My Mafia Boss Boyfriend Betrayed Me with My Sister

Victor Cordano was the youngest heir to the Sicilian Mafia, and I was his worst nightmare: the family's finance chief. Before the old Don died, he entrusted me with the books. I kept them with a Quaker's strict discipline. I slashed the budget for Victor's yacht parties, rationed his special-order cigars, and even checked the receipts on the estate's milk orders. A violent, reckless new Don against a stubborn stickler who couldn't be bribed or bullied. All his men figured he'd put a bullet in my head sooner or later. But the truth was, in a family where danger lurked around every corner, we'd been secretly in love for three whole years. The only one who knew our secret was my little sister, Bella, whom I'd raised like my own daughter. I risked my life for the family so Bella could live a normal life, study ballet, and put on her own art shows. I indulged her every whim. Victor had once pinned me against the wall, gritting his teeth. "Sofia, you're obsessed with protecting Bella. When are you going to give me some of that attention?" Later, I was sent to Mexico to collect a debt, and Bella made me a promise. "Focus on your work, Sis. I'll check all his expenses against your rules!" Two months later, exhausted and lucky to be alive, I made it back to the estate, hoping to surprise her. Instead, I saw Bella come out of the bathroom in Victor's oversized shirt, stand on tiptoe, and kiss him hard. Chapter 1 I stood in the doorway. The suitcase slipped from my hand and hit the floor hard. "How long... have you two been together?" My voice came out strained and shaky. Victor saw me first. He pushed Bella away and planted himself squarely in front of her. "I was drunk that day and walked into the wrong bathroom. I lost control for a minute." When I saw the hickeys all over Bella's neck, I pulled my Beretta from my waistband and aimed it at Victor. Victor didn't dodge. Instead, he stepped forward and pressed the gun hard against his own chest. "Sofia, if it'll make you feel better, shoot me right here! Just don't touch Bella, and my life is yours!" My gun hand wouldn't stop shaking. Two years ago, a rival family kidnapped me at an abandoned dock in Palermo. Back then, Victor had stormed in alone, just like this. Facing dozens of guns, he'd shouted that they could have his life as long as they didn't touch me. Now he was saying the exact same words to protect my sister. Bella rushed out from behind him. "Sis, please don't kill Victor. This isn't all his fault!" Her hand landed right on the bullet wound in my side. I grunted in pain. The freshly bandaged wound tore open again, and blood quickly soaked my trench coat. Victor's expression changed. He stepped forward at once to steady me. "You're hurt? What the hell happened in Mexico?" I shook off his hand. I'd gone there just to settle the books and ended up caught in a local cartel's civil war. If Dante Moretti from Milan hadn't stepped in to save me, I'd be a corpse right now. But I wasn't in the mood to explain. I forced out two words. "Cartel infighting." Bella paled and ran to the living room for the first-aid kit. "Sis, you're bleeding so much. Let me bandage it..." Her hands shook as she reached to open my coat. I slapped her hand away. "Don't touch me." I snatched the gauze and clotting powder from her, gritted my teeth, pulled my clothes aside, and hastily bandaged the wound. Bella sank onto the rug, tears rolling down her face. She bit her lip, looking wronged but not daring to make a sound. Victor frowned, picked up the first-aid kit, and held it out to me with a sigh. "Sofia, don't take it out on Bella. She was worried about you too. While you were gone, she stayed up several nights in a row making you a birthday present." I followed his gaze to a framed oil painting on the living room table. It showed the country cottage where I used to live with my parents. My head throbbed. Twenty years ago, my parents died in an accident when Bella was still a baby. At eight, I held Bella in my arms, knelt before Don Cordano, and swore my loyalty. From then on, I became the family's most cold-blooded cleaner and its human calculator. I was ruthless with everyone else. Every bit of my tenderness, I saved for her. I'd spent two months dodging bullets in Mexico, and all that time she'd been in my room, climbing into my man's bed. Victor took off his suit jacket, draped it over Bella, and patted her back. "Bella, go back to your room. I'll handle this." Only after the bedroom door closed did Victor turn and light a Cuban cigar. "What's done is done. I have to take responsibility for Bella. Tomorrow I'll have my lawyer send you that thirty-million-euro