Vincenzo’s jaw tightened so sharply I felt it rather than heard it—a faint, dangerous tension that ran through him like a wire pulled to its limit.
“Loretta...” His voice dropped, controlled but edged with something volatile.
“What exactly are you driving at?”
“He says... the only way I can stay with the child is if I married him,” she rushed out.
“So I agreed.”
“Big brother... you must understand why. After I lost my baby, I went mad and ended up in the asylum.”
“You know what led to the pregnancy—everything was too much. When I got out two months later and found the child, I thought it was God’s miracle, replacing my lost baby with this one I found at the dumpster. I couldn’t part with her—that’s why I married her father.”
“What!”
Vincenzo’s gaze slid past Loretta and locked onto the man standing beside her.
“Rafael ‘El Mencho’ Pérez,” he said, voice low and edged with dark amusement.
“This is not how I imagined we would meet again.”
At the name, the atmosphere in the garage thickened instantly.
The air itself grew heavier, charged.
Loretta blinked, glancing between them in confusion.
“You know him?”
“We used to be best friends,” Vincenzo answered, the muscle in his jaw ticking.
“He lived here in Italy as a boy, with his parents.”
“They led one of the Spanish rebel factions operating in our territory.”
His voice dropped.
“During the war, we publicly executed his mother and father.”
“We left their bodies hanging for days. He was there. We were both thirteen. That day severed everything between us. Afterward, he was taken back to Spain.”
Vincenzo’s eyes narrowed on Loretta.
“You married a mafia boss without telling me?”
His jaw clenched so tightly the bone stood out.
Loretta took two sharp steps away from Rafael, finally understanding the gravity of what she had walked into.
“He’s a mob boss?”
“He rules the largest mafia empire in Spain,” Vincenzo said coldly, “and he is our greatest enemy.”
“Loretta... what the hell have you done? Please tell me the wedding hasn’t happened yet.”
Rafael’s lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile.
“Can’t you see the ring on her finger, Vincenzo?”
