Page 86 of Mine Again (Mafia Bride #2)

Chapter Eighty-Five

Isabella

I spoon a serving of scrambled eggs onto my plate. They’re buttery, golden, and maddeningly perfect. I add a croissant from the basket, then carry the food to the table and sit a few chairs away from him, close enough to speak, far enough not to feel cornered.

“Why did you send Sebastian after me?” My voice is light, casual, as if we’re making idle breakfast chatter instead of tearing open old wounds.

The question pours out of me before I’ve fully realized how little Sebastian has occupied my thoughts since Las Vegas.

The moment Luca told me the truth about him, it was like a switch snapped inside me. Affection, gone. Trust, gone. All that remained was the burn of humiliation at being played, and I shoved him to the farthest corners of my mind.

A week ago, I was preparing to marry him. I had convinced myself attraction would be enough, that I’d grow to love him in time. Now I can’t even summon pity.

This whole episode of my life seems unreal. He’s like a shadow that dissolved the instant I opened my eyes to reality. While the real Sebastian probably dissolved in a vat of Russian acid or ended up picked apart by vultures in the Nevada desert.

Hale doesn’t so much as blink. He tips his head, smiling, as if I’ve asked about the weather, but he doesn’t answer right away.

“My father was still alive the first time I met Sebastian,” I press, forcing steadiness into my tone. “You must have realized there was no way in hell he could have seduced me then.”

“Perhaps not,” Hale says smoothly, “but Luca would have been watching. Anyone else daring to give you attention would have been enough to enrage him.”

The tightening of my face betrays me. He’s right. Luca had been watching, furious the moment Sebastian drew near. Furious enough to pull the fire alarm and clear the room.

Hale notices. His smile stretches wider, savoring my reaction.

“Such a shame I couldn’t see it myself. But imagining his rage was more than enough. It kept me entertained for hours.”

My stomach twists. He delights in manipulating people for his own amusement, no matter the damage it causes. Worse, actually. He ruins lives and feeds off the destruction.

My skin crawls. It’s beyond disgusting; it’s monstrous.

The eggs on my plate are cooling, congealing into a slick yellow mass. The buttery smell turns rancid in my nose. I push the plate away, my appetite gone.

“And that was worth five million dollars to you?” I demand.

I want to claw that smug smile off his face.

The number seems obscene. Five million tossed away like spare coins, just to see me dance on a string. I feel marked, like a chip slid across a gaming table.

“I’d have given him more if he’d managed to slip you his number and make you promise to call,” he goes on lazily. “Who knows? Perhaps he could have convinced you to run off with him. His charm was always lethal. His whole persona made girls go wild.”

Heat prickles across my skin as I remember Sebastian’s intense blue eyes, his easy grin, and bottomless confidence… the way my pulse had leaped with one look .

He hadn’t even needed to make an effort. One glance and I was flustered.

God, was I really that pathetic?

I remember the thrill of being singled out. For a moment, it made me feel special. But it was the same tired routine he used on anyone, and I, starved for attention, lapped it up like a fool.

“My father would have killed him,” I snap, sharper than I intend.

Hale shrugs, unbothered. “Possibly. But my cousin was always a gambler. Gambling with his life was when he was at his best.”

He inclines his head as if recalling him fondly, then lets his voice drop with relish.

“When your father was murdered, it gave me a whole other idea… raising the stakes, so to speak. The timing of his death was perfect with the Venom going to Brazil. Everything played right into my hands.”

Unfortunately, me most of all. I walked into that trap with arms wide open.

He rubs his hands together, excitement flickering across his face.

“Can you imagine Caruso’s devastation if Sebastian had married you and taken you away forever?” Hale throws his head back, sick laughter spilling out and filling the room.

This man is deranged.

“And how much was that worth to you?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“A hundred mil.” He waves his hand as if one hundred million dollars were pocket change. “More than enough to pay off his debts to the Russians and gamble some more.”

My mouth falls open. A cold rush floods my chest, like ice water seeping through my veins. Betrayal punches me fresh in the gut.

Was anything about Sebastian real?

Did a single word, a single touch, mean anything? Or was every kiss a transaction, every smile a paycheck earned?

I was nothing more than a price tag. A number.

The knowledge burns, hollowing me out until all that remains is the shame of having walked straight into his trap .

Every memory of Sebastian seems counterfeit now, printed on paper and traded behind my back.

“You must have been so disappointed when Luca ruined your plans at the finish line,” I grit out, clinging to the only comfort I have, Luca stepping in just in time.

Hale’s eyes sharpen. His smile doesn’t falter, but the gleam in his gaze clouds over, giving him away. He was furious then, and a part of him still is. Luca spoiled his grand design.

