AnthonyIt's been exactly six weeks since my surgery and recovery, and I can still feel the lingering pain.It gnaws at me, a constant reminder that I'm not invincible.The damp air of Chicago clings to my skin as I stand on the rooftop of our family's mansion.I glance at my younger brother, Lorenzo, who mirrors my own dark features - olive skin, unruly jet-black hair, and piercing brown eyes.He leans against the railing, staring out at the cityscape that stretches before us."Six weeks," he murmurs, echoing my thoughts."You've come a long way, Anthony."I nod, appreciating his support. Despite our different paths – he chose business, while I was groomed to take over the family's criminal empire – we've always been close.Our bond is unbreakable, forged through blood and loyalty."Thanks, Lorenzo," I say, feeling the weight of the responsibility that comes with being the son of a mafia don."I couldn't have done it without you."Our eyes meet, and there's a silent understanding bet
DianaThe beach house stands secluded at the edge of a private stretch of sand, its white walls reflecting the golden rays of the setting sun.It's an impressive structure, two stories high, with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer unobstructed views of the ocean.A spacious deck wraps around the back, complete with comfortable lounge chairs and a hot tub - perfect for quiet contemplation or intimate conversations.As I stand on the deck, I can't help but think about how the beauty of this place is marred by the circumstances that led me here.My relationship with my father has been strained since before my wedding.We never saw eye to eye on anything, especially when it came to my choices.He wanted me to marry into the mafia, but I couldn't bear the idea of being a part of something so dark and twisted."Socialite" was the label he slapped on me when I started advocating for social issues and using my influence online.Our arguments grew more intense, culminating in a heated exchang
My heart hammers in my chest as I stare at him, the bouquet of roses clutched tightly in my hands, threatening to crush the delicate petals.My eyes widen, and my lips part in an inaudible gasp, as if trying to make sense of this sudden turn of events.I need to ask."Anthony... How? How did you find me here?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper, as if speaking louder might cause this surreal moment to shatter and disappear.He hesitates for a moment, his gaze flickering down to the ground before meeting mine once again.He takes a deep breath, running a hand through his dark hair."It wasn't easy. I used my computer skills to track your online presence, found some clues that led me here. I know it may seem invasive, but I needed to be sure you were safe, especially with my father... and the Mafia."His words send a chill down my spine, reminding me of the danger that always seems to hover just beyond the horizon when it comes to Anthony and his family.But even so, a warm glow begins to
The heavy oak door creaks open as I carry Diana over the threshold of our newly purchased penthouse.The scent of fresh lilies and vanilla waft through the air, courtesy of the interior designer Diana hired.My heart pounds with each step as I make my way to the master bedroom.Diana giggles and wraps her arms around my neck, peppering light kisses along my jaw.I lay her gently onto the king-sized bed with its silk charcoal gray sheets and plush velvet headboard.Dozens of candles flicker around the room, casting shadows that dance across Diana’s beautiful face.She smiles up at me, her emerald eyes glowing in the candlelight.“Husband,” she purrs, reaching up to loosen my tie.A surge of desire and love washes over me as I gaze down at my wife.My wife.After all these months, she’s finally mine.And hey, no one was shot this time around.We had the perfect wedding. Just us two, a priest, my brother and one friend each.Diana brought Jo, the woman who runs a homeless shelter for teen
When I finally sink into her warmth, we both gasp.She's tight and slick, pulsing around me.I stay still for a moment, savoring the feel of her."You feel amazing," I rasp.Diana whimpers. "Move, please!"I start rocking my hips, slowly at first, then picking up speed.Diana meets me thrust for thrust, her fingernails digging into my back.Our harsh breaths mingle as we move as one, racing toward that peak of pleasure."Come for me, Diana," I growl, angling to hit the spot that makes her cry out.A few more hard thrusts and she shatters around me with a scream, her inner walls clamping down.The sound and feel of her climax trigger my own.With a roar, I bury myself to the hilt and explode, spilling my seed deep inside her.We collapse together, sweaty and satiated.I gather Diana close, pressing tender kisses over her face.She smiles, utterly relaxed in my arms."Thank you for waiting for me," she murmurs."Always," I whisper."You're worth the wait."I gently withdraw from Diana's
I got pregnant after a sizzling one-night stand.I didn’t know then he was the son of a billionaire mafia Don.That night, he walked over to me with powerful strides that announced to the world, that he owned it.The dim light dancing over his sculptured face,Teased me with a glimpse of perfection.His deep baritone voice vibrated thru my core, and before I knew it,we were back at my place, thrusting into ecstasy.For hours he took me to heaven and back,But on earth, he became cold as ice.Then, without so much as a name,He walked out the door and out of my life.I tried to forget him,Until I got unexpected news from my doctor weeks later.and before I had time to digest the information,I was snatched by two men.Now I’m in the presence of the Don of all Dons,congratulating me on my pregnancy.And the man that took me to heaven, is now tasked to keep me in hell.
