LOGINShare
Good to Be Queen
Last Updated:
2024-09-09 07:34:52Related chapters
Indebted to the Mafia King Dreams
TonyI adjust the zoom lens on the camera, and the street below snaps into focus. Four twenty-somethings stroll down the sidewalk in the summer sunset, talking loudly to each other. The lankiest one says something that makes the bleached-blonde leader punch him. The final two laugh. With another twist, I zoom in on the only one we care about. Teo—Veniamin, as these fucks know him—cocks a fist back to hit the lanky one again, but the leader shakes his head. Together, the four of them enter a crappy electronics shop we’ve learned is yet another Russian front. I sit back from the camera.“How’s it look?” Mikey asks.Like Dante sent another kid just about Seb’s age into the goddamn lion’s den without thinking. The phantom Seb in my mind shakes his head. He talks less than he used to, since the funeral, but I can’t fucking get him to go away.“They look like besties.” I shrug. “’Nother guy in the group got hit. Not Teo.”Mikey nods. The sunset makes him look even older than he is, highligh
Last Updated : 2024-09-24Indebted to the Mafia King The Old Place
EleniI lean back in my seat and groan. “Too…much…food…”Gianna laughs. “Once you give birth, I’m getting you into pole. Even if you never perform, it burns calories like a mother—”Mama starts to frown, and Gianna stops. I laugh. She’s been working on her language.“Well, it’ll let you eat as much as you want,” Gianna says quickly.Mama nods. “If you don’t perform, I think that would be all right with Dante.”Gianna launches into a list of how many dancers Dante has gone out with, seemingly just to scandalize Mama, and I look around the homey surroundings. To celebrate the end of my midterms, Mama suggested we go to Zorba’s Tavern, a warm, blue-and-white-walled little restaurant back in the old neighborhood. We used to come here every time Christos or I got all As in school. I tried to explain I didn’t have my grades back yet, but she was adamant. She couldn’t celebrate my last grades, or me getting into Tandon, so we were going to Zorba’s.“Well,” Mama says. “I suppose some…standard
Last Updated : 2024-09-25Indebted to the Mafia King By the Balls
EleniSomething thuds upstairs, and even though we know it’s probably one of the other families in the building, Mama and I spook and scurry out. She nearly drops the keys as she locks the back door behind us, but by the time we emerge back onto the street, we’re laughing.“Is it really like this for you every day, zouzouni?” she asks breathlessly.I gulp down air. Do I tell her about the nights I spend sitting awake, terrified? How often do I kiss Dante and think it might be the last time? How the heartbeat that made my baby real scares the absolute shit out of me because that’s a whole, real person I’m responsible for?“Yes and no,” I say. “Should we find Gianna?”Mama peers at me, then nods. She knows I’m hiding something. For her sake, all I care about is that she doesn’t press.NTU. Hm.We find Gianna nursing three cups of coffee at a table outside the shop she mentioned. She waves as we approach.“See? You were here the whole time.” She gestures at the other two drinks.Mama gri
Last Updated : 2024-09-27Indebted to the Mafia King Sneaky
Dante“Quickly.” I hang up the phone and sit back down at my desk. I don’t know what the hell made El call me like that, but I know the driver headed her way needs to move fast. Anything that scares her, scares me.Which means it’s a bitch of a time trying to get my eyes to refocus on the work I was doing right before she called. I tap my fingers on the top of my desk, hum a song to myself, play music out loud. Nada. Finally, I give up, pour myself a glass of scotch, and take a long sip. Peaty. Rich. Steadying, thank God. When I sit back down at my desk, the words don’t swim off my computer screen.Windows crowd the monitor, all different transcripts of different reports from Teo since he’s gone under. He said something when he came out this last time that scratched an itch in my brain, and I’m trying to figure out where that itch came from.Klondike Paper. Apparently, it’s the name of an office the Russians control, one they don’t intend to let Teo into for a while yet. But I swear i
Last Updated : 2024-09-28Indebted to the Mafia King Belief
