Page 97 of Mine Again (Mafia Bride #2)

Chapter Ninety-Six

Luca

T he car cruises down the long stretch of highway, away from Hale’s estate. It’s about an hour outside Chicago, in a pocket of land he carved out for himself.

He bought up every property for miles, leveling houses and farms until nothing remained but silence and manicured emptiness. The isolation was not about privacy. It was a show of his power.

Isa is tucked against me in the back seat, her head on my chest, her fingers playing with the edge of my shirt.

For the first time since this nightmare began, the fight drains out of me.

My adrenaline fades, leaving behind raw exhaustion that burns deep in my bones.

I’ve run on nothing but fury and focus for days on end, and now that she’s here, safe, my body wants to collapse.

She tilts her head, her warm brown eyes lifting to mine.

“You had Maximo and his men storm the place, but that’s not the whole story, is it? Tell me how you actually pulled it off. Hale kept boasting about how impenetrable his security was, how there was no way you could break it.”

I chuckle. Cocky bastard. His pride was his downfall.

“I had a little help from my friends. ”

Her lips curve. “Friends? You don’t trust anyone.”

“I trust you,” I reply, pressing my mouth to hers. Isa is the only one. Always, without question.

“I’m not your friend,” she deadpans when I pull back. “I’m your wife, or so you keep telling me. Though I have yet to see our marriage certificate.”

She wriggles her ring finger at me, bare except for the tattoo of my name. The sight never fails to satisfy. Soon I’ll put the wedding band she threw at my head back where it belongs.

“So who did you trust enough to help, given you always work alone?”

“You know me so well,” I say, half amused, half resigned. “But you’re right, I’ve always worked by myself. It was cleaner that way, safer. But this time…”

I draw a breath, letting it out slowly.

“I couldn’t have done it solo fast enough. Not without mistakes. What would have taken me weeks, we pulled off in days. And I’ll admit it… I’m glad I didn’t try to do it alone.”

Her brows lift, and a knowing smile touches her lips. “That’s new for you. You’d never have said that even a week ago.”

I can’t argue with that. My love for her has changed everything, made me reconsider what I’m willing to do. And maybe I’ve learned that working with others isn’t quite as bad as I imagined.

“So who helped you?” she asks.

“Uberto. He works for Maximo now.”

Her eyes widen. “Really? He left Sicily?”

“He did. Said he couldn’t work for the new Don.”

“I’m not surprised. Uberto was always loyal to the De Marcos, and I suppose he still is, working for their cousin now.”

“Exactly.” I rub a hand over my face, fatigue pressing at the edges of my vision. “Uberto and I worked well together when I was first starting out. We still do.”

“So how did you do it? Hale was furious this morning. He worked on his laptop like a madman, and then suddenly he was smug. He told me he was expecting you, like he’d set a trap. I was so worried when he looked that gleeful.”

A dark satisfaction stirs in my chest. “That was what we counted on. He never realized we’d slipped into his system a full day earlier. That gave me time to map it, to see exactly how he meant to spring his snare.

“Uberto kept him distracted this morning while I was in his mainframe, planting bugs and worms. He was so full of himself, he never even noticed I’d flipped his trap against him.”

Isa smiles proudly, brushing her thumb over my ribs.

“And that’s why you’re the best.”

Her words strike deeper than I want to admit. I’ve always defined being “the best” as doing it all myself. But the past few days have proved otherwise.

Uberto’s code. Maximo’s muscle. Even Mia’s impossible bargain. They gave me what I could never give myself with certainty.

Isa. Safe. In my arms. Alive.

And I finally understand. Strength isn’t just surviving alone. It’s knowing who to trust to fight beside you.

We’re quiet for a while, watching the scenery whiz past outside. My eyes start to droop, and I let them close, resting my head on Isa’s.

But then she seems to remember something and shifts to look up at me again.

“What about Maximo? He’s not known for generosity. How did you convince him to help?”

I let my head fall against the headrest but never take my eyes off hers. She won’t like what I have to say.

“I offered him a favor. No questions asked.”

Her mouth parts. “From someone like you, that’s worth millions.”

“Yes. But even that wasn’t enough.”

Her brow furrows. “Then what tipped him?”

