Page 79 of Broken Mafia Bride
And then I feel it—that crack inside me spreading wider, the weight of everything collapsing in my chest.
He told me there was nothing between them. He looked me in the eye and swore. Said I was the only one. Said we could have the life we’d always dreamed of. A cottage by the lake. A dog. Mornings with coffee and silence. He fed me fantasies while planting a future in someone else’s body.
A fragile sound escapes my throat—half gasp, half sob—and my cousin moves closer, her face etched with concern. “Giulia, are you okay? You should sit down. You’ve been under so much stress, and you really need to rest.”
“I’m fine,” I say quietly, steadying my voice. “Just… blindsided.”
“Because of the baby?” she asks gently.
And that’s when I turn—and see him.
Raffaele stands there, still as stone, his blue eyes filled with guilt, sorrow… and something that might be regret. He takes a hesitant step forward, then falters, as if unsure he has the right to come any closer.
I swallow hard. The sob I’ve been holding threatens to rise again, but I push it down, locking eyes with him as my heart fractures silently all over again.
I don’t cry. I won’t.
I just stare at him, every heartbeat carving his name deeper into the hollow he’s left in me.
24
RAFFAELE
“Let’s get out of here, Ariel,” the fisherman says, breaking the silence that has suddenly descended in the hallway.
“Giulia, can we talk?” I ask her.
“Talk about what?” she asks coolly.
“About this,” I blurt out. “Let’s just calm down and talk about this.”
She lets out a humorless bark of laughter. She’s trying so hard to look unaffected, but I can see beneath the facade. She’s hurt, and I hate that I’ve hurt her again. I should have just fucking told her the truth.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Giulia says.
“Come on, Ariel,” Marco slants me a look, a mixture of disappointment, satisfaction, and distaste.
I narrow my eyes at him. The bastard probably thinks that this is his one-way ticket back into her life. She begins to head to him, and I reach out and grab her by the elbow.
“Giulia, stop,” I grit out. “What you heard?—”
She tugs her arm away, dislodging my grip on her. “Raffaele, please. You have a baby to think about now. I think you shouldput your focus there for now. I can’t get in the middle of whatever this is. Please don’t ask me to.”
“You’re already in the middle of this.”
“Then I’m taking myself out of it!” she roars. “I can’t deal with more complications. This is bigger than me—bigger than us now.”
A beat of silence, then she lets out a breath, looking defeated, and it tears at me, slices me to ribbons on the inside. “I’m going to see if Lucio and Papa are done fighting and ready to help me now. I should focus on my family, and you should focus on yours.”
I flinch, the words landing a devastating blow to my solar plexus. She glances away from the pain written on the lines of my face, gnawing at her lower lip.
There’s nothing left to say. I can only step back and watch her walk away. Everything is different now, and we both know it. Whatever fragile hope was developing between us has crumbled to dust in the blink of an eye.
I wait until the door clicks shut behind Giulia before I round on Isabella. “How the hell did this happen? It was one time—one fucking time. Are you sure you’re pregnant?”
“Of course I am,” she says, steady and unflinching.
“How could you?!” I snap.
