The Mafia King’s Forbidden Bride

The first time I saw Luca Moretti, there was blood on his hands.

Not his blood.

I didn’t know that yet.

All I knew was that the stranger sitting across from my father looked like the kind of man people warned their daughters about.

He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, his dark hair pushed carelessly away from his forehead. A silver watch rested against his wrist, and a small scar cut through one eyebrow.

But it was his eyes that frightened me.

Cold.

Dark.

Unreadable.

They followed me the moment I stepped into my father’s study.

“Valentina.”

My father’s voice sounded strangely weak.

I stopped.

My eyes moved between him and the stranger.

“What’s going on?”

My father didn’t answer.

The stranger did.

“You’re late.”

I frowned.

“I’m sorry?”

He leaned back in the chair, completely comfortable in a room that wasn’t his.

“Your father told me you’d be home by eight.”

I looked at my father.

“You’ve been expecting me?”

“Valentina, sit down.”

“No.”

Something about the man’s presence made every instinct in my body scream at me to leave.

I stayed where I was.

“Who is he?”

My father’s face lost what little color remained.

“That’s Luca Moretti.”

The name hit me like a slap.

Everyone knew the Morettis.

They weren’t the kind of family people talked about openly.

They owned restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, shipping companies…

And according to every rumor I’d ever heard, they owned something else too.

Fear.

I looked at Luca again.

He watched me with an expression that gave nothing away.

“You know who I am,” he said.

It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He stood.

I immediately took one step backward.

His lips curved slightly.

“Relax. If I wanted to hurt you, you wouldn’t have heard me coming.”

My heart began pounding.

“Why are you here?”

Luca glanced at my father.

“Your father owes me money.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

My father finally spoke.

“Valentina, please.”

“How much?”

Silence.

I looked at Luca.

He answered calmly.

“Thirty million dollars.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.

“Thirty…”

I laughed nervously.

“That’s impossible.”

No one laughed with me.

My smile disappeared.

I turned toward my father.

“Tell me he’s joking.”

My father looked down at his desk.

“Father.”

“I can fix this.”

“With what money?”

He said nothing.

My chest tightened.

“You told me the company was doing well.”

“It was.”

“You told me we had nothing to worry about.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You lied to me.”

Luca walked around the desk.

“Your father didn’t just borrow the money, Valentina.”

I looked at him.

“He used it to keep his business alive.”

My father’s head snapped up.

“Enough.”

Luca ignored him.

“And now the business is failing.”

I felt dizzy.

“Why would you lend him thirty million dollars?”

“I didn’t.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Then who did?”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“My father.”

The room went silent.

“And now?”

“My father is dead.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Luca stepped closer.

“His debts became mine.”

I looked at my father.

“How long do you have?”

“Three days.”

My stomach dropped.

“Three days to find thirty million dollars?”

My father nodded.

“And if you can’t?”

Luca’s eyes met mine.

There was no anger in them.

No hatred.

Just certainty.

“Then your father pays with something else.”

My blood ran cold.

“What?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he looked at my father.

My father looked terrified.

And that scared me more than anything Luca had said.

“Tell her,” Luca said.

My father shook his head.

“Tell me what?”

Luca’s gaze returned to me.

“Your father knows what happens to people who don’t pay their debts.”

I stared at him.

“And what happens?”

His voice dropped.

“They disappear.”

My heart stopped.

I looked at my father.

“Is he threatening you?”

My father closed his eyes.

“Valentina…”

“No.”

I stepped toward him.

“Look at me.”

He did.

And the look in his eyes told me everything.

He was afraid.

My father was actually afraid.

I turned back to Luca.

“You’re going to kill him?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Then why are you here?”

Luca was silent.

Then he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a white envelope.

He placed it on the desk.

My father stared at it as though it contained a death sentence.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Your father’s final option.”

I walked toward the desk.

My father grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t.”

I looked down at his hand.

He released me.

“Why don’t you want me to see it?”

“Because you don’t need to.”

Luca gave a quiet laugh.

“She deserves to know.”

I picked up the envelope.

My fingers trembled as I opened it.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

I read the first line.

Then the second.

My breath caught.

I looked at Luca.

“This is a marriage contract.”

My father’s face crumbled.

Luca didn’t blink.

“Yes.”

I stared at him.

“You want me to marry you?”

“Yes.”

I laughed again.

This time, there was no humor in it.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“Probably.”

“Why would I marry a stranger?”

“You wouldn’t.”

He stepped closer.

“You’d marry the man who can save your father’s life.”

I shook my head.

“This is insane.”

“Perhaps.”

“And if I refuse?”

Luca’s expression became colder.

“Then your father’s debt remains.”

“And you’ll kill him?”

“Eventually.”

My eyes filled with tears.

I hated him.

I hated his calm voice.

I hated the way he stood there as though my entire future were nothing more than a business transaction.

Most of all, I hated my father for putting me in this position.

“You can’t force me to marry you.”

Luca looked directly into my eyes.

“No.”

He paused.

“But I can make you want to.”

I stared at him.

“What does that mean?”

He leaned closer.

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Your father has three days.”

He stepped away.

“You have until midnight.”

I watched him walk toward the door.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

I didn’t know why I called him back.

Maybe because I needed answers.

Maybe because I needed to understand the man who had just turned my life upside down.

“Why me?”

Luca slowly turned around.

For the first time, something changed in his expression.

Something almost human.

Then it disappeared.

“Because your father has something I want.”

My heart sank.

“What?”

His eyes held mine.

“You.”

He walked out.

The door closed behind him.

I stood frozen in the middle of the study.

My father didn’t speak.

Neither did I.

Outside, thunder shook the windows.

I looked down at the marriage contract still clutched in my hand.

My name was already printed beside his.

Luca Moretti.

The most dangerous man in the city.

The man I had been warned never to cross.

And somehow…

In three days, he wanted me to become his wife.

I didn’t know it then, but the debt wasn’t the reason Luca Moretti had come for me.

It was only the excuse.

And by the time I discovered the truth, it would already be too late to escape him.