I’m Still a Man, Mara—Do You Think I’m Incapable?” the Wheelchair-Bound Mafia Boss Demanded
“I’m Still a Man, Mara—Do You Think I’m Incap
able?” the Wheelchair-Bound Mafia Boss Demanded
Four million dollars had a sound.
It was the quiet click of Daniel Ellison’s gold pen as he pushed a marriage contract toward his daughter.
“Sign it, Mara.”
Rain battered the windows of the Bellandi estate. Black cars waited outside, and armed guards stood beneath the stone entrance.
Mara didn’t touch the papers.
Her father had claimed he’d lost money gambling. But the contract told a different story.
“You stole four million dollars from Bellandi Holdings.”
Daniel’s collar was damp with sweat. “I made mistakes.”
Three men in dark suits watched from across the table.
The fourth sat at its head.
Luca Bellandi was thirty-seven, feared throughout the city, and newly confined to a custom black wheelchair after an explosion beneath his armored car.
The newspapers called it an accident.
No one in that room believed them.
Mara had expected a monster. Instead, Luca looked like a man who kept one chained somewhere deep inside himself.
Her father tapped the contract impatiently.
“The marriage lasts one year. You live here, attend public events, and help stabilize Mr. Bellandi’s image. My debt disappears. Your brother’s tuition is protected.”
Mara stared at him.
“You’re trading me for money.”
“I’m saving this family.”
“There is no family in a decision you made without me.”
Daniel reached for her hand. She pulled away.
“These men don’t forgive debts,” he whispered.
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Do not use me to frighten her.”
Daniel went silent.
Mara turned toward the man she had been ordered to marry.
“Did you threaten my brother?”
“No.”
“My father?”
“No.”
“Then why does this contract exist?”
Luca didn’t answer immediately.
He looked past her—straight at Daniel.
And for the first time in her life, Mara saw genuine terror on her father’s face.
Luca ordered the other men from the library. Daniel tried to follow, but Mara stopped him.
“Not you.”
The door closed.
Now only three people remained—the daughter, the man who had offered her, and the stranger whose answer could destroy everything she believed.
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