THE MAFIA'S OBSESSION

CHOOSE ME

The drive was silent.

No one dared speak.

The convoy cut through the night, black SUVs racing down the empty highway while Dante's men barked orders into their earpieces.

I sat beside him.

His jaw was clenched.

His phone hadn't stopped ringing for the last twenty minutes.

He ignored every call.

Except one.

"What?"

His voice was sharp.

He listened.

Then...

"No."

Silence.

"I said no."

He ended the call.

I turned to him.

"Tell me."

He kept his eyes on the road ahead.

"Your father disappeared an hour ago."

"You already said that."

"There was an attack."

My stomach tightened.

"Is he alive?"

"We don't know."

I swallowed hard.

"And nobody thought to tell me?"

"I did."

"After dragging me into a car."

"It was safer."

"For who?"

"For you."

I looked away.

Nothing about tonight felt safe anymore.

The convoy stopped outside an abandoned vineyard on the outskirts of the city.

Police weren't there.

They couldn't be.

Families like ours solved their own problems.

Dante opened my door before I could touch the handle.

"Stay close."

"I can walk."

"I know."

"I don't need a bodyguard."

"You have one anyway."

His hand settled lightly against the small of my back.

Not controlling.

Guiding.

Protecting.

I hated how natural it felt.

Inside the estate house, broken glass covered the floor.

Furniture had been overturned.

Bullet holes scarred the walls.

There had been a fight.

A bad one.

One of Dante's men approached.

"Boss."

"No sign of Russo."

"And Marco?"

The man hesitated.

"Gone."

Dante's eyes darkened.

"Find him."

"Alive?"

Dante looked at me.

Then back at the man.

"Alive."

The single word surprised everyone.

Including me.

The guard hurried away.

"You changed your mind."

Dante glanced at me.

"I need answers."

"Or..."

I stepped closer.

"You don't want me watching you kill someone who helped raise me."

For the first time...

He didn't deny it.

Hours passed.

Nothing.

No ransom.

No demands.

No clues.

The silence was almost worse.

I wandered onto the back porch, desperate for air.

The night was cold.

A blanket settled gently over my shoulders.

I didn't need to turn around.

"I said I wasn't cold."

"I know."

"You keep doing that."

"What?"

"Knowing."

He stood beside me.

Looking out over the empty vineyard.

"My mother hated the cold."

I looked at him.

It was the first time he'd mentioned his family.

"When I was twelve..."

His voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it.

"...she disappeared."

I froze.

"What?"

"For three days."

He kept staring ahead.

"My father searched everywhere."

"What happened?"

"They found her."

My chest tightened.

"Alive?"

"Yes."

He nodded once.

"But barely."

Silence settled between us.

"After that..."

He swallowed.

"I promised myself I'd never fail to protect the people who mattered to me again."

I looked at him.

Something clicked.

This wasn't about duty.

Or the marriage.

Or the alliance.

It never had been.

"Dante..."

He finally met my eyes.

"I know you think I'm trying to control you."

"I'm trying to keep a promise I made long before I ever met you."

Before I could answer...

A phone rang.

His.

He answered immediately.

"What?"

His expression changed.

Hope.

Then anger.

Then disbelief.

He slowly lowered the phone.

"What is it?" I whispered.

He looked straight at me.

"They found your father."

Relief rushed through me.

"Thank God."

Dante didn't smile.

"He wasn't alone."

The relief vanished.

"What do you mean?"

His eyes searched mine.

As if preparing me for something that couldn't be taken back.

"They found him with a woman."

I frowned.

"What woman?"

Dante's voice was barely above a whisper.

"My mother.

To be continued...