Chapter 1 - THE MAFIA BOSS WHO FOUND ME
At eighteen, I was forced into a marriage with Alessandro Caruso, one of the most feared mafia bosses in the country. Four years later, I was working twelve-hour shifts in a bakery, barely surviving on leftover bread, when he suddenly walked back into my life. I accidentally spilled coffee on his shoes, and when he saw blood dripping from my hand, he ordered his men to bring a doctor. Then he leaned close and whispered, "I've spent four years trying to find you, Sophia." Before I could ask what he meant, a gunshot shattered the bakery window—and Alessandro threw himself over me.
My name is Sophia Chen.
I was twenty-four years old, broke, exhausted, and working at Moretti's Bakery in Bellhaven.
Every morning, I arrived before sunrise.
Every evening, I left with aching feet and barely enough money to pay the bills.
My aunt Marie had raised me after my father's death.
But over the years, she'd accumulated enormous gambling debts.
And somehow, those debts had become my responsibility.
I paid the rent.
Bought the groceries.
Covered the utilities.
And handed over almost everything I earned to men who kept demanding more.
Sometimes, I went an entire day without a proper meal.
But there was something nobody at the bakery knew about me.
At eighteen, I'd been married to a mafia boss.
Alessandro Caruso.
A man whose family controlled shipping companies, luxury hotels, and much of the city's underground empire.
Our marriage had been arranged after my father's death.
I remembered the ceremony.
The expensive flowers.
The unfamiliar faces.
The cold silver ring placed on my finger.
And Alessandro standing beside me, looking as though he'd rather face a firing squad than marry me.
I thought he hated me.
Then everything fell apart.
I was separated from him, taken away by relatives, and told never to contact the Caruso family again.
For years, I believed Alessandro had wanted me gone.
Until that rainy morning.
I was carrying coffee toward table seven when my exhausted fingers slipped.
The cup shattered.
Hot coffee splashed across a stranger's polished black shoes.
I immediately dropped to my knees.
"I'm so sorry!"
I gathered the broken porcelain.
A sharp piece sliced my palm.
Blood ran down my fingers.
Then a man's voice cut through the bakery.
"Stop."
Everyone went silent.
I looked up.
Dark hair.
Black suit.
Cold gray eyes.
My heart nearly stopped.
Alessandro Caruso.
Older.
Broader.
Even more intimidating than I remembered.
Two bodyguards stood behind him.
But Alessandro wasn't looking at his ruined shoes.
He was staring at my bleeding hand.
"You're hurt."
"It's nothing."
"Look at me."
I slowly raised my eyes.
He studied my face.
Then whispered my name.
"Sophia."
Something in his voice made my chest tighten.
He remembered me.
Of course he remembered me.
But I hadn't expected him to sound like seeing me hurt him.
He took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around my palm.
"This needs stitches."
"I can't afford a hospital."
His jaw tightened.
He looked at one of his guards.
"Call Dr. Rosini. Tell him to meet us at the estate."
I pulled away.
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
Alessandro slowly stood.
Mrs. Moretti, the bakery owner, hurried toward us.
"Mr. Caruso! I didn't realize you were coming!"
He barely acknowledged her.
Instead, he asked,
"How much does Sophia's family owe?"
My stomach dropped.
"That's none of your business."
He looked at his bodyguard.
"Dante. Find every creditor connected to Marie Chen. I want names, amounts, and every threat they've made."
I grabbed his sleeve.
"No! You don't understand. Those men are dangerous."
Alessandro looked down at me.
"Those men answer to me."
The entire bakery went silent.
I stepped backward.
"Why do you know about my aunt?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he examined the bruise near my wrist.
His expression turned frighteningly cold.
"Who did this?"
I pulled my sleeve down.
"I bumped into something."
He looked at me.
He didn't believe a word.
Then he turned toward Mrs. Moretti.
"Prepare Sophia's final paycheck. Add twelve weeks of severance."
I stared at him.
"You can't just fire me!"
"I didn't fire you."
"You just ended my job!"
He leaned closer.
"I ended the part where people get to hurt you while you work for them."
My eyes burned.
"I don't belong to you, Alessandro."
For a moment, something painful crossed his face.
Then he said quietly,
"No, Sophia. You never belonged to me. And that's the mistake I've spent four years trying to explain."
Four years.
I stopped breathing.
"What are you talking about?"
He glanced toward the bakery windows.
"We need to leave."
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you're here."
Alessandro looked directly into my eyes.
"Because I never agreed to let you go."
My heart pounded.
All those years, I'd believed he had abandoned me.
Now he was standing in front of me like he'd been searching for me all along.
Outside, a black SUV waited in the pouring rain.
Alessandro opened the rear door.
I stopped beside him.
"Did you know where I was this whole time?"
Before he could answer—
BANG!
The bakery window exploded.
Glass scattered across the sidewalk.
Someone screamed.
Alessandro grabbed me and threw himself over my body, shielding me as another bullet struck the SUV.
His men drew their weapons.
Dante shouted into his radio.
I could barely breathe.
Alessandro held me against the vehicle, one hand protecting my head.
"Stay down, Sophia."
I looked at him.
"Who's shooting at us?"
Dante approached, his expression grim.
"Boss, they found her sooner than expected."
My blood turned cold.
Found me?
I looked at Alessandro.
"Who found me?"
He glanced at my bandaged hand.
Then toward the shattered bakery window.
And when he spoke, his voice was colder than I'd ever heard it.
"The people who killed your father."
I stared at him.
My father had supposedly died in a car accident.
That's what Aunt Marie had told me.
That's what I'd believed for six years.
But Alessandro wasn't finished.
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out an old envelope.
On the front was my father's handwriting.
FOR SOPHIA — WHEN SHE IS SAFE.
I looked at the envelope.
May you like
Then at the man I'd once been forced to marry.
And suddenly, I wondered whether everything I'd been told about my father's death, my marriage, and Alessandro's disappearance had been a lie.
