The bride of a ruthless Don

Chapter 6- Blood between Brothers

“Don’t,” I whispered.

Dante’s gun remained pointed directly at Matteo’s chest while the two guards behind him waited silently for an order . Matteo laughed again , but this time there was anger in it . You still can’t tell her the truth, can you?”

Dante tightened his face . “You talk too much.” “And you kill too much.”

Before Dante could respond, one of the guards stepped forward suddenly. “Boss, we should finish this now.”

Dante didn’t move. His eyes stayed locked on Matteo. I looked between both men desperately, my mind spinning too fast to think clearly anymore.

My father worked for Dante.

My father was executed.

Dante had a dead younger brother.

And somehow all of those things were connected.

“What truth is he talking about?” I asked shakily.

Nobody answered me.

Tell me!” I shouted. The sound echoed harshly through the tunnel. For a second, Dante’s expression changed. Not anger. Something worse. Regret.

Matteo noticed it immediately. “She deserves to know your brother wasn’t murdered by enemies,” he said coldly.

Dante’s voice dropped dangerously low. “Last warning.”

Matteo ignored him completely. “Your brother was killed by someone inside your own family.” The guards immediately raised their weapons.

I stared at Dante in shock. “What does he mean?”

Dante finally looked at me. Alessia, this is not the place for this conversation.”

I laughed bitterly. “You keep saying that every time I ask a question.” His silence only made me angrier.

Matteo stepped closer to me carefully. “Your father found documents proving who ordered the murder.”

Dante’s expression darkened instantly.

“Shut up.”

“But before he could expose the truth,” Matteo continued, “someone framed him for betrayal.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“No…”

I looked at Dante desperately, praying he would deny it.

Instead, he lowered his eyes for one second. That tiny movement destroyed me.

“You believed it?” I whispered.

Dante looked back at me sharply. “I had evidence.”

“So you killed him.” “He was sentenced by the council.” “But you let it happen!”

The tunnel fell silent again. Dante didn’t deny it.

Tears burned my eyes immediately. For weeks I had feared this man, hated him, even tried to understand him sometimes. But now all I could see was the reason my father never came home.

Matteo suddenly grabbed my wrist gently. “We need to leave.” Dante raised the gun again instantly.

“She stays here.”

“She’s not your prisoner.”

“She’s my wife.”

The possessiveness in Dante’s voice shocked even me. Matteo scoffed. “You forced her into that marriage because you needed to keep her close.”

I froze.

“What?”

Dante’s face hardened immediately.

“Enough.”

“No,” Matteo snapped. “Tell her the truth for once.”

I stared at Dante again, with fear in my eyes .

“What does he mean?”

Dante walked toward us slowly. “You’re emotional right now,” he said quietly. “You don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Then explain it!” “You are safer with me.” “That’s not an explanation.”

Matteo suddenly pulled something from his pocket. A small silver key. The moment Dante saw it, his entire expression changed.

“Where did you get that?” Matteo smiled bitterly. “Your brother gave it to your father before he died.”

The tunnel became deadly quiet. Dante looked furious now.

“You’re lying.” “I wish I was.” I frowned in confusion. “What is that key?”

Neither of them answered immediately .

Then Matteo looked at the steel door behind us. “It opens the room.” My heartbeat increased instantly.

The room my father died trying to access.

Dante stepped forward quickly. “Give me the key.”

Matteo stepped back.

“No.”

One of the guards suddenly aimed at Matteo’s head. “Drop it now.” Everything started happening too fast. Dante moved closer.

Matteo tightened his grip on my wrist. The guards raised their guns. Then suddenly, the steel door behind us beeped loudly.

Everyone froze. I turned around in confusion.

The digital lock flashed green. And slowly, the heavy steel door began opening by itself. A cold breeze rushed from inside the room.

Nobody moved. Even Dante looked shocked, I could barely see anything clearly at first. Then my eyes adjusted.

The room wasn’t a torture chamber. It was an office, a hidden office underground.

Files covered the desks. Photographs were pinned across the walls. Security monitors flickered silently in the corner beside stacks of documents.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The walls were covered in pictures of people. Politicians, Police officers, Judges, Famous businessmen.

All connected with red strings like some terrifying conspiracy board. I slowly stepped inside.

“What is this place?” Nobody answered.

Then my eyes landed on one photograph near the center wall. And my entire body froze, It was my father.

Standing beside Dante’s younger brother.

Smiling.

Underneath the picture, one sentence was written in black marker.

TRUST NO ONE IN THE FAMILY.

My breathing became uneven.

“What the hell is this?” Dante walked into the room slowly, his face pale with anger. “This room was supposed to stay buried.”

Matteo laughed softly. “Secrets never stay buried forever.” I turned toward Dante again.

“Your brother knew my father?”

“Yes.”

“And he trusted him?”

Dante stayed silent for too long. That silence answered everything, I felt sick again.

“Then why would my father betray him?” “He didn’t,” Matteo said quietly. The words echoed inside my head. Dante looked ready to kill him now.

“Do you think exposing this changes anything?”

“It changes everything.”

One of the guards suddenly spoke nervously.

“Boss…”

Dante didn’t look away from Matteo. “What?”

The guard swallowed hard.

“There’s someone else here.” Every muscle in my body tightened instantly.

“What do you mean?” Dante asked sharply.

The guard pointed toward the security monitors. One of the screens showed movement deeper underground. A dark figure walked slowly through another hidden corridor beneath the estate.

Watching us. The camera quality was terrible, but I could still tell the figure was a woman.Long black dress. Dark veil covering her face.

And somehow, every person inside the room became tense at once. Even Dante, Matteo’s expression changed immediately.

“No…”

Dante grabbed the monitor sharply. “That’s impossible.” I looked between them in confusion. “Who is she?”

Nobody answered me.

The woman on the screen suddenly stopped walking. Then slowly, she lifted her head toward the camera.

My blood turned cold, because even through the blurry footage…

I recognized her face. I had seen it before.

Earlier tonight.

In the old family portrait hanging inside Dante’s mansion. The portrait of his dead younger brother and his wife.

“She’s supposed to be dead.” Dante looked horrified.

But Matteo looked worse. He looked terrified, then the monitor suddenly lost signal.

And all the lights inside the underground office went out. The room became dark instantly ,I heard someone curse nearby before another sound echoed through the underground hallway.

Footsteps. Slow, steady, coming closer.

One of the guards turned on a flashlight quickly, but his hands were shaking now. “Boss,” he whispered nervously, “we need to leave.”

Dante grabbed my arm immediately and pulled me against him protectively. The sudden movement shocked me.

Matteo noticed too.

“You finally believe me now?” he asked bitterly. Dante ignored him completely.

The footsteps kept getting louder. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Like whoever was walking toward us wanted us to hear every step. My heart pounded painfully inside my chest.

Then suddenly, a woman’s voice echoed through the darkness.

“Dante.”

The sound of his name made every guard raise their weapons instantly. I felt Dante freeze beside me. No fear. No anger. Something deeper.

There was a flashlight across the hallway entrance .

And finally, a figure appeared.

A woman dressed entirely in black stepped into the light slowly, her dark veil covering half her face. But I could still see her eyes.

Cold blue eyes focused directly on Dante. The entire room stayed silent, then the woman smiled faintly.

“You look surprised to see me, brother.” My breath caught instantly.

Brother?

I looked at Dante in confusion, but his expression had gone completely blank. Matteo stepped backward slowly like he already knew what was about to happen.

The woman lowered her veil carefully. A scar ran across her throat, then she looked directly at me and said quietly,

“Your father died trying to protect me.” Alessia.