Capture My Fiancé (A Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance)

10

EMILIA

The door to my room creaked open, and I stepped inside, the heavy silence of the house pressing down on me like a shroud. I tossed my keys onto the table with a hollow clink and kicked off my shoes.

The day's events were still swirling in my mind. It was almost morning, and the first hints of dawn crept through the curtains, casting faint shadows across the walls.

I had done it—kidnapped Valentino Lorenzo Morelli. I had taken control, but the victory felt hollow now, echoing in the emptiness around me. 

Because now what?

I began pacing, the silence amplifying the thudding of my heart, the rush of blood in my ears. I had left him in that cabin, bound and seemingly powerless. But I wasn't naïve. Even restrained, Valentino was a force to be reckoned with, and the way he had looked at me—like I was playing a game he had already mastered—unsettled me more than I cared to admit.

He even had the audacity to threaten me when he saw me smoking, and for some reason, that made me stop completely. I hadn't touched a cigarette on the drive home.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

I needed to know more. More than just the whispers I'd heard about the Morelli family. I needed to understand who I was really up against. Grabbing my laptop, I sank down at my desk, my fingers flying across the keyboard as I searched for any scrap of information that might give me an edge.

The screen flooded with headlines and news articles, the Morelli name intertwined with words like 'business empire,' 'scandal,' and 'alleged criminal activities.' But the deeper I dug, the darker the story became. My pulse quickened as I pieced together the puzzle.

Valentino wasn't just a wealthy businessman. He was something far more dangerous—a man born into a world of power and violence. The Morelli family had deep, entrenched ties with the Camorra, a notorious criminal organization that ruled the underworld of Italy. 

I remember my father had mentioned them once, in hushed tones, warning me about the kind of men they were, the kind of power they wielded. "Stay away," he had said, his eyes dark with fear. "They destroy everything they touch."

But why would he want me to marry one of them?

I leaned back in my chair, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. I hadn't just kidnapped a man; I had taken the son of a Camorra and my father, the man who had always been so protective, had set me up to marry into this world.

The thought made my head spin. My father had always been strategic, calculated. He wouldn't have made this decision lightly. But what was he thinking? Did he know what kind of man Valentino really was? Or maybe that's exactly why he chose him.

Was he using me as some kind of pawn? 

A bargaining chip to gain favor with the Morelli family? 

Or did he genuinely believe that marrying me off to Valentino would keep me safe, protected under the shadow of the Camorra's influence?

The betrayal stung, and confusion twisted in my gut. I had thought I was rebelling against a simple arranged marriage, defying a plan to marry me off to some rich, powerful heir. I had known Valentino was dangerous, seen it in his eyes, felt it in his presence. But this... This was something else entirely.

My father must have known about the Morellis' connections, must have known that binding me to Valentino meant aligning our family with theirs. But why would he want that kind of protection? And what did that mean for me? If I became entangled with the Morelli family, I would be stepping into a world of shadows and blood. There would be no turning back.