Married To The Devil I Hate

Chapter 12

The clock in the corner of the master suite ticks with a heavy, rhythmic pulse, counting down the agonizing seconds of the longest night of my entire life.

Midnight came and went an hour ago.

I am pacing the length of the extravagant bedroom, my flat boots making absolutely no sound against the thick, plush rugs. I have memorized every single detail of this cage

the intricate molding on the vaulted ceiling, the exact shade of sheets, the way the firelight dances across the cold floors. But none of it brings me any comfort.

Outside, the storm has finally broken. The heavy rain has faded into a chilling, silent mist that completely swallows the sprawling De Santis estate. It feels like the entire world is holding its breath, waiting to see what the Devil will leave in his wake.

Luca had promised to be back by midnight.

Every time I hear a floorboard creak in the hallway or the distant muffled shout of a guard on the grounds, my heart jumps into my throat. My mind conjures terrifying, bloody images of the ambush. I picture Lorenzo and his men, heavily armed, waiting in the dark. I picture Luca, already injured, walking straight into a firefight.

“I will be back.”

His raspy voice echoes in my head, but in the world of the mafia, promises are just words waiting to be shattered by a bullet.

By one in the morning, the walls of the suite feel like they are physically closing in on me. The suffocating silence is making me lose my mind. I cannot just sit here and wait for a knock on the door that might tell me I am a widow.

I march over to the heavy double doors and pull them open.

Marco is standing exactly where I left him hours ago. He looks like a massive stone gargoyle guarding the gates of hell. He turns his head slowly, his dark eyes assessing me with that new, quiet respect he had shown earlier in the day.

"Signora," Marco says, his voice a low rumble in the quiet corridor. "You should be resting. It is late."

"I can't sleep," I reply, my voice tight with thinly veiled panic. I cross my arms over my dark charcoal sweater, trying to ward off the chill of the stone hallway. "Is there any word, Marco? Has he called in?"

Marco hesitates. In the mafia hierarchy, the wives are kept completely in the dark. They are meant to smile, look beautiful, and ask absolutely zero questions about the blood on their husbands' hands. But Marco looks at my pale face, his jaw clenching as he debates whether or not to break protocol.

"The strike team made contact with Costa’s compound two hours ago," Marco finally admits, keeping his voice strictly professional.

"Communications have been dark since the initial breach. That is standard for a total assault, Signora. The boss operates in absolute silence until the target is eliminated."

A cold shudder runs directly down my spine. Total assault.

"I need to walk," I tell him, my eyes silently begging him not to force me back into that suffocating bedroom. "I just want to go to the library. Please."

Marco studies my face for a long second before giving a single, stiff nod. "I will escort you."

We walk in silence through the winding, shadowed corridors of the west wing. The estate feels entirely different at night.

We reach the grand library, a massive two-s********m filled with thousands of leather bound books, smelling heavily of old paper and dust.

I wander aimlessly down the towering aisles, running my fingertips lightly over the gold-embossed spines of the books. Marco stands by the heavy doors, his hands resting on his tactical belt, his eyes tracking the shadows.

"Has he always been like this?" I ask quietly, my voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space.

Marco doesn't need to ask who I am talking about. "The boss has always been a force of nature," he answers, his tone laced with unwavering loyalty. "His father, the old Don, was a cruel man. He ruled with fear and paranoia. But Luca... Luca rules with precision. He doesn't just kill. He dismantles."

I stop walking, turning to look at the massive guard through a gap in the bookshelves. "My father thought he was winning the war against the De Santis syndicate. Up until the very last week, Vincenzo Romano was convinced he had the upper hand. Then, suddenly, our territories were gone, our capos were dead, and Luca was at our front door demanding a treaty."

Marco lets out a dark, humorless chuckle. "Your father is an arrogant fool, Signora. He never had the upper hand."

I step out from the aisle, moving closer to the center of the room. "What do you mean?"

Marco looks around the empty library, making sure we are completely alone before he steps slightly closer. "The boss spent three years maneuvering Vincenzo Romano into a corner. He let your father take small territories just to make him feel confident. He manipulated the supply lines, bought off the corrupt politicians your family relied on, and slowly isolated your syndicate from the rest of the Commission."

My breath catches in my throat. Three years. Luca told me he had been watching me, but I didn't realize the sheer, terrifying scope of his obsession.

"He didn't just win a turf war, Signora," Marco says, his voice dropping to a heavy, serious whisper. "He engineered the entire conflict. He backed your father so far against a wall that Vincenzo had absolutely no choice but to offer a peace treaty to survive."

