me from inside, his palm against the glass.

“I love you,” he mouths. “I’ll be back.”

The tires screech as the car tears away, spinning dust into the night. It swirls like smoke, like something burned to ash.

I collapse to the ground, burying my face in my hands. My body shakes with the force of my sobs.

The dust settles.

The silence is deafening.

He’s gone.

From one heartbeat to the next, Luca is gone.

How will I survive this?