After Three Days of Confinement, I Gave Up on My Mafia Fiancé

Everyone knew that I was the treasure Lorenzo Vitali held in the palm of his hand. When I said I wanted to see the stars, he would have every light outside the estate shut off, leaving the whole night sky just for me. Any emerald I glanced at twice at a private auction, he would win for me, no matter the competition, no matter the price. Back then, I believed, and so did everyone else, that I would walk into the Vitali family chapel in a wedding gown and become Lorenzo's wife. Until that dinner party. I accidentally cut Bianca Rossi's cheek with a shattered wine glass. And everything fell apart. Lorenzo didn't hear me out. He had his men take me down to the wine cellar beneath the estate. There were no windows, only damp stone walls, and an iron door as thick as a coffin lid. For three days I had no water, no food. When the pain made me shake, all I could do was curl up on the ground and claw at the cold cracks in the stone with my nails. Chapter 1 Through the camera mounted in the corner of the cellar ceiling, Lorenzo could see every bit of my misery. He sat in his study, his black suit immaculate, the family ring on his finger tapping lightly against the desk. Sal stood at his side and lowered his voice. "Sir, should we let Miss Moretti out? She's in bad shape." Lorenzo looked up. "She made the Rossi girl bleed." His voice was cold, without a flicker of feeling. "She comes out the moment she's willing to admit her fault. Not before." On the third day, the iron door finally opened. When the harsh light poured in, I could barely stand. My knees were weak, my throat as dry as if I'd swallowed sand. Lorenzo stood in the doorway, Bianca on his arm. The cut on her face had been carefully tended, a white bandage against her skin that only made her look more like a flower everyone needed to protect. She came to me first, a faint smile on her lips. "Anna, don't blame me. I already told him the cut wasn't deep and wouldn't scar, but Lorenzo insisted on making someone answer for it." I didn't look at her. My eyes were on Lorenzo, my voice shaking too badly to speak fluently. "You said you'd protect me for the rest of my life." Lorenzo frowned. "The Vitalis and the Rossis are about to merge a shipping route." That was all he said. I suddenly laughed. So three years at his side, a wedding, a woman's dignity, none of it was worth a single shipping route. "Then let's end it," I said. "I'll step aside for the two of you." Lorenzo took a step closer, his leather shoes landing with a dull thud on the stone floor. "Don't say such childish things." He looked at me the way you'd look at a child who hadn't yet learned the rules. "Bianca likes her freedom, and the Rossis would never marry her into the Vitali family. You apologize to her, and the moment she's satisfied, I'll take you out of here. The chapel wedding a month from now goes ahead as planned, and you'll still be the most talked-about bride in the whole city." He paused, his gaze shifting to Bianca. "You can have her apologize, if it makes you happy." Bianca pressed close against his arm, her voice sickly sweet. "No need to kiss my hand. Have her kneel and say she was wrong, and I'll forgive her for nearly ruining my face." Lorenzo said nothing. But his eyes had already given me my answer. My chest ached until it went numb. "I can kneel before the statue of Jesus. I can kneel at my parents' graves." I looked at him and said each word slowly. "But I will not kneel at the hem of your mistress's skirt." Lorenzo's face finally changed. "Anna." My silence drained the last of the patience from his eyes. He raised his hand. The two men guarding the door stepped forward at once. Lorenzo said only three words. "Make her kneel." Those words cut into me like a knife, without mercy. I stared at him in disbelief. "I'm your fiancée." Lorenzo pressed his thin lips together. The next second, a guard's knee slammed hard into the back of my calf. The piercing pain forced me down onto the stone floor. The instant my knees hit, I heard something crack deep in the bone. A satisfied smile spread across Bianca's face. Lorenzo walked up and looked down at me. "If you'd listened sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this." With that, he bent down and lifted me into his arms. There was a faint scent of white flowers on him. It was the scent he'd had a perfumer blend just for Bianca, one that no one else in all of Old Port was allowed to wear. My stomach churned. Then, I threw up. Nothing came up but bitter bile. Lorenzo only frowned and carried me out. As we passed Bianca, I caught the flash of venom in her eyes. Chapter 2 Lorenzo carried me back to the main house. In the bathroom, steam slowly spread through the air. "Get cleaned up. You'll feel better." Just like before, he poured my favorite rose oil into the tub and picked up a soft towel. I wanted to struggle, but after three days without a drop of water, my body had no strength left. He pulled off my filthy dress, his voice low. "Don't fight me." His tone wasn't harsh, but it left no room for refusal. As if everything about me would always be under his control, as if he could always decide whether I hurt, whether I was cold, whether I hated him. I closed my eyes and let the hot water rise over my wounds. The pain slowly woke, sharper than the cold of the cellar. As he dried my hair, Lorenzo spoke. "Bianca was doted on by the Rossis her whole life. Her father died young, and everyone in the family has always given in to her. She's only staying for our wedding. After that, she'll leave." I looked up at him. "You really only think of her as a little sister?" Lorenzo was silent for a few seconds. "Of course." I laughed. "That pause just now was all the answer I