Aryana"Here's your drink!"The bartender had to shout for me to hear. I gave a small smile and collected what had to be the fourth drink tonight. I sipped from my glass of whiskey as I turned my attention toward the dance floor. It was so full that you couldn't see the floor.The vibe in the club was chill, but I couldn’t seem to relax. I was so tired! My schedule was hectic. Between studying hard to get my master’s degree in psychology and working part-time to pay for my education, it was no wonder that I was so exhausted. That was the reason why I was here by myself. I just wanted to have a drink and have a night's reprieve from all the stress in my life.I stared at my drink, watching the liquor bounce around in the glass. Then my eyes strayed back to the dance floor. I was tempted to join the throng of sweaty bodies dancing without a care in the world. It made me envious of how they could dance, as if their week had been much better than mine. I downed my drink, stood up, and went
AlexanderI was exhausted. It had been a couple of rough months. I was listening to my second and third-in-command discussing strategies for dealing with the Saconne family in one of the rooms in the family house. Until now, I still wasn't sure what the cause of this war between our families was.It's been a couple of months since my family, the Romano family, one of the five mafia families of New York, have been engaged in war with the Saconne family, also one of the five. It started after the Don of the Saconne died, leaving his three sons, Tommy, Felice, and Elio, behind, with the eldest son, Tommy, taking his father's place as the new Don.The five families had never been at war, instead coexisting peacefully, with conflicts settled amicably in a meeting with all five Dons. Everything was going well with each family minding their business and staying on their side of town until we noticed a new drug circulated on my family's territory. Drugs that we did not typically sell.It was
AlexanderA year have passed since the end of the war between my family and the Saconne family. Everyone was at peace. The Romano family was prospering with the added territory of the Saconnes we had divided amongst the other three great families.We were in good times now. Aryana had given birth to our son and he was adorable. He had my gray eyes, which I had also gotten from my father and Aryana’s golden-brown hair. I can still remember the day she went into labor. I had been so afraid and uncertain of what to do. Give me a gun or a knife, and I could kill anyone you wanted to, but give me a pregnant Aryana who was in labor? I was lost.I could still remember the emotions that threatened to overflow when an exhausted but overjoyed Aryana placed our son in my arms for the first time. Despite how wrinkly skin, he was beautiful.After recuperating, Aryana completed her master’s degree in Psychology. It had been a little bit difficult to see her stress over completing projects before de
“I was unconscious for two weeks?” Alexander was astonished, but I ignored his question because I just needed to tell him about my feelings in case this was all temporary.“And seeing how you would never wake up, I was lonely and scared, and I thought about all the times we had spent together, and I realized that I had fallen in love with you, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t say it, and then I regretted it and-,”Dry lips blocked the rest of my words from coming out. I didn’t hesitate to kiss back. It was amazing! I didn’t care that his lips were parched or that he hadn’t brushed his teeth in two weeks. I only watched him kissing me back, something he could do because he was awake!We slowly drifted apart.“Hi,” I whispered, afraid I would start rambling again.“Hi.” He said back to me. We stared deeply at each other, cataloging our features as if afraid we would forget with time.“I missed you.”“I missed you too.”I smiled widely, the first smile I had given in two weeks, and leane
AryanaTwo weeks.Two weeks had passed since Tony and Marcelo returned with an unconscious Alexander, covered in his blood. It’s been two weeks since Alexander promised me everything would be all right, since he promised he would come back. Technically, he didn’t lie. He did come back. Just not the way I had expected. It’s been two weeks since I last heard his voice, Since Alexander was last conscious.I missed him. I missed his voice. I missed his smiles and his grins. I missed seeing his gray eyes. I forgot how warm his embrace was. I missed the feeling of his lips on my body. I missed everything.To think that his last words to me had been to reassure and comfort me, and I couldn’t even tell him that I loved him. That was right. In watching over his prone body for the past two weeks, I came to the realization that I did, in fact, love Alexander. I couldn’t believe it had taken him falling into a coma for me to realize my feelings.How had I been so blind? Why had I continued to dou
