Bound To My Mafia Husband

The first sign that anything could go wrong came with just one phonecall. It was a little after midnight, and the pavements were lit by that eerie orange light glow that only city lights cast. I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets and sighed. Almost home. I hated walking alone; it was chilly, and I was always on high alert. My phone buzzed in my bag, making me jump. I stopped and pulled it out. Matteo. My brother. My only brother. He liked to go missing all the time, so it was never a shock to go so long without hearing a word from him. He never called me, not unless it was urgent. “Hey, bro, what’s up? I assume you have not called for a catch-up on the latest soaps.” I chuckled, keeping my tone light. “Lena, I... I messed up.” His breathing was off. I frowned as I tried to make sense of my brother's words. What had he done? Anxiety spiked, making my hands tremble. My heart sank. “Matteo, what are you talking about? What have you done?” A silence. Then, the admission was the reason he called. “Lena, I needed the money. I thought I’d put it back before anyone noticed—before he noticed.” Matteo stammered. I stopped walking at that point; my feet were frozen to the spot, right under a flickering street light. A knot of dread formed in my chest. My brother had taken something, and he was in trouble, but I didn’t know how serious it was. Although a sick feeling entered my mind, I pushed it aside, telling myself it would not be that. “Matteo, what did you take? Who from?” I bit my lip, waiting for him not to say the name I feared. “The Giordanos,” he whispered, as if someone might overhear. My eyes closed, and everything inside me went stone cold. I was paralysed to the spot, unable to move. My phone was stuck to my ear as I listened to my brother's stupidity. The Giordanos, of all people. them. Why them? Maybe I had heard him wrong. “The Giordanos? Luca Giordano's family?” Even the words felt dangerous on my tongue. There was absolutely no way in this world that my brother would be so dumb to mess with that family. “Yep, the one and only.” Matteo sighed, and I wanted to reach through the phone and throttle him. How could he be so damn stupid? Stealing from the Giordanos would mean a death sentence. “Matteo, are you f*****g nuts? What the hell were you thinking?” I exclaimed, unable to hide my disappointment. “I know Lena, and I'm so sorry. " I need help,” he sounded so desperate. “How much are we talking here?” I wanted to know, but the line went dead suddenly. I stared at my phone for a moment, my pulse pounding in my ears as I swallowed hard. I needed to make sure my brother was okay, help him put things right. He was so stupid for getting himself into such a situation, but I couldn't just leave him to deal with it alone. The Giordanos family was not the sort of family that would let anything like that slide; they were not just power. They were the definition of fear. It was not a situation that I could fix with reasons or apologies, but I had to at least try. I felt desperate and anxious—didn't I? I texted Matteo that I would sort it and not to worry, but inside, I was screaming. I kept on walking until I stood outside a tall building, a place that I had never imagined entering, especially alone at this time of the evening. I was not even sure if he would see me. The lobby was marble and silent. so eerily silent. A man in a dark suit appeared out of nowhere. “Who are you?” He demanded to know, his voice gruff and his eyes boring into me. I straightened my spine. “I am here to see Luca Giordanos,” I answered the man. The man looked surprised by my response. He then smirked and stepped a little closer to me as if his intentions were to intimidate me. “Is that so? And, what makes you think that Mr Giordanos will see you?” “Tell him that Elena Rossi is here to see him,” I said calmly. That seemed to wipe the smirk off the man's face. “Wait here.” He turned away from me and pressed a button on his earpiece. I watched curiously. I waited where he had told me to, and after a few moments, he turned back to me. “Mr Giordano will see you now, Miss Rossi.” I nodded. “Thank you.” The man led me to a glass elevator and said nothing more until we reached the top. “Just through here.” He gestured for me to follow him. bh The glass doors opened with a sharp click, and I stepped into a long corridor with doors that I would probably lose count of if I had bothered to try to count them all. The pounding of my heart in my chest made me stop for a split second. Was this the right thing to do? What if this Luca Giordanos was more dangerous than the rumours could ever be? I sucked in a deep breath and forced myself to continue down the carpeted hallway. The man finally stopped at a closed door. Turning to me, he raised an eyebrow. “Mr Giordanos is waiting in here for you.” He knocked on the door. “Enter.” Came a deep commanding voice. My ears pricked up, and my heartbeat thundered even more than before. The man pushed the door open and allowed me to enter as he stepped aside, closing the door behind me with a click that echoed in my ears. I was alone with a dangerous man. Luca Giordano. “Elena Rossi.” He spoke, standing up from his black leather swivel chair and adjusting his tie. He looked younger than I had imagined, maybe early thirties. Everything about this man shouted not to be messed with. His jet black hair, his dark eyes and the glint of a watch that probably cost much more than my whole life's worth of rent on my apartment. I almost forgot how to breathe. “Yes, Mr Giordanos, I came here to speak to you in person,” I said quietly. My confidence had left me at the door. He tilted his head to the side, and his lips formed into a smirk. “About your sorry excuse of a brother.” He knew. He knew exactly why I was here. “Matteo made a mistake, a very stupid mistake, Mr Giordanos. I am merely here to discuss payment options. Maybe a monthly amount until the debt is cleared?” I offered, I was sure that I could be convincing. It was surely not much, maybe a thousand at the most. Matteo would never have taken more than that. Luca Giordanos studied me carefully, then a faint, humourless smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You want to fix this?” I nodded quickly. “Yes. I will do whatever it takes.” Luca Giordanos raised an eyebrow. He moved a little closer to me, then instructed me to take a seat. He poured a glass of whiskey and offered me one. I took it and downed it, the taste was bitter as it spilt down my throat. “Do you know what happens to people who steal from me, Miss Rossi?” he suddenly wanted to know. I froze. This did not sound good. “I know what your reputation says.” I looked directly at him. “Hmm, then you know your brother should already be dead.” Dead? His words hit me like a cold blade slicing right through my heart. I wanted to throw up. Was this his admission? Was my brother dead? “Please, Mr Giordanos, I will do anything. My brother is all I have left in this world. Do you not have a heart?” I clenched my hands to stop the trembling. “Two million dollars says otherwise.” I froze. “What?” “Your brother stole two million from me, and I want it back. Now, you came here to my building alone. No backup. I admire that you were either brave or extremely foolish.” He said, walking to his window and looking out at the city, before turning back to me. “Maybe I am both,” I muttered, my head aching. How the hell did my brother think stealing was okay, let alone two million! “Marry me.” Luca Giordano said. I blinked. “What?” “You want your brother to live, don’t you?” He said. “In exchange for his life, you will marry me for one year, and the debt disappears.” I stared at him, unable to process the level of his insanity. “Are you crazy?” He did not smile. “Do I look like a man who jokes?” My insides turned to cold stone once again as I realised that he was being deadly serious. In exchange for my brother's life and the debt disappearing, he wanted to marry me for one year. This was insane. “Fine, I will do it. I will marry you for one whole year.” I found myself saying, and just like that, my life as I had always known it ended.