needed." I watched him in the mirror. "Lorenzo, there isn't going to be a wedding." I must have struck a nerve, because he slammed the hairdryer down on the counter. The noise made my shoulders jump. "I can hand you the keys to this whole estate, and I can take them back." He leaned down and gripped my chin, the family ring digging into me until it hurt. "Anna, you came out of an orphanage. Other than me, no one in Old Port will protect you." I looked at him. There was no lover's panic in his eyes, only the cold of a man in power who'd been defied. "Don't push me into doing something uglier." With that, he turned and left. The instant the door closed, my throat tightened. Three years. More than a thousand days and nights. When old Don Vitali had first taken him back into the family, everyone looked down on him, the bastard who'd grown up on the outside. I was the one who stayed up all night over the books with him in the dock warehouses, who went with him to meet those arrogant shipowners, who drank down the hard liquor they deliberately pushed on him, winning contract after contract. I was the one who untangled the casino's chaotic ledgers, and that was what got the old Don to single him out at a family meeting for the first time. The night his half-brother sent men to kill him, I took the knife for him. As the blade sank into me, I heard him scream my name, out of control. The blood bank was short that night, and he knelt in the hospital corridor begging the doctors. He said that as long as they could save me, they could have his life. Those words had once buried themselves deep in me, making me believe he truly held me as dear as his own life. And what came of it? A month before the wedding, he still locked me in that underground cellar for Bianca's sake. A maid came in carrying a bowl of hot soup. "Miss, the master made this clam chowder himself." I gave it a glance. "Pour it out." Lorenzo happened to reach the doorway just then. His gaze darkened. "Anna, making me angry isn't a smart move." I raised my eyes. "Three years ago, a shipowner made me finish a whole plate of squid-ink pasta before he'd sign. You got your contract, and I nearly died in the car from a shellfish allergy." Lorenzo's face changed. He came closer, his voice softer. "I'm sorry. I'll remember from now on." I gave a cold laugh. "Three years and you never remembered. What makes you think there's a 'from now on'?" The next second, Bianca's scream came from the far end of the hallway. Lorenzo barely hesitated before turning and heading out. The door hadn't been shut all the way. I saw him crouch on the floor and gently gather up Bianca, who'd fallen by the stairs, cradling her like an expensive, fragile piece of porcelain. The sight sent a sharp ache through my chest. My phone rang just then. The number on the screen was from overseas. I picked up, and my eyes suddenly stung. The man on the other end had a low voice, as if it had crossed a long stretch of sea wind to reach my ear. "If he doesn't want you, I do." "Anna, wait for me." The next day, a black leather case sent from overseas sat by my bed. Inside were an emerald wedding ring, a bank card with no spending limit, and a silver ring engraved with the Ferrara family crest. Chapter 3 After three days of rest, I still went to the Vitali family's port office. The office sat by the old docks, shipping containers and wet ropes piled up beyond the windows. Every shipping route here, every ledger, I knew better than anyone. But when I pushed the door open, Bianca was sitting in my chair. She wore a white dress, my file box set by her feet. When she saw me come in, she smiled and lifted her chin. "Lorenzo says that starting today, I'll be taking over the routes, the winery, and the casino accounts you handled. You can go back to the estate and get ready for the wedding." I froze for a few seconds. Then I turned and went to Lorenzo's office. He was standing by the window, smoking, the haze blurring his profile. "You're sure you want her taking over everything I do?" Lorenzo brushed it off. "The Rossi family will pass to her sooner or later. She needs the experience." He stubbed out his cigarette and looked back at me. "You'll come back after the wedding." I took a deep breath. "Fine." I nodded. "I hope you won't regret it." Under Lorenzo's watch, I handed Bianca every ledger, every contract, and the port keys I held. She took them quickly, like a child who'd finally snatched a toy she'd wanted for a long time. I unpinned the Vitali family access badge from my collar and set it on the desk. "I'm out." Lorenzo's eyes darkened. I looked at him, my tone calm. "And while I'm at it, here's your official notice. The chapel wedding is off." The chill on Lorenzo's face deepened bit by bit. "Don't throw a tantrum like this. She's not taking anything from you. She's just learning the ropes for now." I didn't look at him again. I took out my phone and posted a public statement. [The wedding is canceled. My engagement to the Vitali family is over.] Something sinister flickered in Lorenzo's eyes. "Anna, you'll regret this." That evening, Lorenzo took Bianca to the private auction at the old opera house. It was the most respectable of Old Port's nighttime dealings. Above the table, they sold antiques, jewelry, and vintage wines; below it, shipping routes, favors, and family reputations were decided. When they arrived in matching evening wear, the whole hall went quiet for a moment. Bianca held his arm, smiling like the true Madre of the house. When Lorenzo saw me, he visibly froze. "What are you doing here?" I ignored him and walked straight to my seat. Lorenzo's expression turned grim. He lowered his voice, so only I could hear. "Without me sitting beside you, you're nothing here." I sat down without so much