The King's Executioner | Mafia Dark Romance | Book 2

1. End to one, start to another

Sofia

Marriage of convenience. It wasn't a term that cartel members used quite frequently but for all practical purposes, it existed. My engagement to Nico was the same. With him, I always assumed to have a safe and comfortable home. A home where we would live out the rest of our lives.

But everything changed when Alejandro and Val came, guns blazing, stealing me from under my brother's wings. I was the collateral, or so I was told. Over time, I was made to realize that being a part of the Moralez clan was my destiny.

With a low head, I accepted it all. The kidnap, the torture and eventually the acceptance of the family who snatched me away from the family I was supposed to have. Everything worked out except for one aspect. My husband.

Alejandro made it quite clear what we were. He would never look at me the way I did. There was no love or kindness in his eyes, except for those brief moments when he would show concern for me. In those moments, that man would take my breath and heartbeats away.

But all other times, I was the puppet to a play I didn't even sign up for.

Although Al and I departed from the aisle hand in hand, our hearts remained stagnant at the longest yard. Before I could even utter another word, Alejandro pulled up his stoic mask over the smile he faked for the family.

I knew I wasn't the right person for him. He always wanted a strong, independent woman and I was far from it. I was an oak leaf, fallen far from the mighty tree. There was no use for me, nobody asked for me. As useless as they were, I was the same, lying in the dirt and watching the sky soar past me.

When Alejandro jerked his hand off mine, I was snapped back to reality. This was what my life would be. A tag along.

"Where are you going?" I asked, hoping to understand where he was hurrying off to.

He turned around with eyes that bore into my soul. But this look wasn't the one to make me open up. This was the look he would render to his enemies, one that would scare them into submission, into letting go. Heartbreakingly, I was on the enemy side.

The enemy who stole his freedom and chained him in the bonds of marriage.

"Don't interfere in what I do. Understand?" Alejandro gritted his teeth, squaring my face. I knew better than to enrage him further. My head dipped into my chest in submission. "Do you understand?" he growled again.

With the knowledge of the wedding crowd arriving inside the lobby, I shook my head vigorously. Watching him walk away, I felt my heart sink into a bottomless pit. Unsure of what I did wrong, a part of me wanted to rush back to the bridal suite and cry my eyes out. Maybe that would ease the heaviness that grew in my chest.

"Where is Al?" Valentina's voice emerged from behind me. She held her heels in her hand, the complaint about her swollen feet was heard for weeks now, yet every part of her glowed. She was basking in the pregnancy glow, a to-be mother. "Sof, I asked you something."

I looked around, unable to exercise my mind for a quick answer.

"There she is!" Another voice caught my attention. Antonio trotted inside with a version of his happier self, which was a rare sight. Yet, there he was, by his wife's side. "Where is the man of the hour, Sof?"

I looked away when the pain in my chest radiated to my throat. This wasn't the wedding I expected to have. Hell, this wasn't the wedding any girl would expect in her life.

My expressions might have revealed the unspoken for Antonio moved into the crowd. Valentina lend me a hand, walking me back to the suit. The hotel where the marriage took place was owned by Moralez. Even if Al was hiding in some place, there was no means to find him. Ratting out the second-in-command would only lead to death so nobody would tell.