EleniWhen Dante kisses me, for a split second, I think about pulling away. The fear and anger of my encounter with Henry still courses under my skin. There’s so much to be scared about, enemies closing in from all angles.Dante bites my lip, and endorphins flood my system. This is why I’ve stayed. He makes me feel like no one ever has. Not because he knows how to touch me, but becauseI can melt into his arms, let everything go, and trust he’ll pick up the pieces afterward. I have nothing to fear with Dante.And he promised. So I’ll trust him.I throw my arms around his neck. “I want to listen tonight.”He sweeps me off my feet in a bridal carry. I yelp.“Shush,” he reprimands. “Tonight, you hear me, pet.”I bite my own lip as he jogs up the stairs. The heavy mantle of submission steals over me, crushing the remaining fears from my system.Dante veers into our bedroom and deposits me on the bed. “Do you particularly like these clothes?”I look down at the blouse and jeans I wore to di
Last Updated : 2024-09-29Indebted to the Mafia King Something to Look Forward To
DanteAfter El falls asleep, I sneak out of bed. Henry might not scare me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to do anything about him. Just that she doesn’t need to worry about it.God, she’d kill me if I ever said that to her face.This is just a temporary measure, I promise myself as I change in a dark closet and leave the room. Just until she’s no longer pregnant.Yeah, that’d stop her from kicking my ass. I shut the bedroom door behind me with a sigh, then call Tony.He shows up twenty minutes later with Mikey in tow, both of them looking exhausted. I raise an eyebrow.“Teo needed an angel on his shoulder,” Tony says by way of explanation.“You call in a replacement team?” I ask.“You think I dropped out of school after kindergarten?” Tony replies.Mikey just nods and walks in with him. Without conferring, the three of us amble into my office and shut the door behind us. Only once I’ve poured everybody a drink and sat in the leather chair behind my desk do I begin explaining.“Wi
Last Updated : 2024-10-01Indebted to the Mafia King Bad Feeling
EleniThe next morning, my vibrating phone wakes me before my alarm. I shoot up in bed, immediately certain Dante snuck out, that he’s captured or bleeding out at Henry’s feet.He lays in bed next to me, his dark hair rumpled. As I watch, he rolls over to reveal a dent from the pillowcase in his cheek. I exhale slowly and pick up my phone.Mama’s calling. I glance at Dante one last time, then grab a robe and pad out into the hallway.“Hi, Mama,” I say.“I am very disappointed,” she says severely.I rub my eyes, check the time. It’s barely six-thirty. What could I have done already?“I told you I was going out to Staten Island,” I say.“Pah.” She huffs a breath. “You think I’m worried about that? No, zouzouni, I want to know why I just had to find out the date of your wedding from some woman”—she says the word like it’s poison—“showing up at the door to ask you about something called a save-the-date. Am I not your mama anymore?”“What?” I freeze at the top of the stairs. “We don’t have
Last Updated : 2024-10-02Indebted to the Mafia King Brigadier
DanteI walk up to a shuttered bodega. Pieces of the paper sign flap in the wind, declaring that I can get “sacks” and “dinks” inside. New York City flows around this abandoned piece of itself, not even glancing at it.Perfect.I slide into the alley beside it, unlock the chain on the back door, and step inside. Tony and Cal Duncan stand in the flickering light of the ex-backroom, now lined with knives, cattle prods, ropes, and any other torture instrument a Saint has come up with in the last decade.“I was wondering if you’d ever show your fine face.” Cal smiles. “I called you as soon as I heard.”“I had other business,” I answer crisply. “What did you catch?”“A tuna, if I do say so myself.”Tony rolls his eyes. “Brigadier. No sign of Fyodor, but the place was obviously important to them.”Someone grunts just past the thin door that separates us from the main room. I smile. Brigadier means decent information.“Who has him?” I ask.“One of my boys wanted first touch.” Cal grins. “Sim
Last Updated : 2024-10-03
Latest chapter
Indebted to the Mafia King Wedding Day
