After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 02

After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 02

The manager folded her arms, her voice cold and vicious.

“Stop wasting everyone’s time. Pay the bill.”

Her badge gave me a name: Vanessa Rich.

I committed it to memory.

I pulled out my phone and called Luca directly. No answer the first time. None the second either. I frowned. It was a weekday evening, yet he wasn’t at the restaurant and wasn’t answering my calls.

What was he doing?

I looked at Vanessa.

“I’ll say this once more. I’m Isabella Moretti. Luca Moretti is my brother. If you don’t believe me, check the Family records or ring the Family’s financial adviser.”

Vanessa paused at my name. Then, to my surprise, she laughed.

“Isabella? So it’s you.”

She stepped closer and lowered her voice.

“I’ve seen your picture on Luca’s phone. So that’s it. You know him, and now you think you can waltz into his place whenever you like and act as though you matter.”

My eyes narrowed.

“What exactly are you on about?”

She stared at me, open hostility in her eyes.

“Still pretending? I’ve met plenty of women like you. You’ve got no place in this circle, so you latch on to powerful men and take whatever you can get. And now you’ve got the nerve to come into his restaurant and stick your bill on his tab?”

She lifted her chin.

“I’m his girlfriend. I’m not having this.”

For a moment, all I felt was sheer disbelief.

So this was the woman Luca had been seeing for more than six months, the girlfriend he’d never once brought to a formal Family dinner.

And apparently, she’d decided I was some woman Luca was keeping on the side. Even more absurdly, she had no intention of checking whether she was right.

How could she be this stupid?

“Vanessa, ring Luca. Ask him who I am.”

The smile vanished from her face.

“You don’t get to order me about.”

Then she waved a hand towards the entrance. Two large men who had been standing by the door came over at once.

They were restaurant security, but judging by the way they stood and moved, they clearly weren’t ordinary doormen. Luca had actually stationed Family associates at the restaurant.

Vanessa said coolly, “If she won’t cooperate, take her out the back. We’ll deal with her when the police get here.”

I turned sharply towards her.

“You really think you can lay a hand on me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She gave a contemptuous laugh.

“You think saying you’re a Moretti is enough to scare everyone? Luca’s the one who calls the shots in this Family, and I’m his girlfriend. No one can touch me.”

The next second, one of the men clamped a hand over my mouth while the other twisted my arms behind my back. I fought hard, but with both men overpowering me, I couldn’t move.

People around us saw what was happening. Not one of them stepped forward. A few even laughed under their breath.

To them, I was nothing more than a woman who’d overestimated her own importance and tried to pass herself off as a member of the Family.

They dragged me through the staff corridor and shoved me into a storage room deep behind the kitchen. The door slammed shut behind us, cutting off the light from the corridor.

Vanessa came in after us, wearing high heels. She didn’t ask another question.

She kicked me hard in the stomach.

I lost my balance and crashed into the edge of a shelving unit. She looked down at me without a trace of sympathy.

“That’s what you get for taking Luca’s things and throwing his name around. Teach her a lesson.”

The two men didn’t hesitate. The punches and kicks came almost immediately.

I covered my head and forced myself to stay conscious as pain tore through my shoulders, back, and ribs.

Vanessa stood to one side, her voice growing shriller by the second.

“That’s what happens when you refuse to pay! Stupid little country girl. You make me sick!”

I raised my head, struggling to catch my breath.

“I told you, I’m his sister. Ring Luca and let him say it to me himself.”

The smile vanished from her face again.

“Still sticking to that story?”

She lifted her chin. The two men stepped forward once more.

That was when I finally understood.

This had never really been about the bill. Vanessa wanted someone to humiliate, and I’d happened to walk straight into her path.

Who I really was didn’t matter to her at all.