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Chapter 43
Last Updated:
2024-11-22 23:19:09
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The Mafia's Bride Chapter 44
Chapter 44AnnalisaIt was still surprising to me how the days after Cristiano’s disappearance stretched endlessly. At first, I had stayed hopeful, keeping my phone nearby, hoping for a call or even a text. But as the hours turned into days, and then the days turned nearly into a week, my hope withered away. He neither responded to my messages nor my calls. Eventually, I took the silence he gave me as a kind of answer from him.I stopped checking the driveway. Stopped looking out the window every time a car passed by, thinking it might be him. I stopped replaying our argument in my head, and finally stopped wondering what would have become of us if I had I said things differently. Instead, I did what could be only done at that moment—I threw myself into my work.When I finally got back to Bree, and informed her of my free schedule, she had been thrilled about my availability. The scripts she had been bothering me about for days suddenly became my lifeline. Sometimes, I would think it
Last Updated : 2024-11-23The Mafia's Bride Chapter 45
Chapter 45Annalisa“Allow me,” The moment the blonde guy handed over his card, I should’ve known better. There was something about the smoothness in his smile, the way his eyes locked on mine just a second too long, like he knew something I didn’t. But I couldn’t just leave the bar without paying, right? It wasn’t like I had asked him to cover it, but I also didn’t have my card on me. No way was I going to let this guy think I wasn’t good for the bill.“Thank you,” I said, my voice coming out a little tighter than I wanted. “But you didn’t have to do that. Can you write down your account number here?” I reached into my bag, pulling out a small notepad and pen, trying to act casual. "I'll wire the money to you as soon as possible."He laughed so hard as if he found something funny that I wasn’t getting. “Oh, I paid because I really wanted to,” he said, his tone almost dripping with something I couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t kindness, that was for sure. “You're the rising actress Anna
Last Updated : 2025-01-17The Mafia's Bride Chapter 46
Chapter 46 Annalisa I pushed Giovanni away. I pushed him slightly harder than I meant to, but I couldn’t help it. The confusion was messing with my head and the anger that boiled up in me was so hot that all I could think was ‘this can’t happen’. I stepped back, wiping away the remnants of my tears, trying to gather whatever little bit of control I had left.“We can’t be friends, Giovanni,” I said, my voice a little shakier than I wanted it to be. “We can’t.”His face dropped, and for a second, I almost felt bad for him. But no. I couldn’t go back to my past. Not after everything. He called after me as I turned away, but I didn’t give him the satisfaction of turning back. The door slammed shut behind me, and I heard him say something from the other side.“You think I’m going to give up on us? You think this is over? Annalisa, I’m going to prove to you that I’m ready. I’m ready for us again. I swear.”“There's no ‘us’, Giovanni…” I whispered to myself in a shaky breath.His words h
Last Updated : 2025-01-17The Mafia's Bride Chapter 47
Chapter 47AnnalisaThe next day arrived so quickly, almost like an unexpected slap in the face. Because I wasn’t ready. My mood was trash, my patience felt like they didn't exist, and my energy? Let’s just say it took everything I had not to throw my alarm clock across the room. But life doesn’t wait for meltdowns, and apparently, neither do contracts. So there I was, dragging my tired self to the building where my next big acting role awaited me. Yay, career moves. Boo, life falling apart.I kept my shades on and my face blank as Bree and Buddy, my “support system,” flanked me like bodyguards. Except, I wasn’t feeling supported. I was feeling... off. The Giovanni situation from last night still clung to me like a bad smell on a fabric, and the fact that Cristiano was still MIA? Yeah, that wasn’t helping.“Wait for me at the car,” I told them after we had wrapped up the paperwork. My voice sounded flat, even to my own ears. Bree raised a brow but didn’t argue. Buddy gave me a little
Last Updated : 2025-01-18The Mafia's Bride Chapter 48
Chapter 48AnnalisaMac and cheese for dinner? Classy, I know. But don’t judge me—comfort food fixes everything, or so they say. But, spoiler: it doesn’t. It’s just cheese and carbs pretending to be therapy.After scraping the last cheesy bits from my plate, I ditched the dishes for later. I mean, who actually has the energy to become an adult after the day I’d had? Not me. Instead, I dragged myself to the bathroom, craving the only thing that might save me from losing it all—a hot shower.Stepping under the stream of water, I let it wash away the day, the drama, the existential crisis that seemed to be my new normal. The steam blurred the edges of everything, and for a moment, I felt... lighter. Safer. Until my thoughts betrayed me.‘Cristiano.’His name hit me like a wave, knocking the air from my lungs. It started as a flicker, a memory of his smile—sharp enough to disarm but soft enough to melt you. Then it was his voice, the way he used to scold me for not eating enough food, his
Last Updated : 2025-01-18The Mafia's Bride Chapter 49
Chapter 49AnnalisaIt started with a shot. Not a vaccine—I wish. A vodka shot, courtesy of Bree, who shoved the glass into my hand with the energy of a woman who thought alcohol could solve all the world’s problems."Down it!" she cheered, her perfectly manicured nails waving me on like a race starter. The crowd around us cheered their approval, some holding their phones up to record what I was sure would end up on Instagram by morning.I hesitated, staring at the clear liquid like it might come alive and bite me. “I don’t know if I’m drunk enough to get drunk yet.”Bree rolled her eyes, her grin widening. “That’s the point, dummy. Now drink!”So, I did. It burned going down—so hot and sharp, like swallowing a tiny sun. My throat felt like they were on fire, but before I could even finish wincing, Bree was thrusting another glass into my hand."To Annalisa," she declared, raising her own glass high. "The star, the legend, the only person I know who can look this hot after dodging Gio