cashier's check from the Swiss bank. Consider it compensation." I looked at him and laughed out loud. "Victor, I control this family's finances. Every cent you spend goes through me. You don't get to throw it around just to shut me up." Victor blew out a smoke ring. His face darkened. "Then what do you want?" I met his eyes and spoke slowly. "I want you to sign a permanent asset custody agreement right now and move all your private assets into the main accounts. Even if you marry her someday and make her your Donna, every cent you two spend will need my signature." Chapter 2 Victor's hand froze around his cigar. "Sofia, we've been together for three years, and you're still this uptight! Now you want to control the future Donna too?" I met his furious glare and calmly took out the gold pocket watch the old Don had left me. It bore a cross. "Victor, we swore a solemn oath before the old Don died. When it comes to money, my word is final." Victor stared at the pocket watch, his jaw clenched, but in the end he didn't say a word. He turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. The living room went quiet. The only sound was the grandfather clock ticking. Five years ago, the old Don died suddenly of a stroke. Victor was only 24, and the elders were circling like vultures. I was the one who stood up to the threats. I cut the estate's lavish spending and used the money I saved to pay off politicians in Rome and keep the rank-and-file gunmen fed. Back then, the elders had Victor so cornered he could barely breathe. Late one night, he came to my study. He pinned me against the mahogany bookshelf, his kisses hot and insistent. "Sofia, be the lady of this estate. Then all the money will be yours, and so will I. Stop frowning all the time. You should smile more." The vulnerability and passion he showed me in the dark broke down the walls I'd built. To keep the elders from using our relationship against him, we agreed to keep it a secret. In public, he was the violent new Don and I was his straitlaced finance chief. In private, we laced our fingers together in the bulletproof safe room. But now that his position as Don was secure, I'd become a joke. The wound in my side started oozing again. I dragged myself into the bathroom to change the dressing. As the steam started to rise, a few finger marks slowly appeared on the glass door of the shower. Victor had said he was drunk that day and walked into the wrong bathroom... At the thought, my stomach churned. I grabbed the cartoon ceramic mug from the counter and hurled it at the glass door. Cracks spread across it like a spiderweb. That cartoon mug was the birthday present Bella gave me last year. Victor had sneered back then that it was too childish for someone as cold-blooded as me. Now the shards lay on the floor as if mocking me. I'd been the childish one all along. The next morning, I went to the dining room on the second floor. Bella was sitting at the table drinking milk. The glass in her hand wobbled when she saw me. I set a one-way ticket to Paris in front of her. "I've contacted your advisor at the Paris art academy. Your graduation show has been moved up. Your flight is at two this afternoon. Go pack." Bella's eyes reddened at the sight of the ticket, and she gripped the tablecloth with both hands. "Sis, school doesn't start for another two weeks. I don't want to go..." "I don't want you causing a scandal before you graduate. Finish school first." My answer left no room for argument. Tears rolled down Bella's cheeks. She stood and timidly tugged at my sleeve, her voice trembling. "Sis, are you never going to forgive me? I didn't want to betray you, but Victor is so gentle, and when he held me while he was drunk, I just couldn't say no... Sis, you always said you'd forgive me no matter what I did wrong. Please don't send me away, okay?" Even now, she thought that if she put on her sweet, pitiful act, I'd give in like always. Expressionless, I pulled my sleeve away. Footsteps sounded at the dining room door. Victor strode in and casually put his arm around Bella's shoulders. "Sofia, she's an adult. Whether she stays or goes is her choice." Before I could say anything, Victor turned to Marco, the old butler beside him. "Cancel the ticket. And have the kitchen make the crème br?lée Bella likes." The bodyguards and maids all lowered their heads, but I heard a few hushed comments behind me. "Miss Sofia is such a tyrant." "Miss Bella is so much sweeter. If she becomes Donna, life will be easier for all of us." Listening to them, I felt something thick and bitter lodge in my throat. I was about to return to my room when Victor's uncle, Antonio Cordano, stormed into the hall with