ChloeThe first few days after I learned that Mateo was no longer on this planet were a bit chaotic. Tony and his men had so much to do: cleaning up the mess, assigning the new positions each one of them would take when it came to protecting our family and the house, determining who would go back to dealing with the Saints’ businesses, and so on. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve managed to create a routine for myself and Ellie. It took me a while to process that I wouldn’t have to continue hiding or running away anymore, but eventually things just became… easier. It’s funny how easily and quickly humans get used to things. In the first few days, I was still scared to leave the house by myself, even with a couple of guards accompanying me, or Rocco taking me from place to place inside a bulletproof car. I would always watch over my shoulder, expecting someone to jump out of a bush or something and kidnap me–or worse–kill me.But Tony assured me he wouldn’t get rid of the security s
Indebted to the Mafia King Imperfectly Perfect
ChloeOur warm kiss turns into something more passionate as our hands begin to roam each other’s bodies. There are so many emotions bottled up inside us that it is hard to express them with words. Tony’s hands explore my body while he devours my mouth in a heated kiss, suffocating my moans. My head is still spinning from his confession that he loves me, and I can barely focus on what he’s doing. My distraction seems to catch his attention because he pulls away from me, his eyes studying my face carefully. “Is everything okay? We don’t need to do this if you don’t want to. I–”My lips are on his before he even finishes his sentence. Like hell I’d let him stop right now. I urge myself to be present, storing his confession for later, when I have time to dwell on it over and over without being interrupted. I wish I could’ve recorded it so I could listen to it whenever I need reassurance about how he feels about me.But this is Tony. I know he will shower me with affection and love whenev
Indebted to the Mafia King Confessions
ChloeAfter I welcome Tony home, I make sure to wake Ellie up so she can have dinner with us. She needs to eat something since she has been sleeping the whole afternoon, and she also needs to wake up now so she can get some sleep later. I’m not looking forward to staying up all night because she slept too much during the day.The three of us have dinner together as a family for the first time, and it just feels… right. Like how it’s always supposed to have been. Neither one of us brings up the elephant in the room. I’m sure we’ll have time to talk about it, but right now, I just want to enjoy this moment while I can. Watching Tony feed our daughter, playing with her, and getting her to laugh is just so adorable that my heart can barely take it.It’s a dream coming true right in front of my eyes.“Come on, baby. Let’s show Mommy how you’re a good girl who eats all her dinner,” he muses, making airplane sounds as he flies the spoon toward her gaping mouth.Ellie chuckles and opens wide
Indebted to the Mafia King Empty House
ChloeReuniting with Ellie and my mom felt overwhelming, although bittersweet. Even though I was beyond relieved and grateful to hold my daughter in my arms once more, my heart was shrinking by the minute, not knowing what Tony was up to.The Irish King’s bar I was brought to is surprisingly comfortable and welcoming. I was even more surprised when I found Cal playing with Ellie. The way she laughed at his exaggerated movements and jokes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this enchanted with another man before.After I settled down from the flight and kissed and hugged my family, Cal asked one of his employees from the bar to bring me something to eat. Mom and Ellie already had dinner since they arrived here earlier, and when the waitress returns with a tray filled with burgers, fries, and a chocolate milkshake, I almost let out a moan of pleasure.Only now have I realized how starving I am. I can’t even remember the last time I ate. So much has happened in the past twenty-four hours t
Indebted to the Mafia King Into the Enemy's Den
TonyMy vision turns red, and I clench my phone in my hand so hard that I hear it crack. “Send it to me. I’ll be on my way,” I inform him.Armando clears his throat, and I know he’s about to contradict me. “Shouldn’t we have a plan first, Boss? We have no idea what he’s been up to,” he wisely reminds me. I’m glad I have someone to make me see clearly now because all I can think of is putting a bullet hole through Mateo’s forehead and making sure he doesn’t take another breath in this world. “What do we know?” I ask, already starting the car.“They are in an abandoned warehouse outside the city. It’s not our territory, but that shouldn’t be a problem. No one really rules that part of town,” he explains firmly and professionally. “I have all men on hold, waiting for instructions on how we can best approach without being noticed.”“Do you think the cartel is waiting for us?” I have no fucking clue what Mateo was thinking when he invaded the safehouse to go after Chloe like that. It wa
