Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 130

Chapter 130: I Care About Luciano

Make him understand the depth of the bruise he left behind.

Veronica swallowed.

The phone felt heavy in her hand. If she called now, what would he learn? That spectacle worked. Her thumb moved away from his name. She locked the screen. Slipped the phone back into her apron pocket.

The decision steadied her spine.

She rose from the stool, the pocket knife still in her hand, card folded carefully between her fingers.

She was not weak.

*****

By the time Veronica returned to the annex that evening, the city had already swallowed the last of the sunlight. Inside the Genovese estate grounds, everything felt insulated.

She was exhausted.

Nonnina had taken it upon herself to prepare a tray. Pasta still steaming. A small bowl of roasted vegetables. Fresh bread wrapped in linen. A glass of water with lemon. She walked down to the annex corridor slowly. The door was locked. She knocked lightly. "Zuccherino, it’s me."

From inside, there was the faint sound of movement. Then Veronica’s voice. "Is it just you?"

"Yes."

The lock clicked. The door opened just enough before Veronica stepped back, allowing her in.

Nonnina entered without fuss, balancing the tray.

Veronica closed the door behind her and leaned against it briefly. She had changed out of her work clothes but still looked wound tight. Her dark hair fell loose over her shoulders now, slightly damp from a rushed shower. "Nonnina, I could have come get that. Why did you have to bring it yourself?"

Nonnina set the tray down carefully on the small dining table. She arranged the napkin. Adjusted the fork.

"Because I need to talk to you."

Veronica straightened.

"This madness going on between you and Luciano, end it. The man is already a live wire and you messing with him will only make him explosive."

"Nonni... are you saying then that I should just swallow whatever he does."

Nonnina sighed. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out that way."

She moved closer. "It’s just... I care about Luciano. His pain is my pain and right now, he is in pain because of you."

Veronica looked away. Pain because of her. She was in pain because of him.

"I’m not saying bend over. I’m saying he’s fragile when it comes to you..."

Luca was many things. Dominant. Calculated. Ruthless when necessary.

But fragile?

Nonnina had watched Luca grow.

Veronica understood that.

But she also understood herself.

She was not someone who absorbed impact quietly. She just wanted to be seen fully.

To be chosen openly.

Vee sighed and pulled out a chair at the dining table.

"Is this because he went to Vienna? Because of his wife?" Nonnina asked.

"Yes." Vee answered.

Vienna was the reminder that no matter how passionately Luca claimed her, there was a ring somewhere else, a life somewhere else, a woman whose title carried more legitimacy than love ever could.

"Zuccherino...." Nonnina walked over to her and pulled a chair so she was facing her. "You remind me so much of Luca’s mother. She was the same." She said with a smile. "She didn’t like the idea of being the other woman. She didn’t like the violence in the familia either."

"So she left?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Yes but she was only allowed to leave alive because Don has a soft spot for Luciano. Luca begged for his mother’s life when he was no older than ten."

It explained too much. It explained the obsession with control. The need to orchestrate every room. The refusal to ever appear vulnerable. A child who learns that love can vanish at someone else’s discretion grows into a man who refuses to let anything slip from his grasp.

"Is that what is going to happen to me?" Vee asked. She was not naïve. She knew the world she had stepped into.

"No one can know the future, Zuccherino. But what Luciano feels for you isn’t even anywhere close to what he feels for Bianca."

"It doesn’t comfort me, Nonnina."

Because it shouldn’t.

Being loved more intensely than a wife did not erase the existence of the wife. Passion was powerful, yes. But structure was stronger.

"He loves you, that should be comfort enough. Love him, please." Nonnina begged.

"I do."

But love was not the argument.

"No, I mean... love all of him... the bad, the annoying, the depressing."

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