several elders. "Sofia! Get out here!" Chapter 3 Antonio slammed a stack of ledgers onto the dining table so hard the dishes rattled. "Last month, five million dollars went missing from the Palermo port smuggling accounts, and Interpol even raided the underground bank we use for laundering! Sofia, what kind of finance chief are you!" My eyes went wide. I stepped forward and opened the ledger. I'd been in Mexico for two months. I hadn't approved a single large payment the whole time. But my signature was right there on the transfer slips. It even had the little flick I always added at the end. I knew at a glance that Bella had copied it. I whipped around to look at Bella. Bella was pale and shaking all over, shrinking back behind Victor. "For the past two months, I've been in..." I'd barely started when Victor suddenly pressed down on my shoulder and cut me off. "Uncle, these are the main family's books. I'll handle it." Antonio struck the floor with his cane and gave a cold laugh. "Handle it yourself? Sofia served your father. For all we know, you'll cover for her! Today she faces punishment under the family code!" Victor's eyes went cold. He pulled a stack of photos from inside his jacket and threw them on the table. "If you want to talk about the family code at the dining table, why don't we start with my cousin quietly dipping into the armory's funds?" Antonio clearly hadn't seen that coming. His face stiffened. Victor didn't push it any further. His voice was cold. "All of you, step outside. I'll explain the missing five million to everyone myself." Antonio's face darkened, but all he could do was grit his teeth and lead his men to the council hall to wait. Victor pulled Bella and me into the soundproof safe room. The moment the door shut, Bella burst into tears. "Victor, I didn't mean to! Last month, I saw an antique necklace I loved, and my classmates kept egging me on to rent a yacht... I thought it was an account my sister had set aside for spending money. I really didn't know it would get the police involved!" I was shaking with rage. I raised my hand to slap her. "Bella! The port accounts are untouchable, and you forged my signature to dip into our laundering funds!" Victor caught my wrist, his voice low. "This isn't the time to point fingers. I've held Antonio off for now, but the raid on the underground bank is serious. We have to settle this with the council of elders!" I shook off his hand. "Settle it how? By having Bella confess?" Victor frowned, his voice decisive. "No. Under the family code, anyone who steals from the laundering account loses their right hand. Bella's painting career would be over, and she could never marry me without a stain on her name. Sofia, tell the council that an accounting mistake you made in Mexico caused the cash-flow shortfall. You have deep roots in the family. At most, the elders will strip you of your position. They'd never dare kill you." The safe room was dead silent. I could even hear my own teeth grinding. "Victor, when the old Don handed me the books, I swore I'd never take a single cent! And now you want me to admit to cooking them? You know better than anyone what that means for a finance chief in Sicily. I'll be branded a traitor for the rest of my life!" Victor gripped my shoulders and softened his voice. His eyes pleaded with me. "Sofia, I'll owe you one. Bella's not like you. She'd barely survive a session in the punishment room. You've shielded her so many times. Do it for me. Protect her one last time. Losing your position is only temporary. Once things blow over, I'll give you a better life." Then Bella scrambled over, threw her arms around my legs, and sobbed so hard she could barely breathe. "Sis, I can't paint without my hand! I swear I'll never do it again. Please, for Mom and Dad's sake, save me one more time..." The bullet wound in my side was still aching. And now the two people I'd once been closest to were teaming up to throw me to the wolves. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, they were bone-dry. I pulled away, took out a white handkerchief, wiped the spot where Victor had touched me, and threw it in the trash. "Fine. I'll take the fall." Chapter 4 The tension on Victor's face eased, and he reached out to touch my cheek. "Sofia, I knew you'd always put the family first. Don't worry. From now on, I promise I'll..." I turned my head away and cut him off. "But this is the last time. After this, I don't owe either of you anything." Ten minutes later, we were in the council hall. Antonio smashed his bone china teacup against my forehead. The porcelain shattered. Scalding tea mixed with blood ran down my face and blurred the vision in my left eye. "You