"And the treaty demanded me," I whisper, my blood turning to cold.

"Yes," Marco confirms heavily. "The boss never cared about the south side docks or the smuggling routes. He dismantled half of the Chicago underworld just to force your father to hand you over legally, so the Commission couldn't interfere. You weren't a spontaneous demand, Sophia. You were the entire objective."

I stagger back half a step, my hand flying up to cover my mouth.

My mind spins wildly, frantically connecting the terrifying dots. Luca didn't just see a picture of me and decide he wanted a pretty bride. He tore a city apart. He caused a bloody mafia war. He orchestrated absolute chaos and death, all to trap me in this cage without a single avenue of escape.

It is the most horrifying, unhinged, and psychopathic thing I have ever heard.

And yet, deep in the darkest, most twisted corner of my soul, a dangerous spark of heat flares to life. A man had literally burned the world to ashes just to possess me.

Suddenly, the heavy roar of high powered engines shatters the silence of the night.

Marco instantly straightens up, his hand dropping to the radio on his shoulder. Static crackles loudly before a frantic voice comes through. "Gate one is opening. The boss is home."

I don't wait for Marco. I sprint past him, my boots thudding against the floors as I run out of the library and back toward the grand foyer. My heart is hammering a rhythm against my ribs.

I reach the top of the grand, sweeping staircase just as the heavy front doors of the estate are shoved open.

The cold night air sweeps into the foyer, bringing with it the sharp, unmistakable.

Luca walks through the doors.

He looks like a demon who just crawled his way out of the lowest circle of hell. His heavy black overcoat is covered in gray ash and dark, wet splatters of blood that definitely do not belong to him.

His black shirt is ruined, torn at the collar, and his hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat and rain. His knuckles are completely bruised and split open, dripping fresh blood onto the floor.

The guards in the foyer immediately step back, giving him a wide berth. The sheer, suffocating aura of death and violence radiating off him is absolutely terrifying.

He stops in the center of the foyer, his broad chest heaving as he pulls in ragged breaths. He looks up.

His eyes lock onto me standing at the top of the stairs.

The murderous, unhinged fury on his face completely vanishes the second our eyes meet. The heavy tension drops from his massive shoulders, and he looks, for just a fraction of a second, entirely human.

He doesn't say a word. He bypasses his capos, bypasses Rosa who is rushing forward with towels, and walks straight up the grand staircase.

I stand completely frozen as he ascends, his heavy boots echoing like a death knell in the quiet house. He stops one step below me, our faces completely level. The smell of blood is overwhelming, but beneath it is his intoxicating scent.

"Is it done?" I whisper, my voice shaking so hard, I can barely form the words.

"Lorenzo Costa is ashes," Luca answers, his deep voice completely devoid of any remorse. "His compound is leveled. His lieutenants are dead. No one will ever dare look at you again."

He raises his bruised, blood stained hand, hesitating for just a second before gently cupping my cheek. The contrast between his knuckles and my soft skin is stark and terrifying. He smears a tiny drop of someone else's blood onto my jaw, marking me with the brutal reality of his world.

I don't flinch away. I don't pull back.

Instead, I lean my face into his rough palm, my eyes fluttering shut as a massive, shuddering breath escapes my lungs. He came back. He fought a war for me, and he came back.

Luca lets out a low groan. He takes the final step up, his massive arms wrapping completely around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest. He buries his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent like I am the only source of oxygen left on earth.

"You waited up for me," he murmurs against my skin, his voice thick with a dark, heavy emotion that sounds dangerously like awe.

"I couldn't sleep," I confess softly, my hands slowly lifting to wrap around his broad shoulders, my fingers tangling in the damp, dark hair at the nape of his neck.

He pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes.

The blue depths are entirely consumed by a raw, burning obsession that Marco’s words had perfectly illuminated just moments ago. He had hunted me for years. And now, he finally had me in his arms.

"You are mine, Sophia," Luca growls, his voice a fierce, unyielding vow that vibrates through my entire body. "I tore this f*****g city apart to get you, and I will burn the rest of the world down to keep you."

He doesn't ask for permission this time.

Luca crashes his mouth down onto mine, consuming me with a desperate, bruising kiss.

The last lingering shred of my resistance completely snaps. I kiss him back with equal ferocity, entirely surrendering to the beautiful, terrifying monster who has made me the center of his universe.