A Marriage with the Mafia Prince
Alyssa Hart is out of options. Drowning in medical debt, with her mother's life hanging in the balance, she's desperate for a solution. When an unexpected email offers her an interview at the mysterious Valentino Enterprises, she doesn't hesitate.
But what she walks into isn't a job opportunity... it's a marriage contract.
The powerful and feared Valentino Crime family needs a wife for their heir, Stephano Valentino. Cold, ruthless, and utterly uninterested in love, Stephano has discarded every woman his parents have introduced him to. They don't expect Alyssa to be any different.
The deal is simple: marry Stephano, bear his heir, and in two years, she'll be free, with enough money to ensure her mother's survival.
There's only one rule: this is not a real marriage. Stephano can do as he pleases, but Alyssa is bound to him alone.
She should hate him. He gives her every reason to.
But the longer she stays, the more she begins to see through the cracks in his armour. Beneath his icy exterior is something broken, something she can't help but want to fix. And Stephano, who swore he would never care, finds himself drawn to the woman he was never meant to love. But in their world, love is a weakness, and breaking the rules always comes with a price...
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Chapter 5
A L Y S S A
"I didn't sign anything," I rush to say. "It was just... a conversation. This was just motivation to get me to agree..."
"Agree to what?!" She waves the money in the air. "This is not just a conversation. This is blood money. I've heard things, Alyssa... the Valentinos are dangerous people... I don't want you anywhere near them!"
I drag my hands down my face as I stand to my feet. "I know how it sounds, okay? Believe me, I know. But they weren't threatening me. They were... professional. Cold, but... polite. Like it was a business transaction."
She stares at me like I've completely lost it. "Polite? Alyssa, they're the Valentinos. Polite is just another weapon for people like them. What did they say? Tell me why they gave you $5000?"
The words feel heavier when I have to form them aloud.
"They want me to marry their son."
Carmen blinks. Once. Twice. "I'm sorry.... what?"
"Two years. I marry their son, Stephano. I give them a child, and then I'm free."
Her mouth falls open. She looks at me like I've confessed to joining a cult. "You're not serious."
"They offered to pay off Mom's medical bills. All of them. And they'll fund her care permanently, till she gets better. Plus, I get a settlement when the contract's done."
She then places the money on the table, then she grabs a throw pillow and smacks me square in the shoulder.
"Hey!" I shout, staring back at her with shock.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?! You're not going through with this! Alyssa, this is insane! This is how women end up in Netflix documentaries!" She says, and I let out a dry laugh, though it comes out closer to a choke.
"I told them I'd meet him this afternoon. That's all. Just... meet him."
She drops the pillow, staring at me like she's trying to shake sense into me with her eyes alone. "So... you're actually thinking about it?"
"I'm thinking about mom," I say, my voice quiet. "She's dying, Carmen. And I'm out of options. This isn't just about me anymore."
The silence between us is heavy, and for a moment, I watch as her features relax. Finally, Carmen exhales and sinks onto the couch beside me. Her fingers worry the edge of the pillow in her lap. "Okay. Okay. I'm not saying I like it. Because I don't. This whole thing is shady as hell. But maybe..." she pauses, reluctantly, "...maybe this is your way out. I mean, $5,000 just for showing up? That's not nothing."
"I know," I whisper.
"You said they weren't creepy or anything?"
"No. Not creepy. Just very... direct. Like they'd already decided everything before I even walked in the room."
She frowns. "Did they say anything about what happens if you don't..." she lowers her voice to almost a whisper, "...get pregnant?"
"They said I'd still be let go. But Mom's trust wouldn't be extended."
"So it's baby or bust."
"Basically."
Carmen scrubs her hands over her face. "Jesus Christ help us."
I stare at the check again. My stomach knots tighter every time my eyes land on it, like it's a hook dragging me somewhere I can't escape.
"I feel like I've already stepped into something I can't back out of."
She doesn't argue with me. She just watches me, her silence louder than words.
"I need you to do something for me," I say, turning toward her.
Her eyes snap to mine. "Anything."
"If something happens to me... if I disappear, or you don't hear from me... You go to the police, and you tell them everything."
Her mouth opens. "Alyssa..."
"I'm serious," I cut her off. "I don't care what it looks like. You take the money, you take my laptop, and you tell them everything."
Her jaw tightens, but she reaches over and grabs my hand. Her grip is warm, firm, steady in a way I don't feel. "Nothing's going to happen to you."
"You don't know that."
"I won't let it."
I want to believe her. God, I want to.
My eyes burn, tears threatening, but I force them back down. I can't cry. Not yet.
"This is crazy," I whisper. "I can't believe I'm actually going through with this."
"You're not alone, I'm right here, okay?" Carmen says. Her voice is fierce now, unwavering. "You're not doing this without backup."
I nod. It helps. Not much, but enough to take a full breath.
"I have to get ready," I murmur.
She looks me up and down, unimpressed. "I hope you're thinking of changing."
A laugh escapes me, brittle but real. "I think I look fine. If he hates it, that's his problem."
"You know," she mutters, standing, "if he turns out to be hot, I'm going to be really conflicted about this."
"I don't care what he looks like," I say. "I just want him to sign the damn papers and leave me alone."
Carmen gives me a long, meaningful look. "That's not how this ends, Alyssa. If you get a child, you're stuck with him forever..."
I glance away. I know she's right. Somewhere deep down, I know.
But I'm already in it.
And the clock is ticking.
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9.1
When is the worst time to tell someone he's going to be a father?
Probably the day of the wedding...
When he is getting married to someone else.
Well, that is exactly what I did.
But my hands were tied.
