Page 49 of Broken Mafia Bride
I can’t even imagine how scared she is right now, and the thought of the horrors she’s going through…
Every time I close my eyes, I see her face behind my eyelids, calling for me in a weak voice, big, blue eyes filled with terror. I shake the image away.
“I, uh, need to go,” I tell her, blinking back my tears.
“Are you okay, Giulia?” she asks softly.
“Yeah, I?—”
“Mama,” a sweet voice calls from the screen, and I watch Sienna’s eyes widen. She stares at me like I’m a loose cannon that’s about to go off, and I can’t stand it.
I know she’s been keeping her kids off the call because she thinks seeing them would be too much for me—and maybe she’s right.
Offering her a stiff smile, I say a hurried goodbye and shut the laptop screen. I bury my face in my hands and take several deep breaths, trying to steady my shot nerves. My grandfather’s wine bar is starting to look like a good idea.
The sound of cars pulling into the driveway snaps me out of my daze, and I jump to my feet and rush out of the dining room. I race into the foyer just as my grandfather and his men walk in.
Lucio Sanna isn’t what I thought he’d be. I spent years building him up in my mind as this large, monstrous, cruel man who ripped my family apart, but he’s nothing like that.
I’ve had to revise everything I know about him since I arrived at Casa Bianca. As soon as he saw me, he wrapped his arms around me and welcomed me to his home.
“You would have always had a place here,” he told me on the first night, clasping my hands in his rough, callused ones.
Even though he still blames Papa for dividing his family and for all the years lost, we’ve managed to bond—through the pain of my mother Eleonora’s death, and through the loss of Valentina. We’ve shared stories about the women we both loved but never truly got to keep.
He’s been working overtime, using every resource at his disposal to help me find Noemi—even though he owes me nothing.
“Lucio,” I say, stepping up to him, the name feeling awkward on my tongue. I still haven’t been able to bring myself to call him grandfather.
He offers me a soft smile. “Giulia, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine, I guess,” I say impatiently. “What’s going on now? Did you find any leads?”
His face falls. “I’m sorry, child. I’m doing my best. We interrogated some of the La Rete Rossi members who were caught at the airport last week, but none of them budged. I honestly believe they don’t know anything about what’s going on.”
My throat tightens. My hands twitch at my sides. I want to scream, to shake someone—anyone—into telling me where the hell she is.
How can no one know?La Rete Rossi doesn’t make moves without reason. This wasn’t random. It wasn’t a mistake.
“It’s not possible,” I insist. “There’s no way no one knows anything.”
“That’s another thing I need to ask you,” he says. “Think, child—what you said at the shed that day. Is it possible you were mistaken about La Rete Rossi?”
“I’m sure of what I saw, Lucio. I’ve seen their flags in town, and it was definitely their coin I found.”
The image of that coin flashes through my mind again. I still can’t believe I lost it in my luggage on my first day at Casa Bianca.
He nods. “I’ll continue looking. I won’t stop until I find her. I’ve already lost my family once, and I don’t intend on doing that again.”
Lucio grips my shoulders firmly, his eyes are full of promise as he stares at me. A little bit of relief washes through me. Just knowing that a man like Re Ombra is taking charge of this search allows some hope to remain inside of me.
On my own, I wouldn’t have even known where to begin. I’m truly grateful to him—and I really should’ve listened to Isabella years ago and reconnected with him.
“Have you spoken to your father yet?” His voice turns a little frosty, and he clasps his hand behind his back.
“Not yet,” I tell him. “I’m not ready to speak to him.”
I know he’ll come storming in like a hurricane—guns blazing, orders flying. But this isn’t about pride or power. This is about my daughter. And I don’t trust him to understand that.
