Mafia Heir’s Broken Vows (Rosewood Hall Broken Vows)

16. Alessandro

ALESSANDRO

I stand on the balcony, leaning against the cold metal railing, staring at the distant glow of the city beyond the estate walls. The hum of traffic is nothing more than a whisper out here—isolated, distant—like the woman behind me.

I sense Serafina before I hear her. Her presence is different now—tense, guarded. Her footsteps are soft on the stone floor, but the energy she brings feels colder than the night itself. She's pushed me away, shut me out—and I can't seem to find a way back in.

"You're avoiding me," I say quietly, not turning to face her. I told her exactly how I feel; she knows the position my father has put me in—but she has shut down. I have no idea how she feels, or if she can forgive me for what has to be done.

"I needed space," she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. It lacks the fire I know. She sounds distant and disconnected. Her fight is gone, the spark extinguished—I have killed her flames.

I slowly turn, studying her. She stands a few feet away, arms wrapped tightly around herself—not from the cold, but from whatever is gnawing at her from the inside. Her eyes won't meet mine.

"Space from me, or from the truth?"

"They're the same thing—both are ugly and hard to accept." She lashes out at me, with anger.

Her shoulders stiffen. A reaction, small but telling. I walk so that I am standing right in front of her, where she can't hide her face from me.

"What are you not telling me, Serafina?" I ask her.

She shakes her head, avoiding my gaze. "Nothing. I just need?—"

"No," I interrupt, my voice harder now. "Don't feed me lies. I can feel it. Something's changed. It is not nothing."

The silence between us is full of unspoken truths and lies. She backs away slightly, retreating into herself.

"I can't do this right now," she murmurs, turning away. I watch her go, fury and frustration simmering beneath my skin. There's no way to make this right if I can't fully understand what is wrong.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I have at least a dozen missed calls from my father—and messages from Enzo telling me to call my father. My time is running out. If I don't answer him soon, he'll show up here and make his point in person.

Serafina hovers outside the bedroom door, where Leo sleeps. She stands there for an agonizingly long moment, hand hovering over the doorknob as if opening it might wake him or break her.

She finally slips inside, closing the door quietly behind her.

I exhale slowly with my fists clenched at my sides.

She's holding something back.

I can't protect them if I don't know what's coming.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dial Enzo.

"Double security on Serafina and Leo. No one gets near them without my say-so. And Enzo—dig into Marco's movements. I want to know if he takes a piss, or what he has for lunch. He does nothing without me knowing about it."

"Understood, boss."

I hang up, my jaw is tight. I need answers. Marco doesn't make idle threats, and if he's creeping into our territory, I need to know what he's up to before it's too late.

Morning brings no comfort. Another sleepless night is simply over. I find Serafina in the kitchen, standing motionless over a full cup of coffee. She hasn't touched it. Leo is on the floor, playing with his toy cars—zooming them around on the patterned tiles as if it is a racetrack.

"You didn't sleep," I say. It's not a question. She looks like shit, beautiful, sexy, gorgeous, tired shit.

She doesn't look up. "Neither did you." I doubt I look any better, I feel rough as fuck.

I step closer, lowering my voice. "Talk to me, Serafina." I plead with her again, I hate the way things are between us. I can't talk to my father if I haven't set things right with her first.

She grips the edge of the counter and then puts her coffee down. "I can't."

"Can't, or won't?"

She turns slowly, her eyes glassy, guarded. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," I say, mimicking her words to me in a similar argument.

She hesitates, fear flashes across her face for a second. But then the walls are back into place, blocking me out.

"I need to focus on Leo. He needs his mother." She says still avoiding actually talking to me.

"Marco got to you, didn't he?" I demand. That's the only explanation I can cook up in my head, she went from warm to stone cold like a switch went off in her head.

She quickly looks away. That moment of hesitation confirms everything.

"Damn it, Serafina." I growl, "How?"

"He got in here the other night. He found me outside on the terrace." She says as if nothing is alarming about my enemy showing up on my terrace in the dead of night.

"In my fucking house? And you didn't tell me, call me—fucking alert the security. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I am fuming. "You have to tell me what he said. What did he want?"

She shakes her head, looking at Leo where he's playing. He knew Leo was inside. He would have used the boy as leverage to stop her from alerting me. I would have done the same thing—I know all his dirty fucking tricks. No wonder she's been acting like a guard dog around our son. There was a killer on the property and my security didn't see him come or go. Heads are going to roll. How did they allow this to happen?

"I couldn't risk it. Not with Leo. I can't tell you, Alessandro, he is my son, and it is my job to keep him safe."

"He's our son Serafina, and I can't make sure either of you are safe if you keep secrets like this from me." She has got to stop pushing me away.

The afternoon is a haze of precautions—security tightened, weapons checked, men positioned at every entry point. But none of it matters if Serafina keeps shutting me out.

I have at it with the men who are supposed to keep the place airtight. I want answers. How did he get in here?

"Enzo," I raise my voice because I am angry enough to lose my cool, "This is a fucking fortress. How did he just drive right in and back out? Have you seen the footage? He was literally at my fucking door!"

"Boss, I have been looking into it."

"Look harder, so I know who to fucking kill," I snap, "this is not something I'll let slide. Someone needs to pay for fucking up." I want to kill or fire them all—because I have a traitor in the midst of my most trusted crew.

"We will get to the bottom of it," he says, "Boss. I don't know how he did it, but I can tell you whatever he said to her it upset her enough that she cried." I'll kill him myself—that will solve all my issues with one single bullet.

"I want the traitor, whoever betrayed my trust, and let that man into my home to answer to me. Do you understand?" I rage, slamming my hand down on my desk. Enzo rushes off to do his job, and I am left to pace up and down the study fighting my demons, ignoring my father's relentless calls.

I watch her from the study window. She walks alone in the garden, moving slowly like the weight of the world is on her. She keeps glancing over her shoulder, like someone is following her.

She's pulling away from me, and I don't know how to stop it.

My mind is racing. Marco has pushed her buttons, and if I don't act, I'll lose her. And Leo. I still have to deal with my father —Isabella and this arrangement he has made. People are talking about it like my wedding is next week, and for all I know, it is.