Last Updated : 2025-01-19The Mafia's Bride Chapter 50
Chapter 50AnnalisaIf bad decisions had a scent, it would be whatever cologne Aunt Catherine was wearing when she opened her apartment door. I perceived a mixture of vanilla, desperation, and "I’m a single mother trying my best," and it hit me like a punch to the face as I stood there in my oversized hoodie, clutching a Starbucks coffee cup like it was the only thing holding me together.“You came,” she said, looking more shocked than pleased.“Yeah, don’t get too excited,” I replied, stepping inside before she could invite me. I wasn’t here for her warm hugs or her recycled wisdom. I was here for my mom.The apartment smelled like lemon-scented floor cleaner and freshly baked bread, and I hated how cozy it felt. Cozy meant safe. Cozy meant “you can trust me,” and Catherine had never been that for me. Not when I was a kid, and certainly not now.My mom sat on the couch, wearing one of her old knitted sweaters and looking so small I almost didn’t recognize her. She glanced up, her eye
Last Updated : 2025-01-19The Mafia's Bride Chapter 51
Chapter 51AnnalisaSeriously, what in the world was my mom thinking? “Forgive your sister,” she said, not in those exact words but her eyes did. Ha! Over my dead, unrecognizable, burnt-to-ashes body. Forgive Bianca? The same sister who drugged me and practically pushed me into the bed of a random stranger like I was part of some weird human auction service? Yeah, sure, let me just grab my Nobel Peace Prize while I was at it.I sat there fuming in the back seat of my blacked-out SUV, the vents blasting AC on my face, but somehow, I was still burning up. How could my mom even think I would forgive Bianca? My blood sister—the one person who was supposed to protect me, have my back, be my only friend, and, I don’t know, not ruin my life—literally set me up like I meant nothing to her. And for what? So she could run back to Giovanni, the guy who couldn’t keep it in his pants long enough to remember her name?God, the audacity of that woman. If betrayal had a face, it would be Bianca’s smu
Last Updated : 2025-01-20
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The Mafia's Bride Chapter 83
Chapter 83CristianoThey say you only appreciate the sky when you have been buried underground. In this hospital room, buried was exactly how I felt. Being trapped at the center of a cube of white walls, dim lights, and the space filled with nothingness where my memories should have been.Since I woke up, every minute felt like a crash course in reality. Nurses with their forced smiles and ice-cold hands poked and prodded me, but none of it dug deep enough to scratch the itch of my missing memories. I had been bed-bathed more times than I could count, their soft sponges against my skin a bitter reminder of how helpless I had become.But today, I told myself I have had enough.“I want a real bath,” I told the nurse, my voice rough, like gravel being scraped along the pavement. She pursed her lips, her pen frozen over the clipboard, and rattled off a list of medical restrictions: no showers, no standing too long, no this, no that. The word “no” clanged around my head like a jail cell d
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 82
Chapter 82CristianoWaking up from the surgery felt like swimming through concrete. So cold, tight and suffocating. My eyes cracked open, and all I saw was white—like a blank canvas or the kind of nothingness you see in movies when someone dies. For half a second, I thought maybe I had kicked the bucket. Maybe this was heaven, or some kind of in-between.Then I saw her.She had this softness around her, a glow, like she was pulled straight out of a dream. ‘An angel, maybe?’ I had thought because, honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised. But then my brain caught up, processing the sterile smell, the faint beeping, and the tubes attached to my body. I was in a hospital. Alive. And thoroughly confused.I didn't know what hurt more—the throbbing in my skull or the empty echo in my head where memories should have been. I reached for something, anything, that felt familiar, but it was like standing in the middle of a foggy field with nothing but shadows and whispers.When my eyes adjuste
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 81
Chapter 81AnnalisaThey say grief has five stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But what about the grief of losing someone who is still breathing? What stage do you get stuck in when the love of your life looks at you like you are a total stranger?I sat by Cristiano's hospital bed, the room completely shrouded in that suffocating, sterile silence. Machines beeped steadily, a rhythm that should have been reassuring but only made my nerves more uneasy. The rising and falling of his chest was like a reminder that he was still here, but the warmth and spark that used to be in his eyes were somewhere else, somewhere I couldn’t reach.The room was cold. Or maybe it was just me that felt it.My fingers twisted into the blanket, and I forced myself to breathe evenly. Dr. Moretti’s words still echoed freshly in my head. He said, ‘Memory loss can happen after prolonged surgery. It may be temporary’I clung to the word ‘may’ like it was a lifeline on a stormy day. I ju
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 80
