The Seat Beside The Mafia Heir Chapter 09

The Seat Beside The Mafia Heir Chapter 09

When the baby was born, Santa Lucia Private Clinic was full of visitors.

Nina. Donna Isabella. Luca. Several of Lorenzo’s men.

When they wheeled me out of the delivery room, the nurses had already taken the baby for checks.

Everyone gathered around to see the child.

Except Nina and Lorenzo.

They were still standing by me.

When Lorenzo saw me, his face finally relaxed.

He didn’t ask about the heir first.

He leaned down and looked at me.

“Are you okay?”

That’s when it clicked.

All these years, everyone had wanted me in a specific role.

Matteo wanted me soft. Patient. Willing to excuse his weakness.

Serena stole pieces of me so she could wear my life like a costume.

Matteo’s mother wanted me proper and restrained, never outshining her son.

Only Lorenzo never asked me to fit Valenti’s needs.

He just waited for me to come to him.

I was still hoarse.

“Lorenzo, let’s get married.”

He froze.

I smiled weakly.

“Marriage first, love later.”

Nina sniffled, then immediately cursed me out.

“Finally. I was about to sign the papers for you.”

Lorenzo took my hand and kissed my fingers.

“Gia, Valenti will give you a seat.”

I looked at him.

He corrected himself.

“No. Not the Family. I’ll give it to you. My name. My loyalty. My future.”

I closed my eyes.

This was better than seven years of waiting.

At least this time, I wasn’t a bargaining chip.

I was the one sitting at the table.

After the wedding, I still heard about Serena and Matteo sometimes.

Nina said she wasn’t gossiping. She was just collecting intel.

She was great at lying to herself, which made her a terrible spy.

Serena’s life was miserable.

Rocco Santoro wasn’t an easy guy.

She thought she’d married her way into power by joining the Santoro Clan.

But mafia families care about loyalty above everything else.

The evidence of her past with Matteo had spread through Milan on the wedding day.

Santoro would never treat her as a real wife.

Lucia wasn’t doing well either.

After the wedding disaster, she’d lost any chance of stepping foot in Valenti Estate.

When Vittorio went down, she had no one left to back her.

She tried to contact him. Lorenzo’s people stopped her at the gate.

Lorenzo gave one response.

“Valenti doesn’t take betrayers.”

Short. Cold. Clean.

Exactly who he was.

Matteo came to see me a few times.

The first time was after Lorenzo and I signed the marriage papers.

He stood outside Valenti Holdings, looking nothing like the golden heir he used to be.

He said he was wrong.

He said he’d always loved me.

He said that night was a mistake.

I listened. I was exhausted.

“Matteo, you don’t love me. You just can’t accept that I stopped waiting.”

His eyes were red-rimmed.

“Gia, we had seven years.”

“Seven years doesn’t mean you own me.”

I cut him off.

“You kept postponing the wedding and blamed me for holding back. You wanted my loyalty without making me your wife. You ended up with Serena because she looked like me, but she wasn’t me. And with her, you didn’t have to commit.”

His face paled.

I turned to leave.

He grabbed my wrist.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

Lorenzo appeared out of nowhere.

He didn’t raise his voice. He just looked at Matteo.

“Let go.”

Matteo froze.

Lorenzo’s voice dropped lower.

“I won’t repeat myself.”

Matteo let go.

Lorenzo stepped between us.

“Conti. Your family still does business with Valenti. Keep this out of the boardroom.”

Matteo gritted his teeth.

He left.

I looked at Lorenzo.

“That was a polite threat.”

He looked down at me.

“Rules for outsiders. Loyalty for family.”

I laughed.

If anyone else had said that, it would’ve sounded like a pickup line.

From Lorenzo, it just sounded like the family code.