THE DON’S INNOCENT BRIDE: the queen he never knew

The Hidden Estate

BELLA'S POV

The drive felt endless, it was as if I was the driver, I was visibly worn.

We wound through mountain roads for hours. Dawn broke over the peaks, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. We still kept going.

Although the dawn was beautiful and peaceful, I can't help but think of when my life wasn't as complicated. I used to be a free girl before the chaos hit overnight.

My heart aches at the thoughts, but my face was blank, what could I possibly feel that will make me cry. Nothing.

The thought of that scares me, maybe I'm becoming as heartless as my ex-husband.

I kept replaying the footage in my mind. Giuseppe and Marco, my very own men. Walking away while we slept. Betraying us to Dante. Because of what? Money?

How long had they been reporting to him? Weeks? Months? Since the beginning?

Oh no! I could feel a headache coming, I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my hands on my temple.

"How much further?" I asked in a low voice, as if raising it would aggravate my current dilemma.

Tommaso checked his watch. "Two hours. Maybe less."

Two hours? I didn't have the strength to be dramatic.

"And this place….you're certain it's secure?" That is my major concern currently.

"It doesn't exist on any map. Hasn't for fifteen years." He looked out the window. "Your father used it as a backup. A place to disappear if everything went wrong."

My chest tightened, all I could mutter is wow

My father is definitely meticulous.

"My father knew about this place?"

"He's the one who built it. After you were born. Said he wanted somewhere completely off the grid. Somewhere the family could go if they ever needed to vanish."

Somewhere to protect his family, I completed it, but that place wasn't able to save them from their deaths.

Maybe the same thing that is happening now was what happened then, someone betrayed him.

A family he'd lost before he could use it.

"Who else knows about it?" I asked.

"Me. And one other person." Tommaso's expression was unreadable. "He's been maintaining the property. Keeping it ready."

Someone else? How many surprises are left?

I still need to learn a lot.

"Who?" I asked, glancing towards him.

"You'll meet him when we arrive." He said looking back,

I didn't push further, I only nodded.

My head hurts, my body ached from the constant running. I just wanted to sleep somewhere safe. I missed home, I missed the penthouse, but the story attached to it is far more complicated, no going back at this point.

I just want my own safe space, if such a place even existed anymore.

We drove on. The landscape changed from mountains to thick forests. Dense trees blocking out the morning sun.

After an hour's drive, the convoy moved slower now. More careful. Making sure we weren't followed.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we turned onto an unmarked dirt road.

"Almost there," Tommaso announced, that's like the best news I have heard in a while.

The road wound deeper into the forest. No signs. No markers. Nothing to indicate anyone lived out here. Now I understand what he meant by off the map. It was totally hidden.

I can't even imagine the level of stalking that can uncover this place. This is mind blowing, I sat up staring at the trees, studying the same environment.

Then the trees opened up.

And I saw it.

A house. No, not a house, a mansion.

It sat in a clearing, surrounded by forest on all sides. Three stories of gray stone and iron. Old but clearly well-maintained. Windows that reflected the morning light.

The house was truly hidden, perfect for my current need.

"This is it?" I whispered, even though I know the answer.

"This is it." Tommaso leaned forward. "Your father's final safehouse."

The place he'd built to protect us.

The place he'd never gotten to use.

The vehicles pulled up to the main entrance. Heavy wooden doors with iron reinforcements. It looked more like a fortress than a home.

"Everyone out," Tommaso ordered. "Check the perimeter."

The men scattered, weapons ready, searching the tree line.

Lucia helped me out of the car. "You okay?"

"I don't know anymore." I stared at the mansion. "This place..."

"Feels like a ghost house?" She asked smirking.

"Something like that." I shrugged, I jumped off the car with great difficulty as my legs ache.

Tommaso walked toward the entrance. "Come. We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Him. The person who'd been maintaining this place for fifteen years.

I followed Tommaso up the stone steps. The doors were massive. Dark wood that looked centuries old.

Tommaso knocked. A specific pattern. Three short raps. Two long. One short.

A code.

We waited for some minutes, maybe that was part of the code.

The forest around us was silent. No birds. No wind. Just an eerie stillness that made my skin crawl.

Then I heard it. The sound of locks turning. Heavy bolts sliding back.

The door opened slowly.

Darkness greeted us from inside. I couldn't see who opened it. Just a figure standing in shadow.

"Tommaso." A voice from the darkness. Male. Deep. Something familiar in the timbre that I couldn't place.

"We made it," Tommaso said. "Barely." He added.

"I've been monitoring the situation." The voice moved slightly. Still hidden. "Is she with you?"

"Yes."

A pause. Then: "Bring her in."

Tommaso gestured for me to enter.

I stepped through the doorway into a massive entrance hall.

Stone floors stretched before me. High vaulted ceilings. Tapestries hung on the walls—old, faded, but I could still make out the symbol.

The Sovereign crest.

My family's symbol.

Everywhere I looked, I saw pieces of a history I'd never known. A legacy I'd been denied.

"Close the doors," the voice said.

Why was this part of the house dark? Are we going to live in the darkness?

I heard the heavy doors swing shut. The bolts sliding back into place.

Locked in.

My hand moved instinctively to my gun.

"No need for that, principessa," the voice said. Closer now. "You're safe here."

Safe?

The word felt foreign.

I'd thought I was safe at the Chrysalis too.

"Welcome home," the voice continued. Footsteps moving across the stone floor. Coming closer.

I could feel him behind me.

"I've waited a long time for this moment," the voice said quietly.

My heart was hammering now. Just show your face already,

"Turn around, Isabella." He finally said, calling me my birth name. Wow!

The name only a handful of people knew.

I turned slowly.

And my breath stopped, a frown forming on my forehead as I watched the figure with caution.

A man stood there in the dim light filtering through the windows.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair falling across his forehead.

But it was his face that made the world tilt.

My father's face stared back at me.

The same honey-brown eyes. The same sharp jawline. The same features I'd only ever seen in old photographs.

For one impossible, heart-stopping moment, I thought….

My father?

But no. Th

is man was young. Thirty, maybe. My father would have been in his fifties now.

But the resemblance was so striking it hurt to look at him.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

That was all I could say.