Chapter 0001

Aurora POV

I am about to be forced to marry the most ruthless mafia boss in the city, but right now, I wake up naked in an unfamiliar bed.

The air is thick with the scent of cologne and something darker—smoky, rich, and intoxicating. The luxurious silk sheets wrapped around me are cool, a stark contrast to the warmth still lingering on my skin.

My head pounds, a dull, persistent ache that reminds me of last night’s reckless decisions.

Then I hear it—the steady rush of water from the en-suite bathroom.

Panic grips me. My stomach twists into a tight knot as flashes of last night flicker through my mind. The bar. The laughter.

The hypnotic pull of a stranger’s gaze. And then—his hands on my skin, firm, confident. His lips, claiming me without hesitation. The way I melted under his touch.

Oh, God.

I didn't go home last night.

A sharp wave of nausea rolls through me.

If my father finds out I lost my virginity before marriage, I have no doubt he will beat me senseless—maybe even kill me.

Actually, I’ll be lucky if he kills me. That would be a blessing in disguise since the alternative is my “fiance” finding out.

My feet meet the floor in an instant.

One-night stands may seem trivial to the everyday person but my father is the Capo dei Capi of the Caruso familia. In my world—the mafia world—women are viewed as property, owned by those that we’re wed to. A girl’s virginity is her symbol of being pure, untouched and completely utterly devoted to the man that will one day be their husband.

It’s a completely outdated and a pretty archaic viewpoint in my opinion but one I’ve lived by my entire life unfortunately.

We have no rights to our own bodies. We can only obey what’s been arranged for us by our fathers. My own has had tight control over me since I can remember. When I was a little girl, I used to find it comforting—to be ‘protected’ by the men in my family.

Now all I see is a cage; gilded and inescapable.

But there’s nothing I can do. All I can do is survive as best as I can.

Especially when my father has decided for me to marry the Capo dei Capi of another familia—a man old enough to be my father. I’ve never seen him in person, however, I’ve heard stories. Plenty of them and none of them talk about him being anywhere close to a silver fox.

Gathering my clothes, I quickly pull them on while trying not to wince as my sore muscles tinge with each movement. Damn, whoever took me home really bent me around like a pretzel. I’ve never slept with anyone before but this can’t be normal.

As soon as I pick my phone up from the floor, I notice a string of texts from my best friend Gianna.

>Girllll last night was crazy. You up yet?

>IDK where you disappeared off to but omg that guy you were making out with was HOT🔥

>Where are you? You want me to pick you up?

I huff out a laugh.

Even though Gianna is the daughter of my father’s consigliere and the one who technically got me into this mess by using her insane persuasion skills against me to go out drinking with her last night, she’s too charming to be mad at.

I text her back quickly with a pin of my location and a quick picture of the silk sheets I’d been wrapped in.

>Damnnnn, nice place👌

Right as I’m about to reply to her, the door to the bathroom suddenly opens. Steam billows out of it, ghosting against the floor towards me. My entire body freezes as I slowly look up from my phone to the most blindingly handsome man I’ve ever seen.

He looks me over slowly, a hand pressed to his hip where the knot of his towel is tucked. “Leaving already?”

My mouth drops open but no words come out. God, he’s even more handsome than I could’ve imagined. I’m dumbstruck. How did a guy like this not only buy me drinks and then bring me back to (his?) place to show me how a real man handles a woman’s body, but is also still looking at me like he wants to back me right up against this bed to do it all over again?

I know I’m nothing to sneeze at visually but he is on a whole other level.

“Or,” he speaks again, his steps languid as he approaches me. “Are you putting on that dress so I can peel it off of you again?”

My entire body flushes. Flashes of last night rapid-fire through my head. His hands grazing my body, his lips moving along my most intimate parts, the way his tongue speared into my mouth in time with his thrusts.

“Um,” is all I can muster.

A smirk plays on his lips. “Um? That’s all you have to say?”

I gasp when his hand cups my face, pulling me closer using it until I’m practically pressed flush against him. His body is warm from the shower, practically radiating heat.

“Did I fuck you that good that you can’t speak?” His words are vulgar but the way he says them sounds like sweet poetry.

He runs a thumb along my bottom lip to trace it, moving it back and forth until I’m practically panting from the contact. My phone vibrates in my hand, no doubt from Gianna texting me that she’s about to arrive.

But how can I leave now when this man is standing in front of me, practically promising me an incredible round two?

Suddenly, the fact that I’m engaged quickly enters my mind.

Damn it.

I really need to get home before my father finds out and locks me up in one of the interrogation rooms in our family estate’s basement.

“I-I,” Clearing my throat, I pull in a quick breath. “I have some business I have to attend to. Sorry, but I need to go.”

Something flashes in his eyes—disappointment? Upset? Anger?—I can’t tell. But the way his lips thin tells me he isn’t at all happy with me refusing him.

“I see.”

Just as I think he’s about to drop his hand and let me go, his fingers suddenly tighten on my face, tilting it up. His nose grazes along my jawline, moving down to the spot right below my ear. He nips at it with his teeth, causing me to squirm.

“Leave your number then,” he says.

“I-I can’t.”

“You will.” His words are softly spoken, an edge to them that has the spot between my legs instantly heating.

Oh god.

My thoughts are a mess. It’s getting hard to focus on anything else outside of the way he’s touching me. Before, I had so many questions as to how I allowed myself to stumble in bed with a random man. Now everything is becoming glaringly obvious how that happened.

“I’m getting married.” I blurt out.

He chuckles. “So? You didn’t seem to care last night about being loyal to this fiance of yours.”

My face flushes again. Though this time out of embarrassment. “I was drunk. I didn’t know any better.”

“Hm.”

I’m able to breathe again when he finally pulls back. My phone buzzes again, forcing me to slip by him before he can pull me in and actually lure me back into that bed like he clearly wants to—like I clearly want him to.

“Perhaps I should come crash this wedding of yours,” he says, stopping me dead in my tracks again. “Since it seems you aren’t so happy being with this fiance.”

“Believe me, you don’t want to cause trouble for him. He’s a dangerous man.”

He merely chuckles at me again. “Oh? Dangerous, huh.”

I hate the way it sounds like he’s mocking me. I’m not making things up just for the fun of it to avoid falling into bed with him again but according to his playful tone, that’s exactly what he thinks is happening.

“Yeah, you ever heard of Leonardo Guerrero? That’s my fiance.”

His eyes flash just for a beat, but then a smirk slowly tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Leonardo Guerrero, huh?”

His voice is casual, but something lingers beneath the surface, something jagged.

I grab my shoes on the way to the door, quickly slipping them on right before my hand finds the handle.

I don’t have time to keep playing around with him. Not when my father will be calling for me to come down any minute for breakfast. If he finds out I’m not in my room, he’s going to flip shit.

“I’ll see you at the wedding.” Is the last thing I hear before wretching the door open and pulling it shut behind me.