Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

After Elisa finished her cake and took a short break, she began to spar with Isabella.

Elisa suddenly realized that even though Isabella hadn’t come over during this time, the skills she had trained hadn’t diminished. The two competed, and Elisa corrected a few small mistakes Isabella made. After that, she also taught Isabella a few more moves.

Isabella found that she could now keep up with Elisa’s rhythm, even though she knew Elisa had only taught her some simple things. However, these were the most effective methods for a girl like her to defend against criminals and protect herself.

“Isabella, for girls like us, especially those who haven’t been trained, our strength is not as great as a man’s. So, if you face a man, I don’t recommend confronting him head-on. It’s best to surprise him with a heavy blow.”

Isabella nodded in understanding.

“Even though I’ve been trained, I can’t beat a man?” Isabella was a bit puzzled. She remembered the day when Emanuele wanted her to practice, and she couldn’t compete with him at all.

She could understand not being able to beat Emanuele, considering he was the head of the Mafia and trained regularly, proving his robust physique. However, she couldn’t quite believe she couldn’t handle an average man, even after training for so long.

Seeing Isabella’s disbelief, Elisa looked at Tony, who was standing nearby. “Tony, what are you standing there for? Come on, spar with Isabella.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It doesn’t feel right.”

“You don’t need any techniques. Just exert your strength.”

Hearing Elisa’s words, Tony sighed and approached. He felt he shouldn’t lay hands on his wife, but he decided to focus on self-defense and avoid instinctively striking back.

As Tony approached, Isabella threw a punch with all her might. Her fist had force, and it looked formidable.

Tony didn’t even frown; he simply stepped back, avoiding Isabella’s attack.

Isabella followed up with a leg sweep and kick. Tony reached out, grabbing Isabella’s leg, and she found herself immobilized.

Isabella, who thought she had improved a lot, was effortlessly restrained by Tony. Moreover, he used no special techniques, just raw strength.

In this moment, Isabella felt a sense of frustration.

“Isabella, do you see? Sometimes, when a man deals with you, he doesn’t need any technique. He can easily overpower you. So, we need to catch them off guard. Don’t let them know you’re about to strike; that will only make them wary, and then you’ll have no chance.”

Isabella sighed, feeling like she was starting to grasp this concept through a combination of theory and practice.

Tony released Isabella, and she approached him, shaking his hand.

“Tony, you’re a qualified sparring partner.”

“Ma’am, you’re too kind.” Tony had been afraid that Isabella might get angry, although she didn’t seem like that type of person. But who knew…

However, when Tony shook hands with Isabella, she suddenly grabbed his hand, gave it a tug, executed a spin, and Tony found himself tripped to the ground.

The training area was covered with foam mats, so even if they fell, it wouldn’t hurt much.

Tony, caught off guard, fell to the ground, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

He had no defenses against Isabella; just when she declared it was over and warmly offered a handshake, he thought it was truly finished.

Unexpectedly, Isabella had saved a move.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Elisa saw Tony fall to the ground, his face frozen in shock. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Tony, you’ve met your match! The mighty bodyguard taken down by Isabella,” Elisa chuckled at Tony, then turned to Isabella. “Isabella, you’re amazing! Proud to have you as my student.”

Isabella, pleased with tripping Tony, helped him up and apologized.

“Tony, I’m sorry for what I did just now. I just wanted to try out Elisa’s unexpected takedown method. Unexpectedly, it worked. Thank you for letting me experiment successfully.”

“No problem, ma’am. If you encounter any danger later, I believe you have the ability to protect yourself.”

Tony admired Isabella a bit more. She hadn’t seen it coming, and others wouldn’t either. A fragile-looking woman like Isabella, capable of unexpectedly taking down anyone who approached her.

Isabella was delighted. At least Elisa’s words were correct. She would continue training, and if anyone dared to bully her at Karen’s birthday party, she wouldn’t be lenient.

After finishing her training, Isabella returned to the apartment to find several people inside.

Emanuele sat on the sofa, looking at Isabella. “Why are you back so late?”

He thought Isabella’s training would last at least two hours.

“After I finished training, I went out to eat with Elisa.”

“You’ve already had dinner?”

Isabella nodded, noticing Emanuele’s strange expression.

“What’s wrong?” She couldn’t help asking.

“Nothing.”

“Isabella, Emanuele hasn’t had dinner yet. He was waiting for you to have dinner together,” Lilly explained when Emanuele refused to elaborate.

Oh! These two young people were really strange. Clearly married, but their behavior seemed like they weren’t. Especially Emanuele, who had come back early but waited for Isabella to return for dinner. And when Lilly asked if he wanted dinner, he insisted on waiting for Isabella, resulting in a two-hour wait.

Isabella inquired about what was going on, but Emanuele wouldn’t admit anything.

Lilly couldn’t understand young people nowadays, especially Emanuele. He used to be a dominant and powerful figure. Whatever he wanted, he could obtain. No one could stop him. How did he become so reserved in front of Isabella? Could it really be love? Love seemed to make people lose themselves.

However, seeing Emanuele, usually calm and serious, become so reserved in front of Isabella, Lilly was happy. She had finally found someone who could torment Emanuele.

After hearing Lilly’s words, Isabella was stunned. She looked at Emanuele. “Why didn’t you call me?”

If she knew Emanuele was back for dinner, she would have come back.

“No need,” Emanuele thought to himself. He knew Isabella was very focused when she was working, and he didn’t want to disturb her.

“You haven’t eaten. Lilly, please prepare dinner for Emanuele.”

“Sure.” Lilly immediately went into the kitchen.

Isabella looked toward the individuals seated in the corner.

“Who are they?”

“They are the ones I brought to have you try on dresses.”

Isabella was surprised; Emanuele was really going to prepare dresses for her?

The young women approached, offering greetings to Isabella.

“Mrs. Lombardi, hello. We have carefully selected five dresses for you to try on. Take a look and see which one you like.”

As they spoke, they unveiled a black-cloth-covered item in front of Isabella. To her astonishment, it revealed a clothing rack with five beautiful dresses, each one so regal that Isabella felt only a princess could wear them.