Indebted to the Mafia King Scorching the Earth
TonyI warned Chloe not to even try and convince me of doing anything else other than going after Mateo and his men. I’d been doing my best to act cautiously, to consider every single possible outcome from this war, but after he ambushed Chloe at the safehouse, making her fight for her life, it left me blind with rage.My guilt didn’t help, either.I was so relieved when I found her on that dark street, wearing nothing but a robe covered in blood, that I could have cried when I held her in my arms. She felt so small, so vulnerable within my embrace that the monster dormant inside me snapped to life, and I simply couldn’t put this aside any longer. Even if I die, even if I don’t get to see her one last time, I will make sure to take Mateo down with me, so he never has the chance to lay a hand on my wife again. Or my daughter, for that matter.“Do I really have to go with Cal?” Chloe’s sweet voice asks from the bed, making me take my eyes off the phone and look at her. I promised her
Indebted to the Mafia King Out of Harm's Way
Chloe“Listen,” Tony continues, still focused on the road. The police sirens get more and more distant as we drive away from the city, but I still don’t ask him where he is taking me. “I know you don’t want to think about it now, but I need to know what happened,” he requests in a gentle voice. I hear a hint of pain in it as well, but mostly, I can hear the guilt behind his words.I want to tell him none of this is his fault, but we’ll have time for that later. Right now, we just need to make sure no one else gets hurt, or worse, killed.I inhale sharply, steadying myself enough to share the recent events with him. I am strong, and I can do this, I tell myself. I’ve always told Tony I could handle it all, and even though I was scared as hell back there, I still managed to save myself.I can do this.“After you left, I spent a few more minutes in the office before I headed up to take a shower. I don’t think I was in there too long, but as soon as I stepped out, I heard the alarm go off
Indebted to the Mafia King Fighting For My Life
ChloeI should be dead.I was certain I’d be killed the moment I saw Mateo by the front door.I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look as mad as he looked a couple of minutes ago.Somehow, by the grace of God perhaps, when I saw him approaching me with that gun pointed at my face, I managed to take it from his hand after sparring with him and shot him in the shoulder. I think.I didn’t stay there to confirm. I didn’t wait to see if he was injured or not. I simply ran out of the house, not daring to look back, not even once. It’s been a few minutes, and I’m still blindly running through the neighborhood, trying to think of what to do or where to go. There’s no one on the street that I can ask for help, and even if there were, I’d be so afraid that Mateo would kill them for helping me that I don’t think I would ask for help anyway.It’s cold outside, and I’m still only wearing my shower robe, and even though I don’t dare to look back, too afraid of what I’ll see, I know I’m being follow
Indebted to the Mafia King Failed Promise
TonyComing here was a fucking mistake.Seeing Chloe did everything to me that I was trying to avoid. It just left me even more confused than before. We haven’t spent more than an hour together, and I still managed to screw it up.Being with her felt natural as if this was the only place I could be. Whenever I’m with her, holding her in my arms and feeling her close to me, everything just seems to go away. Every concern, every fear, every bad thought I ever had… I finally feel at peace.That’s the sort of effect she has on me. But I was not expecting her confession. Hearing her say she loves me and not being able to say it back shattered my heart in ways I can't explain. The look on her face will haunt me forever. It seems to have become a pattern lately. I can't seem to be able to stop hurting and disappointing her. I know what she expects from me, but unfortunately, I can't give it to her.It's clear to me that I have fallen for her, harder than I could ever have expected. It's a f
