Unedited, I wrote this chapter so fast and didn't even reread it or got the time to edit it, so enjoy! XOXO, 💋
Viviane ☩═✦═☩ Stella’s favorite pink gown. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The silk clung to me in all the ways it used to cling to her like it was made for her and no one else. My hands trembled as they smoothed over the fabric, my fingertips skimming the delicate spaghetti straps, the soft sheen of the silk, the open back that dipped low. It felt wrong and right all at once, wearing this. Like I was trespassing into a memory that didn’t belong to me but still clung to me like a second skin. My vision blurred, and I had to blink hard to clear the moisture pooling in my eyes. She lent it to me. I remember the way she smiled as she handed it over, the way she laughed and said, “You’ll look better in it than I ever could.” She was lying, of course. Stella lit up every room she walked into, and in this dress, she looked like a star. She lent it to me but I never got the chance to wear it. And I never got the chance to give it back. My chest tightened as I wrapped
Viviane☩═✦═☩In the mirror’s reflection, I saw him. I spun around immediately, my heartbeat went haywire. Without thinking, I moved to push past him, my shoulder brushing against his arm as I headed for the door. His hand shot out, gripping my waist that stopped me in my tracks. Before I could react, he pulled me back, positioning himself in front of me. I shoved his hand off with more force than necessary and tried again to move past him. But he was faster. Both of his hands found my waist this time, locking me in place. And then he lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing and set me on the sink counter. My hands shot out to push him away, I opened my mouth, ready to tell him exactly where he could go, but his finger pressed against my lips. “Shhh, just shhh...” his gaze said, though his lips didn’t move. My chest heaved as anger burned through me. My lips pressed into a tight line as I glared at his face, but his focus wasn’t on my face. His eyes had already dro
Viviane☩═✦═☩“Alessandro,” Evangeline began casually, twirling her wine glass by the stem, “I’ve been thinking about what you said in Nikolai’s office the other day.”I didn’t even realize my hand had tightened around my fork until I heard the faint scrape against the plate. My eyes flicked to her briefly, then instinctively to Alessandro, who sat across the table.He frowned at her, “What about it?” Evangeline tilted her head slightly. She lazily moved her fork through the air, like she was painting an invisible picture. “Oh, nothing really. It’s just something you said stuck with me,” she sipped her wine slowly, “That little comment you made about how ‘boys don’t get abused,’” she said, mimicking his words, her voice lilting mockingly. “And then you added, what was it?” she snapped her fingers, “Ah, right, ‘boys enjoy it.’”I froze in place, unable to bring the fork to my mouth. Did she really just say that? Here? Like this? My eyes went to Francesca sitting at the far end and she
Viviane☩═✦═☩The moment I stepped outside, I stopped dead in my tracks. They were all there, standing in a tight circle. Each one of them towered over six-foot-three, dressed in black suits that barely hid the tattoos snaking up their necks and wrists. And knowing them, each probably had at least five knives or guns hidden somewhere under all that tailored fabric. Hell, probably even brass knuckles tucked away for good measure. While I was unarmed...I had nothing. Just the clothes on my back and whatever shred of confidence I could scrape together. My stomach twisted, the instinct to turn and run hammering in my chest. I pulled my shoulders back, forcing my spine straight, and took one step after another down the stairs. The sound of a black SUV pulling up caught their attention. They moved as one, parting without a word, clearing a path for me straight to the car. My throat felt dry as sandpaper as I swallowed hard and walked forward. Nikolai stepped to the side and opened t
Francesca sat in the chair, trembling, her hands clutching the fabric of her skirt. Her tear-streaked face darted between the women surrounding her, searching for sympathy.but she found none. Evangeline adjusted the tripod, the camera framed Francesca perfectly. Allegra crossed her arms, “You know, Francesca, the thing about the truth is, it always comes out. Whether you say it yourself or someone else drags it out of you, that’s up to you.” Francesca sniffled, dabbing her face with a trembling hand. “I don’t know what you think I’ve done,” she stammered, her voice uneven. “Oh, we’re way past thinking,” Delilah snapped, stepping closer. Her heels clicked sharply against the floor, “We know exactly what you did. To Alessandro.” Camilla stood at the back of the room. Her eyes bore into Francesca, filled with years of pent-up rage and sorrow. She didn’t say a word, she just looked at that woman with a new kind of hatred. Francesca’s eyes darted nervously from one face to the nex
IMPORTANT If you haven’t read Mafia Men VI – Alessandro’s Games, stop right here. Seriously, close this book, go read that one, and then come back. Trust me, you’re going to need the backstory, the drama, and all the twists to fully get what’s about to happen here. This book kicks off right where Alessandro’s Games left us hanging. No time skips, no recaps. You’ll want to know who everyone is, why they act the way they do, and what’s already gone down to set the stage for what’s next. So, if you haven’t been introduced to the chaos, deception, and mind games Alessandro and Viviane wrapped up in the last book, hit pause on this one. Read it, live it, and then come back to this book and get ready for more. •───⋅☾ ☽⋅───•DISCLAIMER This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental and unintentio
