THE DON'S SECRET OBSESSION ( His Bride, Her Prison)

I never wanted any part in this. But I have no choice. With a deep sigh, I force down an invisible lump in my throat, looking up at the priest. I press my fingers tighter into the flower I am holding, hoping it hides how much I am shaking. Dreading the words the priest is about to utter. "Do you, Ariella Cecilia Boone, take Dermos Salvatore to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest asks. I blink. I badly want to say it, badly want to scream that I am not Ariella Cecilia Boone. My lips tremble as I force the truth down my throat, "Yes, I do." I murmur, my voice a little over a whisper. ~~~~ Ariel Hannah Boone didn't know what life had in store for her when she woke up on her twin sister's wedding day, only to find out her sister had run away. She went into panic when her mother insisted she take her place because Dermos Salvatore was no man to joke with. Dermos was the most feared Don in the whole of Sicily, one who killed without care. A blood thirsty murderer with no remorse. In an attempt to save her family from his wrath, she takes her sister's place at the wedding. Pain, suffering, and betrayal are all she knows the moment she became his. Secrets begin to unveil as she realises her family isn't what it seems. And when whispers of her sister's disappearance reach her, she finds out the truth. He never wanted Ariella; it had always been her. Ariel has to choose between a love built on lies or betraying her sister and family. She was his bride, and he was her prison, yet he would never let her go.

Chapters

Chapter 6

My eyes flutter open, but the lights cause me to shut them back. Without thinking, I raise my head only to be met with a banging headache.

What the hell happened?

I try to focus my vision causing me to slowly pry my lids open. I look around, only for my eyes to meet those cold gazes.

Dermos is lounging on the soft couch in front of my bed, eyes calculating as he rests his jaw on his palm with his elbows pressing on his thighs.

God, he looks so handsome. A strand of his hair falls forward. I don't know if it's a mistake or on purpose, but it still looks so damned good.

He is dressed in a pair of joggers and a simple top that contracts his muscles in this position.

Holy hell, he looks exactly like sin.

"When you are done gawking, let me know so you can explain why my men found you outside bleeding." His sharp voice snaps me out of my daydreaming.

Damnit! I can't look at him like that. He belongs to Ariella.

"Umm." Words fail me as I try to rack my brain for what to say.

I can't say Luciana hit me because I don't even have proof. I didn't see her hit me, but she had to be the one, right?

There was no one else there with us except the girls, and the girls weren't even that close.

"Cat got your tongue?" He barks, flexing his hands as he presses his back into the couch, his eyes not leaving my pale form for once.

I raise my hand, pressing it to the back of my head to check the injury. It feels rough, but the patch is also small, which means it isn't a major injury.

"I don't have the patience, nor do I have all day to sit here and watch you jog your memories. So I will ask one last time, what the hell happened?" he snaps, his voice filled with venom as his eyes darken.

I move uncomfortably, trying to get the words out yet all I could come up with was, "I fell. Sorry, I got you worried."

"You fell? How the hell did you fall that hard and have an injury at the back of your head when you fell on your face?" He questions, his eyelids slowly closing to squint at me.

Damn, he is a work of art. Focus Ariel.

"I was taking a tour and didn't see the stone there, which caused me to trip, and when I fell, I hit my head on a stone too. I turned in order to feel where the pain was coming from, and then I passed out." I grit my teeth, letting the lies tumble out smoothly

I pray he believes me, heavens please let him believe me.

I press my back to the bed, wanting nothing more than to sink inside, but then he will know something is up, so I have to be brave.

Even though I just want to piss myself, I keep my eyes on him until he nods before gracefully rising to his feet.

"Well, I am glad that you are fine. I have to go now. Rest, and don't wander about again." He warns, causing me to nod like a five-year-old.

Satisfied with my response, he turns and walks out. Immediately, I let out the breath I was holding.

