A KISS FILLED WITH HATE
1182 Words
The Mafia King’s Forbidden Wife
Chapter Eight: A Kiss Filled With Hate
The letter sat between them.
A single piece of paper.
A few handwritten words.
Yet it carried enough power to destroy everything Adrian De Luca had spent years protecting.
"The person who betrayed us is someone you trust."
Elena looked at Adrian.
For the first time since she met him, she didn’t see the cold billionaire.
She saw a man fighting against memories he had buried for years.
“Who wrote this?”
Adrian’s fingers tightened around the paper.
“You already know.”
Elena frowned.
“My mother.”
He nodded.
“Your mother left this for me before she died.”
“And you never told me?”
His eyes met hers.
“I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
The words hurt more than she expected.
Elena stepped back.
“Trust me?”
Her voice was quiet.
“I’m the person you forced into a marriage with.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“That’s not why.”
“Then why?”
For a moment, he said nothing.
Because the truth was complicated.
Because Elena was no longer just Marco Rossi’s daughter.
She was the woman who challenged him.
The woman who looked at him without fear.
The woman who made him question everything he believed.
And that scared him.
---
“Who do you trust?” Elena asked.
Adrian looked at the letter again.
“Very few people.”
“Your sister?”
“Yes.”
“Your guards?”
“Yes.”
She paused.
“Isabella?”
His silence answered for him.
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
“You think it’s her.”
“I think anyone is capable of betrayal.”
“That includes me?”
Adrian looked at her.
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
That surprised both of them.
Elena noticed.
“You answered very quickly.”
Adrian looked away.
“Because I know you.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
The words hung between them.
Something about the way he said it made her heart beat faster.
---
The next day, Adrian insisted Elena stay inside the mansion.
Naturally, she hated the idea.
“You’re not my owner.”
“No.”
Adrian adjusted his watch.
“But I am responsible for your safety.”
“I can protect myself.”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Can you?”
Elena narrowed her eyes.
“Are you challenging me?”
“I’m reminding you that this world is different.”
She stepped closer.
“And I’m reminding you that I’m not helpless.”
For a second, neither moved.
The air between them changed.
Too close.
Too intense.
Elena noticed the way Adrian looked at her.
Not like a possession.
Not like a responsibility.
Like he was trying to understand her.
Then he stepped away.
“Stay here.”
She watched him leave.
And she hated that a small part of her wanted him to stay.
---
That evening, Elena received another message.
Unknown number.
You are sleeping beside the enemy.
Her face tightened.
Another message followed.
Ask Adrian what happened the night your mother died.
Her hands trembled.
Because there was one thing she had never asked.
The night her mother died.
She had always been told it was an accident.
But now…
She wasn’t sure she believed anything anymore.
---
Unable to wait, Elena went searching for Adrian.
She found him in the private training room.
He was different there.
No expensive suit.
No billionaire image.
Just a man carrying years of anger.
He noticed her immediately.
“What happened?”
She held up her phone.
His expression changed when he read the message.
“Who sent this?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian looked furious.
Not at her.
At whoever was trying to hurt her.
“You need to stop investigating this alone.”
“And you need to stop keeping secrets.”
His jaw tightened.
“Elena.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You don’t get to decide what truths I can handle.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
His voice lowered.
“Because if you keep digging, you might find something you can never forgive.”
The words struck her.
“Like what?”
Silence.
Then Elena asked the question that had been burning inside her.
“Were you there the night my mother died?”
Adrian froze.
Only for a second.
But she saw it.
The hesitation.
Her heart dropped.
“You were.”
“Elena…”
“You were there.”
He looked away.
“I tried to save her.”
The room went silent.
“You knew she was going to die?”
“No.”
His voice became rough.
“I was too late.”
Elena stared at him.
The man she had believed was hiding the truth…
Was carrying his own pain.
But before she could respond, anger took over.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“When?”
“When I knew how to tell you without destroying you.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t get to choose that.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“And you don’t get to walk into danger because you think you’re the only one who wants answers.”
They were standing inches apart.
Both angry.
Both hurt.
Both refusing to admit the strange pull between them.
“You’re impossible,” Elena whispered.
“And you’re reckless.”
“You’re arrogant.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“You’re a control freak.”
“And you’re the first person who has ever made me lose control.”
The words slipped out before Adrian could stop them.
Silence.
Elena looked at him.
Neither of them moved.
Then, without thinking…
Adrian kissed her.
It wasn’t gentle.
It wasn’t planned.
It was anger.
Frustration.
Fear.
Two wounded people trying to understand something they didn’t want to feel.
For a moment, Elena forgot to breathe.
Then reality returned.
She pushed him away.
“What was that?”
Adrian looked just as shocked as she was.
“I don’t know.”
And that was the most terrifying answer.
Because Adrian De Luca always knew what he was doing.
Except when it came to her.
---
Later that night, Adrian stood alone in his office.
He touched his lips, frustrated with himself.
Elena Rossi was supposed to be a responsibility.
A contract.
A weakness he needed to protect.
But now he knew the truth.
She was becoming something far more dangerous.
Someone he could lose.
Meanwhile, Elena sat in her room, trying to convince herself she hated him.
But her heart refused to listen.
Because the man she was supposed to fear…
Was slowly becoming the man she wanted to understand.
Then her phone buzzed again.
A new message.
This time, there was a picture attached.
Elena opened it.
And her blood turned cold.
It was a picture of Adrian.
Standing beside her mother.
On the night she died.
To be continued…
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