The Mafia Boss Walked Away From His Bride for the Plus-Size Woman in the Back Pew, and Seconds Later the Wedding Exploded Into a War

Valeria stepped into the light of her security guard’s lantern, her black silk gown dragging through the damp mud of the tunnel floor without her appearing to care. Her face was as cold as the granite walls around them.

"Put the guns down, Daniel," Valeria said, her voice echoing off the arches. "The church is secured. Dominic Rinaldi has withdrawn his men to his hotel, but he has declared open war on our family."

Daniel stepped out from behind the pillar, keeping Amara behind his left shoulder. "Then tell the boys to secure the docks. We've been ready for a war with New York for five years."

Valeria stopped ten feet away. She looked at Daniel, then her cold eyes shifted past his shoulder, landing directly on Amara.

"For this?" Valeria spat, the word dripping with venom. "You destroyed a thirty-million-dollar alliance, brought three hundred federal eyes down on our cathedral, and started a three-state gang war... for a clerk from South Boston?"

Amara felt a surge of hot, angry blood rise to her neck. She stepped out from behind Daniel’s back, standing full height, her hands tucked into her pockets, her chin raised.

"Municipal archives, actually," Amara corrected, her voice steady and clear in the damp tunnel. "And if you're going to insult me, Mrs. Moretti, at least do it accurately. I manage land titles, not parking tickets."

Valeria’s eyes narrowed slightly, a faint flicker of surprise passing across her features before it was buried under iron control. "You have a large mouth for a woman surrounded by armed men."

"I have a large mouth because I've spent ten years dealing with angry city developers who think they own Boston," Amara replied coolly. "And frankly, your family's organizational skills are terrible. You left your escape tunnel door unlocked."

Daniel let out a short, sudden laugh that made his guards look at him in shock.

"Mother," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a register of iron certainty. "Amara is coming with me to the estate in Gloucester. If you want to fight the Rinaldis, you do it with me at my side. But if you touch one hair on her head, I will hand every offshore account ledger in the Moretti vault to the State Attorney."

Valeria’s face went completely still. "You would betray your own blood?"

"You betrayed my life when you sold me to the Rinaldis," Daniel said quietly. "Now make your choice. Do we fight Dominic together, or do I burn the family to the ground today?"

Valeria stared at her son for ten long seconds. The silence in the tunnel was so thick the sound of water dripping from the ceiling felt like a ticking clock.

Finally, Valeria turned to her lead guard. "Tell Marco to bring the armored Suburbans to Pier 4. We go to Gloucester."