The Mafia’s Substitute Bride

As Leonardo and Sofia finally arrived at their car, Mark, their trusted friend, hurriedly opened the door for them. Leonardo, with the utmost care, guided Sofia to the backseat, ensuring her comfort. He settled beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and gently pulled her closer to him. Sofia leaned her head against his chest, finding solace in his touch.

Throughout the drive, Leonardo continued to stroke Sofia’s hair, his fingers gliding through the soft strands. His voice, filled with tenderness and concern, whispered comforting words into her ears like a soothing melody.

“It’s okay, Sofia,” Leonardo murmured softly. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you. They can’t hurt you anymore. No one can harm you. I’ll protect you with everything I have.”

His voice was laced with determination, a promise that he intended to keep. As he spoke, it seemed as though he was not just comforting Sofia but also reassuring himself.

Sofia remained silent throughout the drive, her thoughts swirling in her mind like a turbulent storm. She gazed out of the car window, watching the passing landscape without truly seeing it. Leonardo asked after every minute as if he couldn’t get enough of hearing that she was okay. His heart was thumping loud beneath her head.

Every time Leonardo asked a question, Sofia nodded without uttering a word. The weight of her emotions prevented her from finding the right words to express her inner turmoil. As they continued on the journey, Sofia’s exhaustion started to take its toll. Fatigue seeped into her bones, and she couldn’t fight the weariness any longer.

Unable to keep her eyes open, Sofia closed them, surrendering herself to the embrace of sleep. Time passed, and the car journey transitioned into a hazy blur for her. The next thing Sofia knew, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying on a hotel room bed. Confusion washed over her as she tried to recall how she got there.

As she shifted on the bed, moving the covers away, finding she was naked. Shock coursed through her veins, and she quickly clutched the covers, pulling them up to cover her body. Panic began to creep into her voice.

“Why… Why am I lying naked on the bed?” she whispered to herself.

The room was quiet, and Sofia’s mind raced to comprehend the situation. Her memory seemed like fragments of shattered glass.

Sofia’s heart raced as she heard the sound of the door creak open. Her eyes widened, and she held her breath, her body tense with anticipation. Leonardo stepped into the room, engrossed in a conversation on his phone. His voice echoed in the quiet space, the words indecipherable to Sofia’s ears.

As his gaze fell upon her, a wave of relief washed over Leonardo’s face. He quickly ended the call, placing his phone on the nearby table, and rushed towards her. Concern etched deep lines on his forehead.

“You woke up, baby. How are you feeling?” Leonardo’s voice was filled with genuine worry as he sat down beside her on the bed.

He reached out his hand, hoping to offer her comfort. Sofia instinctively shrank back, pulling the covers up to her neck, clutching them tightly in her trembling fists.

Confusion clouded Leonardo’s eyes as he registered Sofia’s reaction. His brows furrowed, and he searched her face for answers.

“What happened, Baby girl? Why are you still scared? I told you no one could harm you.” His voice trembled with a mix of pain and guilt, his words pleading for her understanding.

Sofia swallowed hard, trying to gather her thoughts to find her voice amidst the turmoil within. She met Leonardo’s gaze, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and vulnerability. It took a moment before she could finally find the strength to speak.

“Why am I lying naked on the bed?” she questioned, her voice barely audible, as if afraid of the answer.

She looked towards him, her eyes searching for an explanation, his eyes meeting hers.

“Your dress was dirty,” he replied, his voice strained. “And I didn’t want you to sleep with some bad memories.” His expression tightened while letting out the last two. She wanted to understand, to untangle the knots in her mind, but he seemed reluctant to offer any further explanation.

“Listen!” He reached out to touch her cheek, an instinctive attempt to bridge the growing emotional distance between them. But she flinched, moving away from his touch.

Furrow deepened between his brows as he persisted, his tone laced with impatience, “Sofia. What’s wrong? Talk to me.

Her voice trembled with a mix of fear and determination as she asked the burning question that had been haunting her thoughts. “Who are you?”

As the words escaped her quivering lips, a furrow appeared on his forehead, betraying a sense of confusion. He seemed taken aback by her inquiry.

“What do you mean?” he retorted, his voice tinged with a touch of defensiveness. “You know very well who I am.”

She shook her head, her eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief and sorrow.

“No, I don’t know you,” she replied, her voice laden with a heavy heart. “I thought you were heartless and ruthless, yes. But I never thought, even in my worst nightmares, that you could be capable of taking someone’s life.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Tears welled up in her eyes, cascading down her cheeks in silent streams of pain and betrayal. The revelation shook her to her very core.

At that moment, his face underwent a stark transformation. The warmth that once resided in his features vanished, replaced by an unsettling coldness. She felt a deep sense of betrayal, her world unraveling before her. She didn’t even know the man she was married.

“But they wanted to harm you. So nothing was wrong when I killed those bastards,” Leonardo reasoned, his eyes flashing with a mix of anger and determination.

Her voice trembled slightly as she responded, “No one in this world has the right to kill someone. They were doing badly, but what you did was also bad. You killed so many people.”

The weight of the situation hung heavy in the air as Sofia took a moment to gather her thoughts. Her gaze pierced into Leonardo’s eyes, desperately seeking answers.

“Tell me who you exactly are?” she shouted in desperation, her voice echoing off the walls of the room.

“You are saying as if you don’t know about our other businesses? You are acting like you have no idea about what your father does apart from his business in daylight?” His words were edged with sarcasm, and Sofia noticed a muscle twitching in his jaw, a sign of his internal conflict.

She was shocked, unable to process the words that had just escaped his lips. Her husband’s revelation had hit her like a sudden gust of wind, leaving her feeling unsteady and disoriented. The room fell into an eerie silence as she struggled to find her voice amidst the chaos swirling within her mind.

“My father is a reputed businessman. What other business does he do?” she managed to say, her voice quivering with a mix of confusion and defiance.

He glared back at her, his piercing eyes drilling into her soul. There was no trace of warmth or affection in his expression, only a steely determination. He spoke in a cold and calculated voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

“We are the Mafia,” he declared, the words hanging heavily in the air.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and her jaw fell open, unable to contain the shock that coursed through her body. Time seemed to stand still as she struggled to absorb the weight of his confession.

She couldn’t believe that she was married to a Mafia!