Page 57 of Married to the Ruthless Mafia Heir

I went back to Moretti Manor.

The moment the gates opened, the butler and servants stood on both sides. Everyone kept their heads down, not daring tolook at me. The entire manor was wrapped in a kind of silence I'd never felt before.

Alfredo led me to Salvador's bedroom. The lights were off, only a weak lamp glowing on the nightstand. Salvador lay in bed, all signs of life gone. His face had turned ashen gray. On the nightstand sat a letter.

I picked up the letter and sat in the nearby chair. Alfredo left quietly, not wanting to disturb me, closing the door behind him.

The handwriting was messy, pressed hard into the paper. It looked like a dying man had used his last bit of strength to write it.

"Dante,

This is the last time I'll call you that.

I didn't think I'd wake up again. Maybe it was just to tell you the truth. Elena never drugged you. That day, I drugged both of you. She was just an innocent victim too.

To make her marry you, I threatened her with her mother. I manufactured a debt crisis for her father so she'd have to come to me. We signed a contract—I'd help solve her crisis. In return, she'd hide our deal, marry you, and give you a child.

I knew neither of you would agree, so I used these methods. Neither of you did anything wrong. The only one at fault is me. But I knew my time was running out, so I had to make you marry while I was still alive.

Elena was my personal choice. She truly has many fine qualities. Her behavior since the marriage has only proven I chose correctly.

I need to tell you good news. Elena's pregnant. She told me herself—over a month along. I don't know what happened between you two, but I know you haven't been a proper husband. She's pregnant, yet she left the manor. So I'm guessing you don't know about this.

Go find her and bring her back. What your mother and I couldn't accomplish, I hope you can.

And now, I can finally be reunited with your mother."

Chapter Twenty-One

Dante

I pocketed the letter and left the room. Right behind me, Alfredo led his men inside and shut the door.

The hallway stretched long. The Egyptian handwoven carpet swallowed most of my footsteps. But I had no time for grief. Salvador's news was too critical. I had more pressing matters to handle.

Lucia waited for me in the first-floor parlor. When she saw me, her hands twisted together. She looked nervous.

"Where did Elena go?" My voice came out cold. "She's been gone for days, and you're the one who helped her hide it from everyone at the manor!"

Lucia flinched at the authority in my tone. She'd lived at the manor for decades, someone like a mother to me. But she'd chosen the opposite side. She'd helped Elena leave me.

"She... didn't tell me." Lucia dropped her head, unable to meet my eyes.

"How long has she been gone?" I pressed my hand to my forehead. A needle-sharp pain stabbed there, so intense I could barely breathe.

The thought of Elena pregnant and alone somewhere—somewhere I didn't even know was safe—terrified me. How had she endured all of this?

Salvador's threats. My coldness and cruelty. Valentina driving wedges between us. We hadn't been married long, yet she'd suffered so much humiliation. And still she'd kept her promise to give the Moretti family an heir.

Lucia stammered. I couldn't control myself anymore. "I asked you—when the hell did she leave?"

Every servant around us turned to look. Lucia's voice came out soft. "Three days ago."

Three days. A full three days.

I'd spent those days in meetings, making deals, tracking Javier's movements. Too busy to even visit the manor once. Too busy to care whether she was okay there.

Lucia pulled something from her pocket—the ring I'd put on Elena's finger. The diamond caught the light, sharp and cold, stabbing into my eyes.