Chapter 80AnnalisaHospitals smelled like antiseptic, like sterile hopelessness.I never liked them.The bright white lights, the hushed whispers, the way every breath felt like it could be your last…it made my skin itch like a bug was crawling on me. But now, standing in the middle of the corridor, staring at the red light above the operating room door, I had never hated a place more.Cristiano was in there.My husband, the only man who had ever truly owned my heart, was lying on a table while surgeons cut into his skull, fighting to keep him alive.I wasn’t a woman of faith. I never had been. But right now, I was making bargains with every god I had ever heard of. If they let him live, I would do anything. I would be a better person, I would truly forgive my family, I would—I would just do whatever it took as long as he came back to me.I wrapped my arms around myself, staring at the door like my desperation could somehow make the surgery go faster. My heart pounded so hard it made
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 79
Chapter 79CristianoI swear, I thought I was done for.For a solid month,I had imagined what it would be like if I ever got to hold her again. If I could kiss her, touch her, remind her that no matter what happened, she was mine. Every night in my cold bed at my mansion, I dreamed of it. I replayed memories of us like a damn movie I never wanted to end.And now, it was real. She was here now.Annalisa was in my arms again, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was actually permitted to breathe now.I stared at her, taking in every little detail of her beauty. Her soft brown hair cascading over her shoulders, her flushed cheeks, the way her lips were still slightly swollen from our kiss. She was fucking beautiful. A walking temptation. And right now, she was mine again, even if the universe had tried to pull us apart.I tilted her chin up, my thumb brushing against her cheek. “You don’t know how much I needed this,” I murmured.Her lips parted slightly, her breath shaky
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 78
Chapter 78AnnalisaI needed this.I needed him.The moment Cristiano's lips crashed against mine, it felt like the world stopped spinning. Like every ache, every lonely night, every whispered “I miss you” into my pillow didn’t matter anymore—because he was here, and I was in his arms, and God, I had forgotten what it felt like to breathe without him.His kiss wasn’t just a kiss. It was desperately filled with all the things we couldn’t say. Apologies. Longing. Love and whatnots. His hands slid up my sides, his fingers pressing into my skin like he was afraid I would disappear.I didn’t care that we were in a hospital room. I didn’t care that he was recovering, or that I could still hear the faint beeping of machines outside the door.All I cared about was him.His warmth. His touch. The way he tasted like mint and something only Cristiano could taste like.“Hubby,” I gasped against his lips, my hands fisting his hospital shirt.“What did you just call me?” Cristiano smiled, pulling o
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 77
Chapter 77AnnalisaI told him yes!Of course, I wanted to see him. The moment those words left my lips, it felt as though my heart was about to burst out of my chest. Cristiano wanted to see me after everything; He still wanted to see me after what felt like the longest separation, after all the pain… and yes, I was finally going to see him again!But the moment I hung up the call, panic gripped me, blood rushing to my head as I began to question myself. What the hell was I doing? What if I got there and lost my nerve? What if I saw him, and everything came crashing down again? What if I saw pity in his eyes, and it broke me?Those thoughts brought a sad sensation to my belly, but I told myself no this time around. I didn't have the time to have spiraling thoughts.Because as soon as I shot up from the couch, Bree walked into the apartment, holding two cups of coffee. “I'm back with your favorite iced cappuccino!” she said, flashing her usual smirk.I barely let her finish before I
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 76
Chapter 76CristianoShe texted me.She fucking texted me.I blinked at my phone, rubbed my eyes, and stared at the screen again. Maybe I was still unconscious. Maybe the IV in my arm was messing with my head. Maybe—just maybe—this was some twisted dream or hallucination, and when I woke up, it would be gone.But it wasn’t. It was, in fact, real. Right there, in my messages, Annalisa had actually texted me first. And not just some casual, meaningless message. She said she missed me.Annalisa missed me.For a solid five seconds, I just sat there in the hospital bed, gripping my phone like it might disappear if I let go. My brain short-circuited, and every rational thought just left the damn building.This had to be a mistake, right? A slip-of-the-finger text? A moment of weakness she would instantly regret? Right?But if that were the case, then why did my heart feel like it had just been ripped out of my chest and put back together in the span of a single message?Because deep down, I
The Mafia's Bride Chapter 75
Chapter 75AnnalisaI told myself I wouldn’t think about him today. It was a promise to myself, even. But I guess the universe always had other plans.Because the moment I woke up, he was everywhere. In the stupid scent of his cologne that still clung to the shirt he once left in my room after a good sex. I had kept it to myself, refusing to throw it away and now, as I found myself in it, I felt like crying. He was also in the way my bed suddenly felt too big and cold. In the silence of my new bedroom, so deafening that my heartbeat pounded in my ears.I squeezed my eyes shut, inhaling deeply. One well has passed again. A whole-ass month plus one week. And I was not doing fine.Sure, I got up every day, showered, and ate. I did the whole “pretending to be normal” thing. But every time I laughed, it felt fake. Every time I smiled, it felt forced.And Cristiano? He hadn’t called. Not once. Not a damn text. It was funny how I still hoped he would even though I had clearly pushed him away