I hesitate, tightening my arm around her. “Your sister.”

Isa goes still. “Mia?”

“Yes,” I reply carefully. “I tried to tell you earlier, but you were too busy salivating over me.”

She laughs softly, the sound easing the shadows around my heart. “I so was. But what about Mia? What did she do?”

“She offered to marry him,” I say.

Isa jerks back to stare at me, eyes wide. “What?”

“It’s what he wanted all along. But listen.” I catch her before she can fully sit up, pressing her back to me. “I promised her I’d get her out of it. She insisted on honoring her word, but she’s not opposed to escaping afterward. The moment she gives me the sign, I’ll help her.”

“Why not get out of it before she’s in it?” Isa huffs.

“You know your sister. She’s stubborn and wants to do the right thing.”

A little more quietly, I add, “And she did it to make sure Maximo gave me everything I needed to bring you home alive.”

Mia risked her future for Isa. For me. And that debt will never leave my bones.

Isa’s breath stutters, and she buries her face against me. I hold her, even as my body begs for rest. Every muscle is heavy, every nerve still buzzing from the adrenaline crash.

But a memory needles me. She’d looked pale and horrified yesterday, staring at whatever Hale left for her. It gutted me just to watch through the screen.

“Isa,” I murmur, stroking her hair. “What was in that folder Hale gave you that upset you so much?”

Her body stiffens. “You saw that?”

“Yes. I told you I managed to hack into Hale’s system. The video feeds were my way in.”

I stroke her arm to soothe her, reaching for her hand to intertwine our fingers.

“I saw him waiting for you, saw you rifling through that folder after he left. You seemed distraught. What was in it?”

I shift to see her face, angling it toward me. Her cheeks flush, but she won’t meet my eyes.

“Isa?” I press, my heart constricting with unease. What the hell was Hale up to?

She swallows hard. “Were you in Rome at any point last year?”

The question blindsides me.

“What? Of course not. It would’ve been suicide with De Marco’s men everywhere. And if I had braved that, I’d have come for you. What is this about? What did he show you?”

Her voice wavers. “Hale fabricated proof that you killed my father.”

My body jolts awake, exhaustion gone in an instant. Fury scorches my veins.

The fucking bastard.

Isa rushes on, as if to keep me from exploding.

“The pictures, Luca… they were gruesome. They’ll haunt me for a long time. Close-ups of my father’s body. His face, his wounds. And then… there were images of you. Dragging him out of some warehouse.”

My stomach twists. Hale hadn’t just played dirty; he’d gutted her with lies.

“I knew it couldn’t have been you,” she says quickly. “You would never… But I was in such shock. For the briefest second, I believed it. I’m so sorry.”

Her face contorts with shame.

I catch her chin gently, forcing her eyes to mine. “Isa.”

She shakes her head, whispering, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt you.”

Her eyes shine with tears. Hale will bleed for this.

“But then I asked myself, if it came down to it, who do I believe?” Her voice steadies, pulling me back from my rage. “And there was no question, no doubt.”

Her gaze holds mine, fierce through the shimmer of tears.

“I’ll always believe you .”

The words nearly undo me.

“That’s when I forced myself to really study the pictures. There were inconsistencies, tiny ones, things that didn’t line up from one frame to the next. Proof he faked it. ”

Pride surges hot through my chest, overwhelming the fury. I wrap my arms around her again and press a kiss to the top of her head, holding her as close as possible.

“That’s my girl.”

I don’t say more. I’m too tired, too furious… too full of love for her.

Her voice is quiet against my chest. “What’s going to happen to Hale now? Is Maximo handing him over to the authorities?”

“Eventually,” I answer, not wanting to think of the asshole anymore. “But not before I avenge you properly. He’ll look a little different by the time they get him.

“The authorities will need time anyway to verify what I put together in Tangier about his attack on Delaware. I’ve got the proof he did the Berlin hit too. Once I knew exactly what to search for, it was easy. The proof is airtight.”

She lifts her face to me, pride shining in her eyes. I drink it in like nectar.

“After working at it for twelve hours straight in Tangier, I was pumped when the evidence finally came together. I rushed up from the cellar to tell you…”

The memory still haunts me, and I hold her with a fierceness I can’t soften.

“But the room was empty.”