Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

“Emanuele, is it really you? Are you okay? Why haven’t you replied to my messages these past few days?” Isabella’s almost desperate words made Emanuele smile.

“I’m fine, Isabella, truly. You don’t need to worry about me. I haven’t replied because I wanted to focus on solving my issues. I’m sorry for making you worry,” Emanuele reassured her.

Emanuele’s words only made Isabella feel more aggrieved. “Do you have any idea how I felt these past days? I was really scared, very scared.”

“I know, Isabella, I’m sorry. When I’ve sorted everything out, may I come to see you?”

“I can make my own way back,” she wanted to see Emanuele.

“Not now, Isabella. Chicago still isn’t completely safe. When everything stabilizes, I will come to find you,” Emanuele’s tone became stern.

Hearing Emanuele’s words, Isabella again felt like crying. “Emanuele, I… I really miss you and I’m really worried about you.”

“Darling, I’m fine,” Emanuele’s heart ached, but he tried to contain his emotions, “Wait for me, alright? I promise I won’t put myself in danger, and I will make Chicago safe again.”

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Isabella sighed and then told Emanuele, “Grazia has had the baby, a healthy boy. Did you know?”

“God, I have a nephew! What a surprise,” Emanuele’s eyes softened.

“Yes, Emanuele. When you come to Italy, you can see him. He’s really cute.”

Emanuele chatted a little more with Isabella, then the two reluctantly hung up the phone.

Emanuele placed the phone beside him and furrowed his brow. He wasn’t just in emotional pain; his body was also in agony.

He lay on the hospital bed, his wounds tightly wrapped in bandages. The lashes he received were superficial, just flesh wounds. The most severe was the wound on his knee, where Mathias had struck bone, causing serious damage that would take a long time to heal. The extent of the recovery was still unknown.

Emanuele looked disheveled all over, even Phillip, who was nearby, found it hard to bear. He had never seen Emanuele in such a state.

“Boss, you’re hurt. Why didn’t you tell your wife? She’s a doctor; she wouldn’t be afraid. She would take care of you.”

“Phillip, no wonder you’re still single. A man least wants to show his vulnerable side in front of the woman he loves. Don’t you understand that?” Emanuele, though immobile in bed, found the strength to mock Phillip.

Feeling inexplicably scolded by Emanuele, Phillip couldn’t help but touch his own nose. He thought his suggestion was quite good. Why was Emanuele scolding him?

“Get out, we don’t need you here,” Emanuele told Phillip.

Phillip immediately left.

The boss was seriously injured, so it was normal for him to be in a bad mood. It was their fault for not protecting Emanuele well, otherwise, Mathias wouldn’t have been able to abduct him.

After scolding Phillip, Emanuele still felt no improvement in his mood. It was mainly the physical injuries that made him restless. He was familiar with these wounds, as he had often inflicted such torment on others in the past.

What scared him the most was the wound on his knee. When Mathias attacked, it was particularly brutal, even for someone as tolerant of pain as him. It was the knee, and that worried Emanuele.

What if it doesn’t heal? What if it causes problems? Disability?

The thought scared Emanuele. He had never feared death before, but now, he began to fear. Death is a momentary event, but if there is a disability, it is a lifetime. In his prime, his limitless physical strength made him proud and was his capital in battle. If he lost a leg… Emanuele couldn’t imagine how he would live.

He also dared not tell Isabella about this. If Isabella found out, she would look at him with that kind of pity, sympathy, and compassion in her eyes. But what he needed least was pitying eyes. He wanted to be a man Isabella could be proud of, not a pitiful man. If that happened… he thought, he might not be able to help but escape.

Restless, Emanuele couldn’t help but light a cigarette. Although smoking wasn’t allowed in the hospital, in his own hospital, there weren’t so many rules. The smell of nicotine calmed his mind.

Emanuele remembered Isabella’s voice on the phone, filled with tearsand her increasingly furrowed brow. Damn it, he didn’t want to see Isabella upset. In Emanuele’s view, Isabella’s tears should only be shed in bed, not anywhere else. But now, Isabella on the other end of the phone sounded so distressed, it made him feel distressed too. He longed to immediately go to Italy to find Isabella, hold her in his arms, kiss her full lips, and tell her not to worry. But right now, he couldn’t do that.

If he hadn’t been injured, after resolving the issue, he would have immediately gone to Italy to bring Isabella back to Chicago. Isabella missed him, he knew, just as deeply as he missed her. But Emanuele looked down at his wounds, deeply inhaling a puff of smoke, and then exhaling. The white smoke spread in the air, blurring Emanuele’s face.

After Isabella and Emanuele finished their call, she felt a little more stable. Emanuele was still alive. Although she didn’t know his current condition, at least he wasn’t in mortal danger. All her pessimistic thoughts vanished.

She turned to Grazia. “Emanuele just called me. He said he’s fine, but the situation isn’t resolved yet, so he asked me to stay in Italy a little longer.”

Grazia also breathed a sigh of relief. “Really? That’s great. I knew Emanuele wouldn’t be in any danger. Isabella, you worry too much.”

“I’m not by his side, and he’s in danger again. I’m really worried,” Isabella furrowed her brow.

“Isabella, I understand how you feel. Emanuele is fine, and that puts my mind at ease too,” Grazia smiled, holding the baby and walking to the window. “I’ll be discharged soon, and then we can go out together, shop, and have fun.”

Isabella nodded. She wasn’t as eager to return home now. But she still missed Emanuele. Although he said he was fine on the phone, his voice sounded hoarse, as if he were very weak. Was it because he was exhausted from dealing with everything lately? Isabella wasn’t sure.

Soon, Grazia was discharged, and Rocco specially ordered a huge bouquet of flowers for her. Isabella also brought a gift for Grazia. When they returned home, the servants had prepared a sumptuous meal.