The Mafia Husband’s Last Chance (Billionaire Breaks My Heart #10)

Prologue

I THINK THE DRESS IS fine.

The dress is silk, and it’s the color of champagne and Odessa picked it out for me at the boutique three days ago.

It zips up the side, and it has four tiny silk-covered buttons at the shoulder that I’m wondering if my husband (aaah!

Am I really married?) will take the time to slowly unbutton, or is he the type who’s going to just rip my dress off—

What in the world are you thinking, Juniper Lake?

I mean, Juniper Lake Simons!

What in the world are you thinking, Mrs. Simons?

My hands fly up to cover my face in embarrassment even though I know it’s only me, myself, and I who have witnessed the shameful direction of my thoughts.

A laugh makes me peep through the slits of space between my fingers, and I see Odessa looking at me knowingly.

Eep.

“Just go, will you? Before you start embarrassing me, too.”

A half-wail, half-laugh escapes me. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t believe...” I can’t even finish the thought. I’m blushing anew, and Odessa starts blushing, too, when she sees my reddened cheeks.

Peas in the same pod, the two of us. These days, the fact that we’re still virgins in our mid-twenties isn’t something to be proud of, but it’s just how we are.

“Seriously, June—” Odessa starts pushing me towards the door. “You shouldn’t keep your bridegroom waiting.”

“I know, I know, but—” I just have to turn around and give my best friend a tight hug. If not for her keeping me company last night, I don’t think I could’ve slept a wink. “Thank you,” I say feelingly. “Thank you for coming to my wedding.”

Odessa hugs me back. “You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now, for the last time—go.” She pushes me out into the hallway, and I can only laugh when the door to the suite we shared last night slams behind me.

I guess that’s that, then.

As the hallways from both ends meet at the elevator lobby, there’s a terrace on one side that overlooks Lake Como. It’s the most beautiful scenery, but it was even more beautiful earlier, with the sun setting behind us while the mayor pronounced us husband and wife.

The elevator doors open, and I tap the scanner with the card to the penthouse suite. The light turns green, the doors close, and then it’s the most exciting countdown ever, as I watch the floor number on the screen change.

Four. Five. Six.

I feel giddy and restless, unable to believe that after just six months of dating, Nate and I are married.

As in...I’m no longer Juniper Lake, but Mrs. Nate Simons.

Forever. I’m sure other people will think things are moving too fast, especially since I also had to quit my job for this, and prepare for a life abroad because of Nate’s work.

But that’s just how love is, right? Where your love goes, you go, too.

I look at my wedding ring, and a helpless smile touches my lips. Wife. I’m a wife. And not just anyone’s wife, but I’m the wife of the only man I’ll love in this life.

The doors finally open, and it’s when I step out, and the quiet grandness of the penthouse suite envelops me—

It’s at that moment I start feeling something’s wrong.

But I push the thought away as soon as it pops up.

Bridal jitters, I tell myself. That’s all there is to it, and bridal jitters are very, very normal.

All the lights are out, leaving only the silvery sheen of moonlight to guide my way.

A part of me is wondering why there isn’t any sign of champagne and flowers, or the signature chocolates that this hotel is supposedly known for.

Everywhere I look, all I see is the standard suite and nothing that says this.

..this is the room where love blooms between newlyweds.

Then again...

Maybe this is really just how it is with rich people and their expensive hotel suites? Maybe everything I’m expecting is too crass for their tastes?

Yes, I think that’s it.

I’m a middle-class kind of girl, so this is all new to me, but it doesn’t mean something’s wrong. I’m just being silly, and I’m letting my bridal jitters turn me into Little Mrs. Paranoid.

Just think of Nate, I urge myself.

Tonight is all about Nate and you.

One foot forward, another one follows.

Husband and wife. That’s it.

My hand starts shaking as I reach for the knob. I’m not sure why that is, but I tell myself it’s okay as the door slowly swings open. In just a matter of seconds, what I’d see, and who I’ll find—that’s what will make all of my fears, doubts, and bridal jitters go away.

But instead, I end up asking myself—

Is this the wrong room? The wrong floor? Or even the wrong dimension?

I’m ready to believe anything and everything, but how can I when that’s his wedding ring on the bedside table, and I know I can’t be mistaken because I was the one who chose it. For him. For the man who just swore to love me and only me...until death do us part.

So why then?

Why is this wedding night not just about him and me, but him and me...and her?

I don’t understand.

I don’t understand.

Somebody, please help me understand.

I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to make some kind of noise that will either wake them up or wake myself up so I can tell myself this is all just a dream.

A very, very bad dream.

I want to run away, but I also want to run into the room and just fall to my knees and beg.

Why did you make me fall in love with you if you were going to kill me like this?

Why fly me all the way to Italy to destroy me?

Why isn’t it enough for him to break my heart on a Tuesday, break it again in a basement parking lot, and now he just has to ruin Lake Como for me, too?

The words running through my mind make me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

But for now, I’m just...numb.

I keep thinking I should move, but it’s as if shock has turned my flesh into stone.

I keep thinking any moment now I’ll start crying, and maybe I can even start screaming—I’ll scream this whole place down so that the hotel employees will come running, and we can have this huge, over-the-top fight, and this whole thing will go viral, and everyone will know they cheated on me.

Maybe then I can start crying.

Maybe then I’ll actually start hurting.

Because right now...the tears just won’t come.

I can’t feel anything. I can’t even hear anything. And it’s this stark, heartless silence that will give me nightmares for months. I keep touching my eyes, but they’re just absolutely, terribly dry.

It’s as if they’re telling me that this pain, this betrayal...

Is something I’ll just have to live with forever.