Page 71 of Mine Again (Mafia Bride #2)

Chapter Seventy

Isabella

I t’s been a couple of hours since the Delaware bombshell, and my mind hasn’t stopped spinning.

Last night was the highest point on the roller coaster. The rush of being so close to Luca again, the certainty that whatever storms we’d weathered, we were moving toward a future together. I fell asleep with that belief wrapped around me like a blanket.

Then morning came, and the plunge began. The bottom dropped out, my stomach along with it.

We’re hurtling into something dark and dangerous, and I feel every sharp turn and sudden drop.

Luca, on the other hand, doesn’t look like he’s falling at all. He’s calm, focused, and in control, the way he always is when the ground shakes beneath us.

I don’t know how he does it. Maybe it’s experience, maybe it’s the way his mind works. But it’s like I’m standing on a battlefield with no armor while he’s already mapped the entire campaign.

I tell myself to stay positive for his sake, to match his steadiness, but it’s harder than I want to admit. I barely understand a fraction of what he’s doing in this cyberworld he commands so effortlessly .

What I do understand is the way my chest tightens every time I remember what he said; that if Hale finds us first, it’ll be over.

My head keeps circling back to those words no matter how much I try to push them away.

What does over even mean?

Prison for him? A grave for me? Or something worse, something that leaves us alive but unrecognizable?

And beneath all that fear is something else, something harder to name.

Having watched him, the unflinching focus, the quiet authority, the man who refuses to let anything shake him, I feel an ache that’s equal parts love, longing, and a fierce wish to shoulder this with him.

Then a quieter, more treacherous thought slips in.

This is his world, a life where danger can appear with no warning and survival means staying two steps ahead of sophisticated predators. I’m not sure anyone can live in it without losing something they once were.

I zip up the second bag, having packed lightly for both of us, and set it by the door.

It doesn’t seem like packing for a trip but more like loading supplies for an escape. Every folded shirt and pair of shoes is a reminder that we might not be coming back, that the life I had only begun to accept here is already slipping through my fingers.

I step back into the office. Luca is working in silence across the room, his gaze fixed on the screens, fingers moving with lightning speed.

His jaw is set in fierce determination. He says he’ll never let us be torn apart again, and I want to trust that, but this is different from anything we’ve faced before.

This isn’t just another dangerous man with too much power. This is someone who knows exactly where to strike, who understands how to hurt him, and by extension, me. On top of that, local and international authorities are after him.

Luca switches off all the screens except the one still running the news. They go dark, the muted glow replaced by the methodical sound of him carefully packing hard drives into a weatherproof case.

The quiet seems heavier than before. I stay by the main monitor, my eyes tracking the scrolling headlines. I’m not expecting good updates, but my stomach still twists when the “Breaking News” banner flashes red.

“Luca,” I call, unmuting the feed. “You need to see this.”

The anchor’s voice cuts in, brisk and clipped.

“We’ve received new, unverified footage tied to the cyberattack that crippled a Delaware medical supply hub earlier today. The video, released to multiple news outlets from an encrypted source, appears to show the alleged hacker known as ‘The Venom’ exiting a private aircraft in Brazil.

“While the figure’s face is obscured, sources say the posture and build are consistent with the suspected target of an Interpol investigation into organized cybercrime.

Investigators have also been provided with audio of a distorted male voice with a Sicilian accent, as well as data tied to known burner IDs previously flagged by European intelligence agencies.

“Documents accompanying the leak also reference suspected mafia affiliations. Interpol, the FBI, and the NSA have now issued active alerts for ‘The Venom,’ describing him as a rogue hacker connected to multiple acts of cyberterrorism. Authorities warn he is to be considered highly skilled, extremely dangerous, and a credible international threat.”

I glance over my shoulder. Luca is watching, the storm in his eyes banked but not gone.

“You were right,” I say quietly. “Hale is feeding you to the sharks.”

I recognized Luca the second the grainy security footage appeared, the tilt of his shoulders, the way he moved.

A shiver slides down my spine as I imagine watching this if we weren’t together, if I still believed he was dead.

It wouldn’t have just devastated me, it would have gutted me, leaving me clinging to a ghost while the world painted him as a monster.

And I wouldn’t have known if they were right, because five years can change a lot of things.

Crap. Mamma and my sisters will see this. They’ll recognize him in an instant.

They’ll see the man I told them I married accused of international cyberterrorism and believe I’m in even greater danger than they already feared.

To them, it won’t matter if it’s true or not. They’ll come for me. Not to help us, but to take me from him.

The idea coils tight in my chest, squeezing until it’s hard to breathe. Heat climbs the back of my neck, my pulse pounding in my ears.

Luca’s eyes are still locked on the screen, but I catch the faint flicker in his jaw.

“He did this faster than I expected. If I were him, I’d have waited. This makes it look more like a setup. It’s his first mistake.”

I cross the room, needing to be close to him.

He opens his arms, and I step into them without hesitation, pressing my ear against his chest. His warmth seeps into me, his heartbeat steady and strong, the one unshaken thing I can cling to.

His arms fold around me like a fortress, as if he can keep the entire world out if he holds me tightly enough.

“Yeah,” I murmur. “Seems Hale is getting impatient to leak this footage already.”

“It will work in our favor,” he says, certain in a way that makes me want to believe him.

I tilt my head back, searching his gorgeous face, the one I fantasized about for years, raising a questioning brow.

His lips curve slightly. “If he’s rushing, he’ll make other mistakes. And mistakes leave trails. The faster he moves, the easier it’ll be for me to catch him.”

“So we stick to the plan?” I ask, settling back into his chest, breathing in the scent that has come to mean safety to me. I never want to leave the shelter of his arms .

“Yes, it’s the only way.” He kisses the top of my head, the press of his lips both grounding and protective. “You ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I say softly. “At least this time, we’re together.”