Oh Lord, I pray I don't have a heart attack by next month. All this acting is getting to me.

~~~

"I told you to stay inside, didn't I?" I nod my head, refusing to look up from biting my nails, not wanting to be scolded like a five-year-old.

Yes, he told me to stay inside. Did I? Of course not, I got bored and decided to finish my tour, causing me to get lost in the maze of flowers covering half the front yard.

Why he has a maze is still a mystery to me.

"So why did you leave the room and wander?" He questions, his voice calm and steady.

Yet the way his jaw clenches and his fist tightens tells me he is anything but calm.

"I got bored again, and I couldn't stop thinking about the whore house I found. Wondering why you have that? Do you traffic girls?" I can't help but ask.

Dammit, I said I wouldn't speak about it.

Dermos snaps his head to look at me, his muscles contracting inside his suit.

Guess he just came back from work before I called, crying. I was lost.

"It's part of my business, and I won't have you questioning me." He growls, taking a step back before turning.

I followed after him, not quite satisfied with his words.

"But you sell them to men, that's ridiculous and cruel. They have a life, they are humans, so why would you do that--"

"Ariella, you are aware of this. Last time we had this conversation, you seemed really fine with it, so why the change of heart?" He halts his steps, turning to look at me.

Again!

My whole face pales as I realize I am once again out of character.

I straighten up, clearing my throat before speaking, " I am fine with it, it's just--"

"Good for you." He cuts me off again, and it makes me want to yank his hair out.

My voice and opinions are important too. Why won't he let me speak?

" Go to bed, Ariella, and mind your business. I don't want to have to punish you." He warns us before taking a different turn once we are in front of the house's back door.

Urghhh!! I stomp my foot in annoyance. He is so damn rude.

Without thinking, I push open the door and walk in, only to stop once I hear some voices.

I inch closer to the side of the door, making sure I am also out of sight.

They seem to be inside a room. Is that Carlos I hear?

"Luciana, it isn't like that. You are wrong." Yes, that voice is definitely Carlos.

But why is he in a room with Luciana?

If there is one trait I am known for, it is being a curious cat. As they say, curiosity kills the cat, yet I am not dead.

Hahh.

"You are getting too close to Donna. I don't like it. You know godfa--"

"I don't care. Mind your own damn business, and go sort your girls." His voice is clipped and sharp, like he is repulsed by her.

Okay, definitely not my business. I cross the room, heading to the kitchen, when I suddenly remember Isabella.

The fear in her eyes, the way her hands trembled. What exactly has she been through within these walls?

I need to find her. Taking a step, my whole body halts when I hear small sobs coming from the room beside the kitchen.

Who is that?

Slowly but surely, I push open the door only to find Isabella crying on a bed.

"Isabella? Are you okay?" I murmur, padding my feet forward towards her bed.

"No, Donna, no one must see you with me. They will kill me, you have to go." She jolts out of her bed, tears running down her cheeks.

"I don't understand," I murmur, taking a step back.

"This is a house full of torment. Run while you can. Run, Donna." She says her voice frantically as she presses her fingernails into my palm.

"Wha--" the words are barely out of my lips when a pounding on the door has me stumbling.

"You wrench, what are you doing?" An unfamiliar voice calls.

Isabella's eyes widen, urging me to hide, but as I turn to make a move, the door slams open.

"What the hell are you doing?" She booms.

Oh crap.

Continue to next part

On our wedding night, my Fated Mate, Alpha Cedric, left our bed to care for his mistress. He told me our marriage was just an obligation. But the real betrayal came months later on a rooftop. When Rogues demanded a trade, Cedric didn't hesitate. He chose to save Jayden because of her "heart condition," handing me—his pregnant wife—over to the killers. "You are stronger," he said as he pushed me toward them. I fell from the building. I survived, but our unborn pup didn't. Instead of comfort, I woke up to handcuffs. Cedric believed Jayden’s lies that I staged the kidnapping for attention. He threw me into the dungeon, shackling my wrists with silver cuffs that burned my flesh, while Jayden poisoned my food with wolfsbane. He stripped me of my title and dignity, never realizing that the "fragile" woman he protected was the true monster. He didn't know about the glowing rune on my chest counting down the seconds I had left. He didn't know I was the legendary White Wolf, and my time was up. On my final night, I asked for one last ride on the Ferris wheel where we first met. At midnight, as Cedric rushed back to the amusement park, he didn't find a body. He found only my empty clothes and a text message on the seat. "Don't look for me, Cedric. I'm giving my wolf back to the moon." As he watched the security footage, he finally saw me dissolve into stardust and ascend to the sky, leaving him alone in a world that suddenly felt too quiet.

Mafia Romance Werewolf

9.1

His Unwanted Fiancée Was His True Savior

9.1