traitor! A five-million-dollar shortfall nearly got all our men at the Palermo port killed! Sofia, what do you have to say for yourself?" I knelt on the floor with my back straight. I didn't wipe away the blood, and I didn't spare a single glance for Victor at the head of the room. "It was my mistake. I accept the punishment." Victor sat on the Don's throne. His fingers tightened on the armrest, and for a moment he looked pained. But he quickly composed himself and made the announcement in front of everyone. "Sofia neglected her duties. Starting today, she is removed as finance chief and will hand over the books! Bella will take over the accounts for now." Antonio paused, then frowned at Bella, who stood behind Victor. "Bella? What does she know about keeping books?" Victor spoke in a low voice. "Bella minored in financial management in Paris. She's been learning to manage the books lately. Haven't the elders' expense approvals been going a lot more smoothly these days?" He pulled Bella into his arms, his gaze sweeping the room. "And... once Bella graduates, she'll officially become my wife and the family's Donna." The moment he said it, the council hall erupted. A few capos whose budgets I'd blocked jumped at the chance to suck up to him. "Wise choice, Don! We've all seen what Miss Bella can do. She's a lot better than some uptight penny-pincher!" Kneeling in a pool of blood, I finally understood everything. Victor had killed two birds with one stone, and brilliantly. He'd kept the woman he loved out of trouble and taken the family's purse strings back from me. With a blank face, I took out the solid copper vault key I'd carried for five years and set it on the floor. After I handed over the key, I stayed out of the estate's business completely. Bella took over the finances. She approved expense requests without much scrutiny, and in just a few days, the estate's spending had multiplied several times over. The servants always sided with whoever held power. Sometimes, when they passed me in the hallway, they didn't even say hello. They just covered their mouths, snickered, and walked off. One afternoon a week later, I went to the archive room in the main building to get my passport. On the way, I ran into a few casino bosses coming out of the study, large checks in hand. On the desk lay a freshly signed investment contract for the Genoa offshore gaming project. Six months ago, I'd found signs that the Lorenzetti family, our sworn enemies, were behind it. Its ownership structure was a maze. Victor was reading through a document. I couldn't help warning him. "Victor, the Genoa project has too many red flags..." Before I could finish, Bella flinched beside him as if I'd frightened her. She lowered her head, looking hurt, her eyes reddening. Victor rubbed his forehead and frowned at me. "Sofia, Bella already talked this through with me. Since she took over, everyone's been saying how well she handles things. Why do you insist on picking on her? I've got people keeping a close eye on Lorenzetti. In Sicily, there's no deal I can't handle." Then he took a velvet box out of the drawer, slid it across to me, and softened his tone. "I know you're struggling with the change. This is your birthday present. Sofia, it's time you learned to take life a little easier." I looked at the box. Suddenly, it all seemed ridiculous. I'd worked myself half to death for 20 years, and now I was the estate's idle freeloader, good for nothing but envying my own sister. I didn't reach for it. I turned and walked out of the study. That night, I went to the family chapel at the end of the second floor. When I pushed open the wooden door, Don Cordano's black-and-white memorial portrait seemed to look back at me. I set the gold pocket watch bearing a cross on the altar. "Don Cordano, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect the books you trusted me with. You raised me, and I've repaid that debt with every bullet hole and scar on my body." Outside the chapel, the Sicilian night wind carried the salty smell of the sea. I took a black business card with gilded edges out of the inside pocket of my suit. Two months ago in Mexico, Dante Moretti, Milan's biggest financial shark and a Don himself, saved my life. Then he watched me untangle accounts holding three hundred million dollars in three hours and pressed this card into my hand. I took out an encrypted phone that wasn't being monitored and dialed the number. The call connected quickly, and I heard Dante's low, rich voice. "Ms. Rinaldi, I've been waiting 53 days for this call." I looked out the window at the vast night sky and spoke calmly. "Mr. Moretti, does your offer of the CEO position still stand?"