Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 167

Chapter 167: I Love You

Luca shook his head slightly. "That’s another conversation for a farther future. I am talking about now."

"Luca..." Don rose slowly from his chair. "I love you. You know that. But I will always be a Don first. Every time—every single time—I have to punish you for breaking the rules, it hurts me even more than it hurts you. But I cannot seem weak."

Luca could see the conflict etched in his father’s eyes—the tug-of-war between love and duty, between sentiment and tradition. Don had raised him to command, to calculate, to survive in a world that didn’t forgive mistakes. And yet, even now, he showed the faintest cracks of human frailty.

"And you have made me proud your entire life," Don continued. "You... if I could make things easier for you, I would."

Luca felt a twinge of warmth in his chest, a rare flicker of vulnerability in a man who had always seemed invincible. "I can take my punishment, Father. You don’t have to romance me into accepting it." There was a subtle humor in his tone.

Don’s lips curved into a small, approving smile. He reached out and patted Luca on the back. "I accept your claim. But you will still do right by Bianca. You will be seen in public as the perfect couple. You both will attend this wedding together tomorrow."

"No!" Luca snapped. His hand rose slightly in reflex, as if to gesture at the impossible demands of duty colliding with the stubborn pull of his heart.

"It’s an order," Don Genovese said. "We cannot have people lose faith in the familia. At least people have to know that marrying into our family is not fraught with disaster. You want to keep this mistress..."

Luca bristled immediately, his eyes flashing. "Don’t... don’t call her that," he argued. The label reduced her to something disposable, something fleeting—and she was neither.

"It is what she is. You want to keep her? You will maintain the social façade of your marriage for as long as you have it. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Get some rest. Prepare for the ceremony," Don said before he turned and ascended the stairs.

Luca walked to the phone hanging on the wall. His fingers hovered for a moment before dialing Nonnina’s room. "Nonni... I’m home. Could you come down please?" He hung up and moved toward the bar. He poured himself a drink.

The sound of soft footsteps made him turn, just as Nonnina appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

She walked straight into his arms, wrapping herself around him. "Diavolino..." she murmured, her cheek pressing against his chest.

"Nonni..." Luca breathed, running a hand down her hair, feeling the familiar softness of her silver strands slip through his fingers. He kissed her forehead gently. "You good?" he asked.

She lifted her face slightly, eyes meeting his with a softness that belied the unyielding strength she always carried. "I’m always good when you come home," she replied.

Luca’s grip tightened slightly around her.

He held her a little longer.

"I am so sorry, Luciano," she said. "If I knew they were coming, I would have relocated Zuccherino."

Luca shook his head lightly. "It’s okay."

"How is she?" Nonnina asked.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify