Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

Emanuele’s voice carried a hint of laziness, hoarseness, and an extra touch of sensuality.

It was the first time Isabella had seen Emanuele so languid. Usually, when they slept together, Emanuele would either wake up earlier than her or rise with her. It was rare for him to remain motionless in bed when she was up.

Seeing Emanuele like this, seemingly planning to continue lying in bed, Isabella said, “You probably didn’t eat anything for lunch. Get up and have something to eat.”

“We can have Phillip bring something in later,” Emanuele replied, showing no intention of getting out of bed.

He was usually a very diligent person, rarely lazy or unmotivated. But now, being unwell and with Isabella by his side, their misunderstandings and conflicts had been resolved, and he felt his body and soul simultaneously relaxing.

Emanuele realized that he indeed needed to relax a bit. Phillip had been right in his earlier reprimands. They shouldn’t have had so many misunderstandings. It was all because he had been constantly worried that Isabella would pity him, sympathize with him, and couldn’t face the look in her eyes. That’s why he had been avoiding her.

Now he realized how foolish he had been. Why would he have such thoughts? It not only tormented Isabella but also caused him great anguish.

At this moment, Isabella approached him and then opened Emanuele’s shirt. Her warm hands touched his skin, and Emanuele let out a contented sigh. “Isabella, what’s gotten into you? Are you well-rested now so we can get down to business?”

Under Isabella’s touch, he instantly responded. Isabella looked at the bulge inside Emanuele’s trousers and reached out to touch it. Emanuele immediately groaned. It was too stimulating! He really couldn’t handle even the slightest bit of stimulation right now.

“Emanuele, don’t even think about it. I won’t make love to you until your injuries have healed,” Isabella said. “I just want to see those wounds on your body.”

With that statement, Emanuele’s response instantly cooled, replaced by panic. He had forgotten about this. He reached out to put his clothes back in place, but Isabella stopped him. She directly reached out to stop his movements and continued to look at the scars on Emanuele’s body. These were wounds whipped into his skin. They were different from ordinary whip marks; the whip used had been noticeably sharper, probably even barbed, tearing the skin and leaving a myriad of terrifying holes.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

Although Emanuele’s wounds were already healing, she knew that touching these wounds would still cause him great pain.

As Isabella touched Emanuele’s wounds, her hands trembled uncontrollably. There were too many of these scars on his body. The other person had whipped him so severely; if it had been someone else, they might have been beaten to death.

Isabella asked Emanuele, “Does it hurt?” Her tone also carried a hint of trembling.

Emanuele could tell Isabella was worried. He shook his head, “It doesn’t hurt.”

In reality, it did hurt, but he didn’t want Isabella to worry.

Isabella, however, knew that Emanuele was lying. The wounds had not completely healed and were still in a fragile stage of recovery. How could it not hurt? Such severe injuries, even if scabbed over, would still be very painful.

Isabella was heartbroken. Even in this condition, Emanuele still wanted to hide it from her. Did he think that by not letting her know, she wouldn’t be hurt and upset?

Isabella remained silent and began to lift Emanuele’s trouser leg to see the wounds on his knees. She had heard that the wounds on Emanuele’s knees were the most severe, likely to leave him with a disability.

Just the thought of this made Isabella’s heart tighten. When Isabella moved to see the wounds on his knees, Emanuele hastily said, “It’s fine, it’s almost healed now.”

“Almost healed?” Isabella retorted, “If it’s almost healed, then I need to see it even more.”

Isabella’s tone was heavy, with a commanding inflection. Suddenly, Emanuele felt as though their roles had reversed.

Previously, he had consistently pressured Isabella, but now it seemed that Isabella was the one pressuring him.

Isabella’s attitude became very firm as she reached out and pulled up Emanuele’s trouser leg. The hospital gown was quite loose, so doing this was effortless. Soon, she saw the bandaged wounds on Emanuele’s knees, emitting a strong medicinal smell, making it impossible to assess the knee’s condition.

“You see, every day it needs this kind of wrapping andmedication, and it’s hard to tell if there’s any problem,” Emanuele said. He was grateful that when he was initially injured, Isabella was still in Italy and hadn’t seen how severe his wounds were.

Now that his injuries were beginning to heal, Isabella was only just starting to see them. Although Isabella would feel pained seeing these, the visual impact wouldn’t be as intense as before.

“Yes, I really can’t see anything, but after so long of being tightly bandaged, it must be very serious,” Isabella said.

Isabella truly couldn’t see any issues, but the thought that Emanuele might end up disabled weighed heavily on her heart. Regardless of whether Emanuele would be disabled in the future, her view of him remained the same. But she knew that if Emanuele couldn’t walk normally in the future, it would be a severe blow to him.

“Emanuele, I believe you will definitely get better. Even if you don’t fully recover, don’t put too much psychological pressure on yourself, okay? Compared to losing your life, being left with a limp is nothing. You’re still alive, able to experience this wonderful world, and that’s enough,” Isabella said.

Emanuele looked at Isabella, then reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you, Isabella,” he embraced her, burying his face in her neck. “I love you, meeting you was just right.”

This was an embrace without desire. He felt that Isabella was his sunshine, illuminating his world when he was in darkness.

She was truly wonderful-kind, beautiful, warm, and understanding of others’ needs.

He was a dark person, entangled in crime, and he had brought Isabella into his world. Yet, instead of resenting him, Isabella had sacrificed so much for him. He didn’t know how he could ever thank this angel.

He vowed that from then on, he would never again cause Isabella sadness. He was determined to protect Isabella with his life.