Mafia Boss Discovers His Bride Is a Virgin… He Thought His Innocent Bride Was…
Chapter 5
The next morning, someone attacked the estate.
It happened at 6:17.
Three vehicles approached through the north gate.
Security intercepted them before they reached the house.
Gunfire echoed across the grounds.
Isabella woke to the sound.
Matteo entered her room.
“Get dressed.”
“What happened?”
“We’re leaving.”
“Why?”
“Because this house isn’t secure anymore.”
She grabbed a coat.
“Where are we going?”
“A safe location.”
She followed him downstairs.
As they reached the garage, a bullet shattered the windshield of one of the vehicles.
Matteo pulled Isabella down.
“Stay low.”
She nodded.
They escaped through an underground tunnel.
When they finally reached safety, Isabella sat silently in the back seat.
Matteo turned toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He relaxed slightly.
She looked at him.
“You were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised both of them.
Matteo looked out the window.
“I’ve lost people before.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
She swallowed.
“Why?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Finally:
“Because you’re my wife.”
She looked down.
“Only because of the marriage?”
He met her eyes.
“No.”
Something changed between them.
Not love yet.
Something more fragile.
Trust.
At the safe house, Isabella found another letter.
It had been hidden inside the box from the old cellar.
Her mother’s handwriting again.
There is someone in our family who has been feeding information to the enemy.
She read the next line.
It isn’t your brother.
Isabella looked at Matteo.
“So Adrian was telling the truth.”
“Partly.”
The final line made her hands shake.
The person you should fear is the one who benefited most from my death.
Matteo immediately thought of one person.
Isabella’s father.
He had inherited control of the family company after his wife’s death.
But Isabella had another thought.
“My aunt.”
Matteo frowned.
“Why?”
“She was the one who handled the estate.”
They investigated.
Her aunt had received millions after the death.
But the money had been transferred into another account.
One belonging to a shell company.
The shell company was connected to Matteo’s rival.
Victor Bellini.
Matteo’s expression hardened.
Bellini had been trying to destroy him for years.
Now they had a connection.
A family member.
A hidden trust.
A murdered mother.
And a bride who had unknowingly become the key to it all.
That night, Isabella couldn’t sleep.
She found Matteo in the study.
“You’re awake.”
“So are you.”
She stood in the doorway.
“Can I stay here?”
Matteo looked at her.
“Yes.”
She sat on the sofa.
After several minutes, she asked:
“Is it strange?”
“What?”
“Being married to someone you didn’t choose.”
Matteo thought.
“Yes.”
“Do you hate it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked at her.
“Because I didn’t choose the marriage.”
He paused.
“But I’m beginning to choose you.”
Her eyes filled with emotion.
She looked away.
Neither of them knew what to say after that.
But neither left the room.
