The Mafia Boss's Pet Wife

I had a plan. I've always had a plan. And yet, something about her made me stray from my course. Every time I thought I had her figured out, when I believed I was two steps ahead, she surprised me. It was maddening. It was exhilarating. Sophia was no longer just a pawn in my game. She was something more. And for the first time, I began to question whether I was still the one in control.

I leaned against the doorframe of her room, watching her as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were distant, her posture rigid. The way she carried herself so strong, so defiant-wasn't what I expected when I first saw her. I had seen a broken girl, someone who could be molded into what I wanted. But I was beginning to realize how wrong I had been.

"Still thinking about running away?" I asked, my voice low but clear.

She stiffened at the sound of my voice, but didn't turn to look at me. "You think you know everything about me, don't you?" she said, her words sharp, cutting through the air. "But you don't. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

I smiled. There it was again the resistance, her strength. It was like a chess game, and I was starting to realize that, this time, I wasn't the one making the moves.

"You're right," I said, pushing off from the doorframe and taking a step forward. "I don't know everything about you. But I know enough. I know how badly you want to escape, how much you want to get away from this place."

She finally turned to face me, her eyes dark and full of rage. "Don't pretend you care about me, Nathan," she said with disdain. "You don't care about anything, only control."

Her words hit me harder than I was willing to admit. I'd spent my whole life building walls, making sure no one could get close enough to hurt me, but Sophia... she had a way of seeing through them. It was like she had unlocked a part of me that I wasn't ready to face.

"You're wrong," I said, now standing closer, my presence almost suffocating. "I don't care about control. Not really. I care about you."Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Her gaze faltered for a moment, her anger giving way to something else something I couldn't quite identify. Then she turned away again, her posture stiff with the weight of her emotions.

"You've been playing this game for so long, Nathan. You think it's all about me. About us. But it's not. It's about what you need. What you want. And that's something I'll never be."

I stretched my hand out to her, gently taking hold of her arm, making her look at me again. "I don't need to change you, Sophia," I said, my voice now soft, urgent. "I just need you to see what's possible. To see that we're not so different, you and I."

She laughed bitterly. "What, you think we're the same? You think you've figured me out?"

I moved closer to her, my hand resting lightly on her shoulder. "I don't need to understand you, Sophia," I said, my voice softening. "I just need you to trust me. To stop fighting it. Together, we're stronger than apart."

She pulled away from me, her gaze heavy with something between disbelief and defiance. "You think you can make me trust you after everything you've done? After everything you've put me through?"

The words hung in the air, thick with accusation. And she was right. I pushed her. I made her doubt herself, made her question everything. But I wasn't the only one playing this game. She was too.

"You don't need to trust me now," I said, my voice calmer. "But you will. Eventually. You'll see that this is the only way."

Sophia stood in silence for a long moment, her eyes heavy with the weight of her thoughts. And I could see it in her eyes-she was torn. Torn between the woman she wanted to be and the one I had forced her to become. "Why?" she whispered finally, her voice trembling with emotion. "Why me, Nathan? Why not someone else?"

The question caught me off guard. I expected her to challenge me, to question my motives, but this... this was different.

I stepped closer, my hand resting gently on her shoulder. "Because, Sophia, you're the only one who can break me. You're the only one who has ever made me feel something real."

Her gaze softened, just for a moment, before she pulled away from me. "I don't need you to fix me, Nathan," she said, her voice firm, despite the tremor beneath it. "I need to fix myself."

And there it was. She was right. I couldn't fix her. She didn't need me for that. But, somehow, I still couldn't let her go. I wasn't ready for her to leave. Not when she was so close. Not when I was so close.

I let her go, stepping back and giving her the space she needed. But as I watched her disappear into the shadows of the room, I knew this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

Sophia had become more than just a piece in my game. She was a challenge, an enigma I couldn't solve. And that made her more dangerous than anything I had ever encountered.

I couldn't let her go. Not yet.

Not when the price of control was higher than I ever imagined.