as lifting an eyelid. The moment the first lot came up, Lorenzo handed Bianca the paddle. "Bid on anything you like." His voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for those around to hear. "Tonight it's on me." Bianca kissed his cheek in excitement. Lorenzo glanced at me without thinking. Finding that I wasn't even looking at him, his hand tightened around his wine glass. That night, Bianca was the center of attention. She easily won a dozen or more lots. Everyone was flattering the Rossi family's little Principessa, and everyone was waiting to see how the cast-off bride, me, would be humiliated. The final lot was brought out. It was a pill made from the secret recipe of a mountain monastery, said to give the gravely ill elderly a few more months. Many had come tonight for it alone. I gripped my paddle. Bianca raised hers first. "Twenty million." A low murmur rippled through the hall. I raised mine. "Thirty million." Lorenzo went still for a moment. "Where did you get the money?" I didn't answer. Bianca raised her paddle again. "Fifty million." I spoke calmly. "Sixty million." The murmuring grew louder. Everyone knew that whatever standing I'd had in Old Port these three years had come from Lorenzo. His assistant leaned in close to his ear, but Lorenzo didn't bother to lower his voice. "Freeze every family account in her name." In an instant, countless looks of sympathy, mockery, and pity fell on me. Bianca smiled. "Anna, give it up. When it's time to pay and you can't, you're the one who'll be humiliated." Lorenzo leaned back and slowly adjusted his cufflinks. "Put out a statement now, saying you called off the wedding today out of jealousy of Bianca, a moment's rashness." He looked at me. "The wedding goes ahead, and your accounts come back." I smiled. But the smile didn't reach my eyes. Seeing Lorenzo's eyes fixed on me, Bianca's smile faded a little, and she quickly raised her paddle again. "Eighty million." Chapter 4 The hall was dead silent. Everyone was waiting for me to back down. Lorenzo raised an eyebrow. "It's not too late to admit you were wrong." I raised my paddle. "A hundred million." The composure on Lorenzo's face finally froze. He shot to his feet. I took my time turning to look at him. "As far as I know, the most cash the Vitali family can pull together right now is eighty million." I paused. "You lost." Lorenzo's face couldn't have looked worse. Bianca clutched his sleeve, her voice trembling. "Lorenzo, I don't want to lose to her." The auctioneer's hammer came down. I was the final buyer. Lorenzo's eyes reddened bit by bit. I stood and left the hall. He came after me and seized my wrist. "How long are you going to keep making a scene?" A scene? I shook off his hand. "The moment you locked me in that cellar for Bianca, we were done." Lorenzo clenched his jaw. "The wedding's a month away. You mean to shame the Vitali family in front of all of Old Port?" His voice was low, with a threat in it. "Anna, I told you. Cross me, and you can forget about living well here." Bianca came over too. She'd lost to me tonight, and she could barely hide how ugly her expression had turned. "The Rossis won't leave a place for you either. Without a family's protection, you won't even get onto the docks of Old Port." I couldn't be bothered with them and walked straight out onto the terrace. "Anna, stop right there!" Bianca couldn't stand to see me leave like that and grabbed my arm. I tried to shake her off. The next second, she gave me the faintest smile and suddenly threw her body against mine. My foot slipped, and I fell with her into the pool beyond the terrace. Cold water poured into my mouth and nose in an instant. I couldn't swim. When I was little, the children at the orphanage held me down in a water barrel, and the memory of struggling until I nearly suffocated came flooding back over me now. I flailed my arms desperately. Lorenzo jumped into the water. But he wasn't swimming toward me. He was swimming toward Bianca. "Lorenzo, save me..." I choked on the water, my voice breaking apart. Lorenzo glanced back at me. "Bianca's been afraid of water since she was a child," he said. "I'll get her to shore first." I could only watch as he lifted Bianca out. Watched him kneel at the poolside, pressing down on her chest, giving her mouth-to-mouth. "Lorenzo, I can't hold on..." I begged him one more time. He frowned, as if displeased with my disobedience. "Promise me the wedding goes ahead and you'll stop fighting me from now on." He looked at me. "Nod, and I'll pull you up." The water rose slowly past my chin. I suddenly found it funny. So it wasn't that he didn't know I could die. He simply thought my life, too, should be used to teach me to bow my head. The love I'd clung to for all those years, obsession and all, dissolved completely in that moment. I looked at him, my voice swallowed by the water, coming out in broken pieces. "Lorenzo, we're completely finished." The instant the water closed over my head, I saw him finally panic. He moved to jump back in. But someone was faster. A figure dove into the water, a strong, powerful arm locking around my waist and lifting me up out of the dark. When I could breathe again, my whole body was shaking. I hooked both arms around the man's neck. He smelled of sea wind, tobacco, and a cold, woody cologne. I lifted my head, my voice soft but loud enough for Lorenzo on the shore to hear. "My husband." Those two words made Lorenzo's face change in an instant. As I was carried to shore, he rushed over like a madman. "Anna, you grab hold of any man off the street and dare to call him your husband?" I leaned against the man's chest, a little of my strength returning. Then I stretched up and kissed the side of his face. The color drained clean from Lorenzo's face.