The Mafia Principessa’s Nine Knights Chapter 07

The Mafia Principessa’s Nine Knights Chapter 07

I looked up at her.

Her eyes shimmered with tears.

If I hadn’t known better, I might’ve actually bought it.

But I remembered what she’d said.

“Someone like you? You think you get to hang all over my boyfriend?”

“Can you forgive me?”

She asked it again.

i looked her right in the eye.

“I forgive you,” I said.

She blinked.

Then she smiled.

“Really? That’s great, Bella…”

“But I don’t like you.

Her smile froze.

“I won’t tell Luca.” I kept my voice even. “But I don’t like you. And don’t come up here again.”

A few seconds of silence.

Angelica stood up.

The smile was still there, pasted to her lips. But her eyes had gone flat.

“Fine.”

She picked up her plate.

Walked to the door. Stopped.

She didn’t turn around.

“You’ll regret that.”

The door closed.

My palm was slick with sweat around my pen.

My heart was beating stupidly fast.

But I didn’t cry.

And I wasn’t scared.

I’m Bella. I grew up fiercely protected by nine cousins.

Was I really afraid of her?

No. I wasn’t afraid of her.

I just…

I didn’t want to make things harder for Luca.

He liked her.

God knows why.

But when he looked at her, his eyes would soften.

If I said something, would I put him in the middle? Would it make everything worse?

I didn’t want that for him.

So I swallowed it.

I thought I could handle it.

But what I didn’t know was…

Luca never wanted me to carry this alone.

Staying quiet was my choice.

And he…

He already knew everything.

That night.

Luca sat in his study.

Three screens glowed in front of him.

The left one showed the second-floor hallway camera.

Angelica going into my room.

Coming out without the smile.

The middle screen showed audio waveforms from a hallway mic outside my door.

…Yes. He’d put a microphone outside my bedroom door.

Not to listen in on me.

To catch anyone who came near me.

The right screen…

The family group chat.

Dante had sent a fresh batch of findings.

[During her first marriage, Angelica pulled the same play on her ex-husband’s sister. Sweet to her

face. Tore her apart behind her back. Played the victim in front of others to isolate her. Slowly cut

her off from everyone around her.]

[Textbook social manipulation.]

[She’s running the exact same pattern on Bella.]

Luca read the message three times.

Then he shut off the screens.

Leaned back.

The overhead light burned harsh and white.

He raised a hand to shield his eyes.

The cuts from the broken teacup were still there, half-healed across his knuckles.

“Psychological control.”

He said it under his breath.

“She’s manipulating Bella.”

The words settled in his chest like stone.

He kept seeing Bella’s face at dinner.

That flinch.

Barely there.

But he saw it.

He saw everything.

Luca closed his eyes.

He exhaled through his nose.

Long.

Slow.

Like he was keeping a leash on something violent.

Then he picked up his phone.

A message to Dante.

[Grandpa’s birthday gala. Two weeks.]

[Everyone will be there.]

[That’s when we end this.]

Dante replied in seconds.

[Understood.]