I was standing in five thousand dollars of hand-stitched lace when I received the medical report. My fiancé, Dante de Rossi, the future Don of Chicago, had gotten another woman pregnant. He didn't apologize. He didn't beg. He looked me in the eye and called it a "strategic necessity." "Isobel saved my life five years ago," he said coldly. "I owe her this child. You will raise it as your own. It is the price of the Peace Treaty." He forced me to cancel our engagement photos so he could take them with her. He took her on the vacation meant for our honeymoon. At dinner, he ordered me the seafood risotto, completely forgetting my deadly shellfish allergy, while fussing over Isobel’s water temperature. When I tried to leave, he cornered me. "You are a mob wife, Nina. Act like one. She is the hero who saved me." I wanted to laugh. Because five years ago, in that alley, Isobel wasn't even there. I was the one in the mask. I was the one who stitched his femoral artery and saved his life, risking my own medical license. He was destroying our twenty-year relationship to pay a debt to a liar. I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I simply picked up a red marker and walked to the calendar. On the day of our wedding, while Dante stood at the altar waiting for his obedient Queen, I was already boarding a one-way flight to the other side of the world. I left him nothing but four words scrawled across the date: "Let's break up, Dante."

Action Mafia Romance

7.6

His Unwanted Wife, The Rival Don's Queen

7.6

The gunman pressed a Glock to my temple and gave my husband a choice. "One walks out. One stays. Choose, Mr. Underboss." I wasn't worried. I was Haven. I was his wife of ten years, his Consigliere, the woman who built his empire. Beside me sobbed Gemma, a fragile twenty-two-year-old he had known for six months. "Take Gemma! Leave Haven!" Connor screamed, his honor twisting into something unrecognizable. He walked out of the warehouse with another woman in his arms, leaving me to be butchered. I didn't wait for the bullet. I threw myself through a glass window into the freezing canal. I survived the fall, but the life inside me didn't. After five years of failed IVF, the miracle baby I hadn't even told Connor about was gone. While I lay in a cold hospital room, bleeding out the remains of our child, my husband was buying diamond earrings for the woman who had set me up to die. When the doctor tried to sedate me for the surgery, I grabbed his wrist. "No anesthesia," I commanded. "But the pain..." "I want to feel it," I said, staring at the ceiling. "I want to feel every scrap of him leaving my body." I burned that pain into my soul. Then, I went home, poured gasoline over our wedding bed, and lit a match. Two years later, I returned to the city. Connor thought I was dead. But when he saw me on the arm of his mortal enemy, wearing the crown of a rival Queen, he realized his mistake. He didn't just lose a wife. He started a war.

Mafia Modern Romance

8.6

Mafia Betrayal: Her Escape From Darkness

8.6

The Maybach glided through rain, Dante's cold cedar cologne a familiar comfort. Seven years, my life revolved around him, my fingers on his suit cuff, a silent promise. But tonight, our normal shattered with a single phone call. He answered, speaking rapid Italian – a language he thought I didn't understand. Every word: a death knell. Confirming his engagement to Sofia Moretti, dismissing me as a 'consolation prize.' Seven years of loyalty vanished. His loving mask back, he left for his fiancée. I stumbled into freezing rain, recalling my foster past. My numb fingers dialed his mother, Isabella, demanding fifty million for my silence. Her insults didn't sting. The true gut punch: Sofia's Instagram, a prenup on Dante's desk, proudly showing *my* watch, captioned: 'Fourteen days left.' This wasn't their celebration; it was my death sentence. I wouldn't stay another day in this gilded cage. My old duffel bag, packed, waited. The Australia brochure, a childhood dream, in my pocket. This time, I would live for myself, and they would all pay.

Action Mafia Modern

9.6

Marked by My Secondhand Delivery Wolf

9.6

To save on the outrageous wages of hired movers, I, Jade Lawson, bought a werewolf who had been returned three times from a secondhand trading site. The seller warned me he was vicious, wild, and prone to biting. What caught my eye wasn't his temperament. It was his build. Six foot three, solid muscle, the kind of body that looked like it could haul six hundred pounds of packages without breaking a sweat. When he arrived, he was indeed vicious. He kept sneaking into my room at night, pressing his scorching body against mine and grinding his teeth against the back of my neck. I thought he was teething. Or worse, developing rabies. I contacted the seller immediately to request a return. After hearing my description, the seller went quiet for a long time. "We don't recommend returning him." "He's not teething. Werewolves only feel the urge to bite the back of their mate's neck during their rut phase. It's a mate-marking instinct." "He wants you. He's trying to get you to bear his pups."

Mafia Romance Werewolf

7.3

Marrying The Rival: My Ex-Husband's Despair

7.3

I stood outside my husband's study, the perfect mafia wife, only to hear him mocking me as an "ice sculpture" while he entertained his mistress, Aria. But the betrayal went deeper than infidelity. A week later, my saddle snapped mid-jump, leaving me with a shattered leg. Lying in the hospital bed, I overheard the conversation that killed the last of my love. My husband, Alessandro, knew Aria had sabotaged my gear. He knew she could have killed me. Yet, he told his men to let it go. He called my near-death experience a "lesson" because I had bruised his mistress's ego. He humiliated me publicly, freezing my accounts to buy family heirlooms for her. He stood by while she threatened to leak our private tapes to the press. He destroyed my dignity to play the hero for a woman he thought was a helpless orphan. He had no idea she was a fraud. He didn't know I had installed micro-cameras throughout the estate while he was busy pampering her. He didn't know I had hours of footage showing his "innocent" Aria sleeping with his guards, his rivals, and even his staff, laughing about how easy he was to manipulate. At the annual charity gala, in front of the entire crime family, Alessandro demanded I apologize to her. I didn't beg. I didn't cry. I simply connected my drive to the main projector and pressed play.

Mafia Modern Romance

THE DON'S SECRET OBSESSION ( His Bride, Her Prison)

Chapter 6

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