My Fake Mafia Boss Husband Was Supposed To Ignore Me — Until A Sniper’s Bullet Revealed His True Obsession

Part 2

My fingers trembled uncontrollably around the small device as the impossible, fatal reality settled over me.

The heavy grandfather clock in the estate’s sprawling hallway chimed eleven, each deep toll echoing like a judge’s final sentence.

The safe house was deathly silent, heavily guarded by dozens of armed men patrolling the snowy perimeter outside.

I stood completely still in the dark master bedroom, clutching the burner phone so tightly my knuckles ached.

Victor’s sickening ultimatum replayed in my mind on a cruel, endless loop.

I had to steal the encrypted ledgers, or my brother Tyler would be tortured to death.

I walked slowly toward the heavy oak door of Greg’s private study, my worn sneakers making no sound against the Persian rugs.

I punched in the four-digit security code he had trusted me with just hours ago.

The heavy lock clicked open, and I stepped into the masculine room that smelled faintly of expensive bourbon and gun oil.

I swung the large landscape painting aside, revealing the hidden steel wall safe set deeply into the brick.

My trembling hand reached out to punch in the secret combination to secure the offshore routing numbers.

But I suddenly stopped, my finger hovering just an inch over the cold metal keypad.

I remembered the dark, desperate look in Greg’s eyes when he threw his massive body over mine to stop that sniper’s bullet.

He had fiercely defended my honor against Victor’s cruel insults at the gala, treating me with a profound respect I had never experienced in my entire life.

He made me feel beautiful, cherished, and truly seen, despite my curves and my worn-out diner clothes.

Betraying him tonight would completely destroy his vast empire and undoubtedly get him killed.

Victor was a snake who would never let Tyler live anyway, regardless of what I handed over.

I slowly lowered my hand, deliberately closing the painting back over the safe.

I turned around and marched straight down the long, dimly lit hallway toward the tactical war room where Greg was working.

Greg looked up from a sprawling map, his harsh, terrifying features instantly softening at the sight of me.

But when he saw the hot tears streaming down my pale cheeks, his massive frame stiffened in absolute alarm.

I walked straight up to the mahogany table, slamming the cheap plastic burner phone right onto his tactical map.

“Victor has my brother,” I choked out, my voice breaking under the suffocating terror.

“He bribed a maid and ordered me to steal your ledgers and bring them to the old steel plant by midnight.”

Greg stared at the phone, then slowly lifted his gaze to meet mine.

The silence in the war room was absolute, suffocating, and terrifying.

Dan instinctively braced his hand on his holstered weapon, fully expecting an explosive, violent reaction to the betrayal attempt.

“Why did you leave the ledger?”

Greg asked very quietly, his dark eyes searching my soul.

I squared my shoulders, staring the most terrifying mafia boss in Chicago directly down.

“Because you are my husband, and I truly love you,” I confessed, my voice shaking with raw truth.

“I choose you, Greg, but please help me save him.”

Greg stared at the burner phone sitting on the tactical map, his terrifying, dark eyes completely unreadable, and as his right-hand man reached for his weapon, I wondered if my desperate loyalty had just bought me a bullet.