Literally.
Matvey Groza is a dangerous man.
And nine months ago, he strolled into my shop looking for a custom suit.
But when I accidentally walked in on him in the changing room,
*I* was the one that ended up needing a new set of clothes.
It was a one-time mistake.
After that... good riddance.
But the pregnancy test I took a month later had other plans.
I kept it a secret from everyone.
Or so I thought.
But when Matvey's enemies learned that I was pregnant with his child,
they kidnapped me and held me hostage.
Until I broke free and ran as fast as I could.
And I had no one else to turn to but the devil himself.
What better time for me to enter the church...
... than as the pastor says, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"?
7.9
Indianna Hughs had always been the quiet one, the shy one. She stayed in the background, blending in, never getting noticed.
She liked it that way.
So when she's forced to move schools, she isn't happy. Everyone notices the new kid, and she doesn't want that kind of attention.
Especially not from Mr. Bad Boy, who seems a little too interested in her.
"She's shy," Brooke shrugged, glancing at Indianna, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else but in the classroom with them.
"Well, come on," Greyson said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I don't bite."
Indianna stiffened just like before.
"Don't say that," she replied quietly, but there was firmness in her tone now.
Greyson raised an eyebrow, a slow smirk forming on his lips.
"Did I hit a nerve?" he asked.
"Guess you're not as innocent as you look."
This is the edited and rewritten version of Shy.
All rights reserved.
8.9
My husband, the Outfit’s most feared Consigliere, stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.
He had just convinced a jury that Sofia Moretti was innocent.
But we both knew the truth: Sofia had poisoned my mother over a spilled martini on her Valentino dress.
Instead of comforting me, Dante looked at me with cold, dead eyes.
"If you make a scene," he whispered, gripping my arm until it bruised, "I will bury you in a psychiatric ward so deep even God won't find you."
To protect the Family alliance, he sacrificed his wife.
When I tried to fight back, he drugged me at a gala.
He let a private investigator take photos of me, naked and unconscious, just to have leverage to keep me silent.
He paraded Sofia around our penthouse, letting her wear my dead mother’s shawl while I was banished to the staff quarters.
He thought he had broken me.
He thought I was just a nurse’s daughter he could manage.
But he made a fatal error.
He didn't read the "committal forms" I handed him to sign.
They were divorce papers, transferring his assets to me.
And the night of the yacht party, while he toasted to his victory with my mother's killer, I left my wedding ring on the deck.
I didn't jump to die.
I jumped to be reborn.
And when I resurfaced, I made sure Dante Russo burned for every sin.
8.4
Three years after Theo Hayes and I got married, I finally conceived his baby.
Yet, around Valentine's Day, he personally performed an abortion on me.
With reddened eyes, he told me that my heart couldn't withstand the burden of pregnancy.
I was consumed with guilt and felt my body was not good enough and disappointed in Theo's deep love for me.
Behind a curtain, Theo was washing the blood from his hands.
"Theo, actually, if Dolores's current health is meticulously nurtured, there's a chance she could give birth to the baby. Why did you insist on..."
"I need the umbilical cord blood," Theo said coldly. "Teresa's condition requires a stem cell transplant from newborn umbilical cord blood.
Dolores's child is the best source, but a full-term delivery is too slow. Teresa can't wait so long.
So... I expedited the fetus's growth and induced labor at five months. Although the baby won't survive, the cord blood can be used.
Dolores wasn't going to live long anyway. It will be her final contribution to the Powell family that we used her baby to save Teresa.
Don't let Dolores know I expedited the fetus and induced it. Just tell her it was a stillbirth."
Dolores closed her eyes in despair, and tears streamed uncontrollably.
Her husband, Theo, killed their baby and even drained the last value from it.
He just used the baby's umbilical cord blood to save Soren Powell, my half-sister.
7.8
⚠️ DARK ROMANCE CONTENT WARNING
This is a very dark mafia romance intended for mature readers (18+).
It contains a morally gray anti-hero, obsession, possessiveness, emotional manipulation, explicit sexual content, and disturbing adult scenes.
If you crave danger, obsession, and morally complicated passion, this dark romance will grip you-but reader discretion is strongly advised.
Convinced that Rosa had drugged him to crawl into his bed, Italian Don Luciano Mancini took her supposed betrayal as a blow to his pride. He served her divorce papers without hearing a single explanation-and exiled her not only from his home, but from the country itself.
Years later, Rosa returned with a secret.
Their son was dying.
Diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the boy needed a stem-cell transplant from a biological sibling to survive. And to make that possible, Rosa had to conceive again-with the one man who despised her.
Her ex-husband.
Luciano Mancini.
But Rosa refused to reveal the real reason for her return.
Getting pregnant by a devil was never going to be easy-especially when that devil hated her. She hadn't stolen his seed before... but this time, she was ready to commit the sin if it meant saving her child.
Seeing his ex-wife again-no longer innocent, no longer obedient-awakened something Luciano had never felt for any woman. He wanted her and...
he wanted to own her this time.
But Rosa was already slipping beyond his grasp.
Because Dr. DeLuca, the man treating her son, was in love with her. He was willing to accept her in any condition-even if she carried her ex-husband's child once more.
When life finally offered Rosa safety, love, and a future free from cruelty...
why would she ever return to the Italian Don?
Except Luciano Mancini isn't going to let her go.
No one takes what belongs to him.
8.7
WARNING: HIGH SEXUAL CONTENT!!
I got dumped by my fiancé then decided to do something out of the ordinary-Spending night stands with a total stranger! Only, the man I had a passionate one-night stand with turned out to be my stepbrother... and the mafia boss.