Having found out the truth, there was no point in delaying matters. The only reason why Tom had been so successful in beating us down was because of Alfonso. Without Alfonso, what power did Tom have? Tom was already in a tight corner, and seeing how desperate he was to have sent Alfonso to kidnap Aryana, I could sense the end of this pointless war coming to a head.“I should kill you for your betrayal and send you on your way to meet my father, where you will spend your afterlife begging him for forgiveness, but I won’t. Not yet. What you’re going to do now is, you are going to tell Tom that you have Aryana, and he should meet you where we tell you to say. Do you understand?”The resignation was written all over Alfonso’s face. He knew he was done for. He had sealed his fate the day he decided to betray my family.“Are you sure it’ll be fine?” Aryana pulled me aside and asked. “What if he-”“Nothing will happen, I promise you.” I comforted her. “This will be the end, and we’ll finally
AlexanderWhy? I couldn’t believe it. I almost hadn’t wanted to believe it when Felice had taunted the knowledge in my face while kneeling on my feet moments before his death. Seeing my enemy at my feet greatly irritated me, laughing like a mad person instead of cowering and begging like I had wanted him to.Nonetheless, the information struck me like a bolt of lightning. A traitor in our midst had supplied the Saconnes with information about our trade routes so they would know where to hit. The traitor was also responsible for reporting my father’s location. Because of him, my father died. I was filled with rage. We had welcomed that traitor into our midst and had treated him like our family, and he repaid us like this?What pained me the most was who the most likely suspect could be. Marcelo and Tony had discussed this when I told them. We went over different possibilities and clues we could have missed.For the traitor to be reporting my father’s whereabouts meant he was high up in
My eyes widened in surprise.Elio Saconne was one of the brothers of Tom Saconne, the Don of the Saconne family. Marcelo had explained a little about the dynamics of the mafia families. Tom Saconne was the oldest of three brothers. After him were his two younger brothers, Elio and Felice Saconne. Despite how impulsive Tom appeared, it was a known fact that he doted on his brothers though I had doubts on whether he actually doted on them or if it was simply that he let them do whatever they wanted, precisely because he didn’t care about them.Alexander killing Elio meant a ray of sunshine for the Romano family as the war finally turned in their favor. It also told that Alexander was proving himself to his family members. Killing Elio was equivalent to cutting off a limb of the Saconnes. It was good news. I allowed myself to drag my eyes over Alexander and observe his features, spotting no happiness or pride in his feat. It had been quite a long time since I last saw him.I barely see A
AryanaWatching how the men under the Romano family cheered for Alexander settled the unease that had appeared ever since Marcelo told me what was happening. I was aware that this didn’t mean that they had forgiven Alexander. It meant that they would give him a chance to prove himself. I wondered if we hadn’t slept together or if I had allowed him to go back to grab a condom from his car back then, would this have happened? There would have been no need for Alexander to go into hiding. He would have stayed here with his family. His father probably wouldn’t have died, and these men wouldn’t have doubted Alexander’s loyalty to his family.I wished they wouldn’t be harsh on Alexander as it hadn’t been his fault. It wasn’t as if he had wanted to leave. He had argued with his father, but in the end, he’d had no choice but to obey his father’s orders. But I knew that wasn’t how the mafia operated.I watched in curiosity as they went on to perform the ceremony that would mark Alexander as th
“How are your injuries? I heard they’re better.” I changed the topic. I didn’t want to immerse myself in my longing for my father.“It’s getting better. You need not worry.” He patted my shoulder.“I know you need time to think about handling what will happen in a few minutes. I’m sure Tony told you about the displeasure of our men.”My eyebrows slightly furrowed at the words ‘our men,’ but he continued speaking before I could contemplate it. I decided that it must have been a blunder. After all, he was an old family member who served on my father’s side. It must have been a blunder.“I only came to tell you that I am here. I watched you grow from a baby to the man you are. You have my support.”I smiled, thankful for his support. He again gripped my shoulder, momentarily tightening his hold on me before letting go with another smile, exiting the study, and leaving me back to my thoughts.I let my mind wander as the time the men under the Romano banner would arrive slowly grew closer.
AlexanderReturning to Manhattan filled me with so many emotions. Memories of my father slammed strain me with so much force that I stopped in my tracks, earning glances from Tony, Marcello, and Aryana. I waved their concern away and stepped into the building that once housed my father, and meters in arms had arrived this morning to drive Aryana and me back to Manhattan. The ride back had been tense and quiet. The atmosphere between Aryana and me was strained. Since I told her I loved her last night and she didn’t reply, we didn’t know how to act in each other's presence. Even though I said she didn’t need to say it back, it didn’t mean I hadn’t been hurt. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t say it back.Didn’t she love me? Had I read her emotions wrong? It was clear that she had feelings for me. Was it that her feelings for me were not as deep as mine, or was it too early for her? I scoffed bitterly to myself. It didn’t matter what. I couldn’t force her to return her feelings for