Half a month before my due date, I was taken by my husband’s enemies.
By the time Don Adrian Moretti found me, the baby was already gone.
I lay on the ground, drenched in blood, my eyes hollow and vacant. I couldn’t even hear him calling my name.
The man who had always been cold and unyielding—his eyes turned red.
He executed every last person who had laid hands on me, then knelt before me, still reeking of blood: “Willa, don’t be afraid. I’m taking you home.”
But after that day, I developed severe depression.
He fought tooth and nail to keep me tethered to this world.
Every sharp object in the estate was locked inside a safe. The corners of every table were padded with foam. Even when I bathed, the bathroom door had to stay wide open, and every two minutes he would call out my name.
Outsiders said he was devoted. Faithful. Until the day of our seventh wedding anniversary, when he placed another woman’s prenatal report into my hands.
“Willa, the Moretti family cannot be without an heir. I’ve stood by you for seven years, but the family needs a child.”
I looked at the man I had once loved with everything I had, and I nodded in silence.
My husband was going to have another woman’s child. And my child—my child was finally going to see his mother again.
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 09 Washington State. The San Juan Islands. Morning fog rolled off the sea and crept past the corner where a small flower shop stood, carrying the briny wind with it. I bent over a bunch of white daisies, trimming the stems. The old scars on my fingertips had long
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 08 Deep autumn. Leaves spiraled down in waves, blanketing the entirety of Westchester Eternal Memorial Park. The wind cut cold, and everything looked bleak. Everyone who had ever wronged Willa had received what they were owed. Margaret and Ethan—drowning in debt, their twilight years a wasteland. Gia—mired in lawsuits,
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 07 Margaret’s hysterical cursing still echoed from beyond the door, but the office was finally, completely silent. The vast room held only Adrian, alone. He opened the private safe concealed in the back of his office. Inside, arranged with meticulous care, were all the antidepressants Willa had taken over
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 06 The letter drifted from his nerveless fingers. He let out a low laugh—hollow, desolate—until it finally broke apart into a strangled, muffled sob. Seven years. He had coaxed her patiently for seven years. Guarded her for seven years. He had always believed that what trapped Willa was her
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 05 The phone slipped from Adrian’s fingers. It hit the tile floor of the medical center with a sharp crack. Adrian’s blood turned to ice. His entire body locked in place, and his long fingers trembled violently, beyond his control. From the bed, Gia startled at the sudden noise
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 04 I filled the bathtub with warm water and slowly lowered myself in. I picked up my phone and sent a message to the funeral services company: Please come at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning to handle my arrangements. The instant the message went through, a push notification popped up
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 03 I was still lost in thought when the door swung open. “You’re awake?” Adrian walked in with long strides, carrying the chill of the outdoors on him. He looked down at me, his gaze cool. “Your brother called. Says he needs to talk to you.” I took the
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 02 The driver Adrian sent arrived at the cemetery and saw me covered in dirt. He was puzzled but didn’t dare ask questions. Soon I was brought back to the Moretti family’s private medical center. My therapist, Dr. Eleanor Vance, was already waiting. “Willa, you went to see the
The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 01 Half a month before my due date, I was taken by my husband’s enemies. By the time Don Adrian Moretti found me, the baby was already gone. I lay on the ground, drenched in blood, my eyes hollow and vacant. I couldn’t even hear him calling my name.