Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

Isabella placed her hand on Emanuele’s forehead and gently stroked it, as if trying to help him relax a little. However, her movements, though delicate, managed to rouse him.

Emanuele’s gray-brown eyes locked onto Isabella, and he had just woken up. Despite that, his eyes instantly regained their alertness.

For a normal person, the moment after waking up is typically filled with confusion. Not for Emanuele. His confusion lasted about 0. 5 seconds, and then he was fully awake.

“Are you awake?” Isabella asked Emanuele with a smile as she sat up. “You can sleep a bit longer; it’s alright. I’ll call Lilly to prepare breakfast.”

Isabella changed into fresh clothes in the walk-in closet before leaving the room.

Emanuele remained in bed.

In fact, for him, this recent period of rest had been quite long. The past few days had seen Emanuele sleeping only two or three hours each night, but this time, he’d had a full eight hours of sleep. The extended rest had eased the tension in his body significantly.

He wasn’t in a hurry to get up. Lying in bed, he thought about what Isabella had said. He felt like he was starting to get a sense of what it meant to have a home.

Once upon a time, Emanuele believed he didn’t need a family. In his world, there was only violence and no room for emotions. The little emotion he had was reserved for his family. He had thought he would form alliances with other mafia families, marry mafia princesses, and maintain peace. Women, in his world, were just tools, bearing his children and catering to his physical desires.

But then, Isabella had entered his world, and she had stirred his emotions. So much so that he’d married her.

Marrying Isabella hadn’t brought him any apparent benefits. In fact, from a superficial perspective, she had no status and couldn’t help him consolidate his power. On the contrary, he had to spend a lot of energy protecting her.

There was just one thing that made it all worthwhile-Isabella had control over his desires. From the very beginning, he had wanted to possess her, to have her perform unspeakable acts on him.

Seeing her soft lips, he wanted her to take him in her mouth. Gazing at her plump and shapely rear, he desired to spank her.

And her fierce, never-give-up attitude had fascinated him. He longed to claim her body completely.

For Emanuele, this one benefit was enough to make him give his entire life to her.

Now, he was discovering that Isabella was showing him a different side, giving him a feeling he had never imagined-a sense of home. He liked this feeling, warm, relaxing, and joyful.

However, with enemies surrounding him, relaxing here posed a risk to all of them. Emanuele went to the bathroom to take a shower and changed into a fresh suit before heading downstairs.

Isabella was sitting with Grazia on the sofa, watching television. Emanuele noticed that the program on TV was not the reality show Isabella usually enjoyed but a television drama.

This was the first time Emanuele had seen Isabella watching TV without her favorite reality show.

“Emanuele, you’re awake,” Grazia greeted him.

Emanuele walked over to Isabella and sat down beside her, reaching out to pull her into his arms.

“Why aren’t you watching your favorite reality show?” Isabella asked.

“I got tired of it. There are no new episodes, so I’m checking out something else,” Isabella replied.

Tired of it? Emanuele thought. Isabella had been obsessed with those reality shows not too long ago. She wasn’t acting like someone who had grown tired of them.

Then, Isabella leaned closer to Emanuele and whispered in his ear, “Grazia said that the male guest I like are similar to Andrew. I’m afraid she’ll be upset.”

Though Grazia had regained her emotional stability, Isabella worried that seeing someone who resembled Andrew might make her sad. She hoped that Grazia would recover quickly.

“I see,” Emanuele thought. Isabella’s thoughts were indeed very considerate.

Soon, Lilly prepared breakfast, and after Emanuele had finished eating, he prepared to leave.

“Will you be back tonight?” Isabella asked Emanuele.

Seeing Isabella’s somewhat hopeful expression, Emanuele couldn’t bear to refuse her.

“If I make it in time, I’ll be back,” he said.

“Okay,” Isabella replied, her tone tinged with disappointment.

Emanuele reached out and gently stroked Isabella’s hair. “Why do you seem so eager for me to come back, Isabella? It looks like you really like me. Does that mean you’re going to be the loser in this game soon?”

Hearing Emanuele’s words, Isabella felt a sudden chill in her heart, as if she had been doused in icy water from head to toe. She looked up and saw Emanuele smirking, a self-satisfied smile on his face. This man knew exactly how to hurt her. With just that one sentence, he made her feel as if her heart had been stabbed with a knife.

Isabella didn’t say a word and left without looking back. Emanuele’s hand, which had been stroking her hair, remained suspended in the air. The smile disappeared from his face, and a hint of pain and restraint flickered in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. He turned and entered the elevator.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Isabella, you and Emanuele seem to have a good relationship. You even see him off when he leaves,” Grazia remarked.

“Not at all. It’s just a matter of politeness,” Isabella replied, trying her best to appear less disheartened.

Emanuele had truly wounded her, and she had almost forgotten that their relationship was just a game. She had thought they were a real couple, but now it seemed that she had been deluding herself. Emanuele still believed that this was just a game, and he wanted to determine a winner and a loser. She was the foolish one who had thought Emanuele was her husband and she was his wife. She felt foolish.

Isabella made an effort to appear calm; she didn’t want Grazia to sense her inner turmoil. But Grazia couldn’t help but notice Isabella’s true feelings. She too had been in love and had enjoyed a sweet relationship with Andrew, although their dynamic had been different from Isabella’s and Emanuele’s.

Grazia saw that Emanuele and Isabella both had feelings for each other, but there were many reasons that kept them from expressing those feelings openly. She didn’t want to meddle too much. Emanuele had his reasons for acting this way; perhaps he was afraid of not being able to handle the current threats and didn’t want Isabella to be affected.

Grazia could only offer a subtle hint to Isabella. “Isabella, Emanuele really likes you. This is the first time I’ve seen him get along so well with a woman.”

Isabella managed to smile at her. “I don’t need him to be so good to me. If he can ensure that my life isn’t in danger, that would be enough. After marrying him, I’m locked up in this apartment every day. It’s really boring.”

Grazia shook her head. Isabella was indeed a woman who never says uncle.

Emanuele, after leaving the apartment, quickly returned to his usual demeanor-serious, stern, and exuding an air of danger.

“Boss, we checked the address Isidoro gave us, but I doubt Frederick is there,” Phillip reported as soon as they got in the car.

“What do you mean?” Emanuele asked.

“We noticed that there’s been no activity at that house,” Phillip said, handing Emanuele the video footage they had taken.

They had been monitoring the area for a while, and the house they were investigating hadn’t seen any movement in or out.