Exposed to the CEO Behind the Mafia Mask

Chapter 478: Chapter 74 Secret Wife Exposed

Lila’s POV

I knew something was wrong when Daniel insisted he needed to handle urgent family business. The tension in his voice, the way he practically demanded I stay at Xavier’s estate, and his adamant refusal to let Zoe escort me home all pointed to one thing: he was hiding something dangerous. My suspicions were confirmed when Zoe contacted her intelligence network, and they assured us Daniel had no legitimate Martinez family meetings scheduled.

”We need to get answers,” Zoe said, her eyes narrowing with the calculating look that made her Thorne family’s top information broker. ”I’m done with all these family secrets and power games.”

”Agreed,” I replied, feeling my patience wearing thin. ”I can’t handle any more mysteries or half-truths from the underworld.”

Ivy leaned forward, her expression thoughtful. As Caleb’s wife, she’d learned to navigate mafia politics with surgical precision. ”Instead of interrogating them separately, why don’t we corner them all together? They won’t have time to coordinate their cover stories if we put them on the spot.”

”Brilliant, Ivy,” Zoe’s lips curved into a predatory smile before she called out sweetly, ”Gentlemen, would you mind joining your beloved women for a family discussion?”

The men approached with cautious smiles, sensing the trap awaiting them. Each settled beside their significant other, while Jude took the empty space next to me, his hand instinctively checking his concealed weapon.

Jude leaned close, whispering, ”What’s happening, Tiny Cipher? When Zoe uses that tone, blood usually follows.”

”Tell me something, Jude,” I asked loudly enough for everyone to hear. ”Are you actually my ally, or just another Martinez family soldier?”

”Damn it,” Jude muttered under his breath. ”I warned them this interrogation would happen.”

Dominic interrupted quickly, ”What’s this about, Lila?”

I didn’t hold back. ”This is about all of you treating us like civilians who can’t handle family business!”

”Especially you, Dominic,” Gemma added, her voice carrying the dangerous edge of a woman who’d grown up in syndicate politics. ”I specifically asked you what operations were running.”

The men exchanged the kind of nervous glances reserved for made men caught between family loyalty and personal relationships. Xavier ran his fingers through his hair, looking trapped between his role as Thorne family consigliere and his friendship with Daniel. Sweat beaded on their foreheads as they silently debated what classified information to reveal.

”The game’s over, gentlemen,” Jude finally said. ”She deserves to know the truth about the Martinez family situation.”

”Long overdue, if you ask me,” Zoe crossed her arms, staring daggers at Jude with the intensity that had made grown capos confess their sins.

Xavier sighed heavily. ”Fine. But first, understand that Daniel kept quiet because he feared losing you, Lila. He’s protecting you from a political war, not conducting any affairs.”

Ruby scoffed. ”Let me guess – there’s another woman pulling family strings?”

”Well, yes, but it’s not what you think,” Xavier replied defensively, his consigliere training making him choose words carefully.

”Just tell me where he went and who he’s meeting,” I said, exhaustion evident in my voice.

Jude chose his words like a man defusing a bomb. ”He went to your penthouse, Lila. Someone bypassed our security systems – we still don’t know how, not even Daniel’s contacts could trace it – and demanded a private meeting with him.”

”And I’m guessing this is the same person who’s been calling him constantly, the same reason he keeps ’handling Martinez family business,’” I concluded. Jude nodded solemnly. ”Who is she?”

”She’s Sasha, his wife,” Xavier blurted out, immediately regretting breaking the cardinal rule of keeping family secrets.

My heart stopped. The room spun around me as I tried to process what I’d just heard. In the mafia world, marriage meant political alliances, territorial agreements, and binding contracts that went far beyond love.

”What did you just say?” Zoe grabbed Xavier’s shirt collar, her knuckles white with the grip that had once strangled a traitor.

”Easy, Zoe,” Finn said calmly, recognizing the deadly stillness that preceded violence in their world. ”The situation is more complicated than a simple marriage contract.”

”Daniel is married?” My voice cracked as tears filled my eyes. ”And you all knew? You let me become his mistress in some twisted family arrangement? What kind of people are you?” My voice rose with each question. ”What have I become in this underworld?”

Caleb moved to sit in front of me, taking my trembling hands in his with the gentle authority of a family don. ”Listen carefully, Lila. Daniel entered a political marriage alliance years ago and had it dissolved several years later through family lawyers.”

”Make up your mind!” Zoe snapped. ”Is he bound by marriage contracts or free?”

”He thought he was free,” Caleb explained. ”But apparently his former wife somehow had the dissolution overturned without his knowledge. From what our legal investigators discovered, she forged his signatures on syndicate documents as part of some scheme to keep him legally bound to her family’s interests.”

”None of this makes sense,” I whispered, trying to navigate the maze of mafia politics and family obligations.

Xavier leaned forward, speaking in the measured tone of someone explaining dangerous territory. ”Lila, did you know Daniel comes from one of the most powerful syndicate dynasties on the East Coast?” I shook my head. I’d sensed his family wielded influence, but nothing of this magnitude. ”His father controls vast territories and political connections. He disapproves of Daniel’s choice to work in law enforcement instead of the family’s traditional operations. He wants Daniel managing syndicate business alongside his brother and bound in marriage to someone who serves the family’s political interests. Sasha was that choice – the daughter of his father’s most trusted ally.”

Dominic continued, ”What Daniel suspects is that his father helped Sasha fraudulently overturn the marriage dissolution, planning to use it as leverage when the time came to force his return to the family fold. That time is now – he’s pressuring Daniel to abandon law enforcement and return to Greenleaf to run syndicate operations.”

I listened intently to every detail they shared about territorial disputes, political marriages, and family obligations. They explained how Daniel feared I would flee rather than fight a war against one of the most powerful crime families in the country. They apologized repeatedly for keeping syndicate secrets. When they finished, I knew exactly what I needed to do.

”To be clear, his family doesn’t consider me suitable for their heir?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

”No, they don’t,” Xavier confirmed softly. ”To them, you’re an outsider who threatens their political arrangements.”

I turned to Zoe. ”Can you take me to my penthouse immediately?”

”What are you planning?” Zoe asked, studying my face with the tactical assessment of someone trained in family warfare.

”Exactly what you would do in my position,” I replied. ”And I need your backup.”

Understanding lit up Zoe’s eyes like a predator recognizing another predator. ”Let’s go! I’m with you!” She wrapped me in a fierce hug before calling out, ”Ladies, we ride together!”

As we headed toward Zoe’s armored vehicle, Xavier jumped up. ”Gentlemen, we need to follow them!”

”Don’t you dare warn Daniel we’re coming!” Zoe threatened, and no one dared argue with a Thorne family enforcer in full battle mode.

During the drive through the city’s shadowy streets, I prepared myself for every worst-case scenario, including finding Daniel compromised by family blackmail or political coercion. But what greeted me at the penthouse was something else entirely – a half-dressed woman desperately throwing herself at a clearly uncomfortable Daniel while he tried to maintain professional distance. What I hadn’t expected was Inspector Adler’s presence in my private space. How did he gain access? Had Daniel called for official backup? Those questions would have to wait. First, I needed to remove this woman from my territory – because as long as I lived there, it was my territory, and I would defend it accordingly.