“Ah, well. Caruso wouldn’t be such a fun opponent to beat if he were any different. It makes this win even sweeter.”

“Why didn’t you try to save Sebastian from the Russians? Pay off his debt? He’d done your bidding by then.”

Hale shrugs, careless as flicking ash from a cigar.

“He didn’t make it over the finish line, did he? Besides, I wanted to see what Caruso would do to him. I’d hoped he’d get bloodthirsty, perhaps tear him apart limb by limb. But he only handed him over to the Russians. So dull.”

I draw in a sharp breath, stunned at how easily he dismisses his relative.

Sebastian never owned my heart. It was always Luca’s, even when I thought he was gone. But that doesn’t mean I wanted Sebastian dead.

Yes, I was furious to learn I’d been played, but I used Sebastian too. He was an escape hatch I wanted to believe in, a convenient, seemingly safe man who promised a quieter life away from the Mafia. I let that fantasy blind me. I ignored the red flags. That’s on me.

“You could have tried to get him back.”

“I had other priorities.”

Hale leans back, utterly unaffected.

“I don’t waste grief on the weak. He gambled; he failed. Why would I mourn a man who couldn’t outplay his enemies?”

I lean back in my chair, stunned by his coldness. He watches me with that infuriating smile, shaking his head as if my shock amuses him.

“Your outrage is touching. Almost convincing,” he says, his eyes taking on a calculating gleam. “But we both know you didn’t really care that your precious Luca delivered Sebastian to his enemies and sealed his fate.”

He brushes crumbs from his fingers as if flicking away the notion. “Though boring, it was clever of him. Spared himself from getting his hands dirty.”

This time I scoff. “Isn’t that what you do?”

Hale throws back his head and laughs, like I’ve told a joke he can’t get enough of.

“No. I don’t mind pulling the trigger myself. In fact, I relish it. And it doesn’t have to be a gun. The keyboard is far mightier.”

His eyes glow with delight as he leans closer.

“My point is that the wonderful Luca has many deaths on his hands… just like me.”

He’s trying to goad me. I know that.

Luca has never killed a man. He’s always refused to in Sicily and told me that hadn’t changed in our time apart.

But have his hacks killed?

The thought makes my stomach clench. I hate that Hale’s words hit their mark, and seeds of doubt take root in my mind. I don’t want them to, but I can’t stop them.

Hale catches the flicker in my face, and his smile spreads smugly, like he’s just scored a victory.

“He’s never mentioned it, has he? How many people he’s hurt?”

“I’m not interested in—”

“No, of course not. That wouldn’t fit the delusion, would it? The brooding protector. The tragic lover. Always watching. Always one step ahead.”

He shifts in his chair until he’s fully facing me, eyes locking on mine.

“But what if I told you the man you love is responsible for hundreds of deaths?”

“I said I’m not interested in your lies.”

Hale sips his coffee as if we’re trading gossip over breakfast, not barbs meant to wound. His eyes glint with that sick amusement that never fades.

“Such devotion,” he mocks. “It would almost be admirable if it weren’t so na?ve.”

I push back my chair and stand abruptly. I need to get out of this room, away from him, before his poison sinks any deeper.

“You think he’s coming for you, Isabella. But tell me, how long will it be before reality dawns on him, before he accepts what you already sense deep down, that it is hopeless? And how long before he decides you are safer right where you are?”

That stops me. I pivot, fists clenching at my sides.

“Safer where I am?” My voice shakes with disbelief. “Luca would never leave me here.”

“Never?” His smile widens, and the sight of it makes my skin burn. “That’s a strong word. He’s clever, I’ll give him that, but clever men know when to cut their losses and how to best protect what matters most to them.

“If he tries to breach my estate, he dies. You know it. He knows it. So perhaps the smarter move is to let you stay. Better to lose the girl than his life and content himself with the dream of a life together one day, no?”

“That’s not how Luca operates, and you know it,” I snap before I can stop myself.

The laugh that spills from him chills me more than if he’d shouted. He leans back, utterly relaxed, savoring every second of my anger.

“So very sure,” he muses. “I wonder how long that certainty will last.”

“Go to hell.”

I turn on my heel and stride out of the room, head held high. Gerard waits in the hall, ready to escort me back to my gilded prison.

Hale’s words scrape against me like broken glass. He’s wrong. He has to be wrong.

But hasn’t Luca always prioritized my safety above everything else?

He didn’t take me with him when he left five years ago because he wouldn’t risk my life. He stayed away for the same reason, though it meant years of pain for us both.

A sinking feeling presses in, threatening to swallow me.

No, Luca is coming for me.

I won’t let Hale plant doubts.

Yet hasn’t he already?