Viviane☩═✦═☩The warehouse was cold, and the air was filled with the smell of salt and iron. I kept my face still, breathing evenly as I took in the scene in front of me. Pallets stacked with bricks of cocaine stretched toward the ceiling, row after row of neatly wrapped product, each one stamped with a symbol I’d come to recognize too well. It was enough to drown the streets in a storm of white powder, and the thought twisted in my gut. Tomorrow, every ounce of this would be out there, touching lives, ripping through neighborhoods like a fire set by men who didn’t give a damn about the damage.Nikolai stood at the center with arrogance he wore like a crown. He moved with such confidence, hands tucked in his pockets, an amused smile playing on his lips. To him, all of this was his empire—New York his kingdom, and its people his subjects, whether they knew it or not.Marco poured a generous amount of whiskey into his glass, raising it with a smirk. “Gentlemen, a toast,” he drawled,
Viviane☩═✦═☩I was slipping, and I knew it. It was like trying to hold onto water, and the more I fought, the faster it slid through my fingers. Alessandro was everywhere—in my thoughts, in my dreams, in the way my pulse spiked every time I heard his voice. He’d wormed his way into my mind, and I hated it. I hated how much I thought about him, how some part of me had started to crave him. How I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was losing pieces of myself, piece by piece, and he was the one holding them. Standing alone in my bathroom, steam still clinging to the walls, I pressed my hands against the sink, holding myself in the coolness of the marble. I stared at my reflection, wrapped in nothing but a towel, hair damp and sticking to my skin. My eyes looked harder, but underneath that hardness, there was a crack, one that had only started to show since I came back from the island.“Get a grip,” I said through clenched teeth, as if saying it would snap me out of this. Who was I
Francesca sat in the chair, trembling, her hands clutching the fabric of her skirt. Her tear-streaked face darted between the women surrounding her, searching for sympathy.but she found none. Evangeline adjusted the tripod, the camera framed Francesca perfectly. Allegra crossed her arms, “You know, Francesca, the thing about the truth is, it always comes out. Whether you say it yourself or someone else drags it out of you, that’s up to you.” Francesca sniffled, dabbing her face with a trembling hand. “I don’t know what you think I’ve done,” she stammered, her voice uneven. “Oh, we’re way past thinking,” Delilah snapped, stepping closer. Her heels clicked sharply against the floor, “We know exactly what you did. To Alessandro.” Camilla stood at the back of the room. Her eyes bore into Francesca, filled with years of pent-up rage and sorrow. She didn’t say a word, she just looked at that woman with a new kind of hatred. Francesca’s eyes darted nervously from one face to the nex
Viviane☩═✦═☩The moment I stepped outside, I stopped dead in my tracks. They were all there, standing in a tight circle. Each one of them towered over six-foot-three, dressed in black suits that barely hid the tattoos snaking up their necks and wrists. And knowing them, each probably had at least five knives or guns hidden somewhere under all that tailored fabric. Hell, probably even brass knuckles tucked away for good measure. While I was unarmed...I had nothing. Just the clothes on my back and whatever shred of confidence I could scrape together. My stomach twisted, the instinct to turn and run hammering in my chest. I pulled my shoulders back, forcing my spine straight, and took one step after another down the stairs. The sound of a black SUV pulling up caught their attention. They moved as one, parting without a word, clearing a path for me straight to the car. My throat felt dry as sandpaper as I swallowed hard and walked forward. Nikolai stepped to the side and opened t
Viviane☩═✦═☩“Alessandro,” Evangeline began casually, twirling her wine glass by the stem, “I’ve been thinking about what you said in Nikolai’s office the other day.”I didn’t even realize my hand had tightened around my fork until I heard the faint scrape against the plate. My eyes flicked to her briefly, then instinctively to Alessandro, who sat across the table.He frowned at her, “What about it?” Evangeline tilted her head slightly. She lazily moved her fork through the air, like she was painting an invisible picture. “Oh, nothing really. It’s just something you said stuck with me,” she sipped her wine slowly, “That little comment you made about how ‘boys don’t get abused,’” she said, mimicking his words, her voice lilting mockingly. “And then you added, what was it?” she snapped her fingers, “Ah, right, ‘boys enjoy it.’”I froze in place, unable to bring the fork to my mouth. Did she really just say that? Here? Like this? My eyes went to Francesca sitting at the far end and she
Viviane☩═✦═☩In the mirror’s reflection, I saw him. I spun around immediately, my heartbeat went haywire. Without thinking, I moved to push past him, my shoulder brushing against his arm as I headed for the door. His hand shot out, gripping my waist that stopped me in my tracks. Before I could react, he pulled me back, positioning himself in front of me. I shoved his hand off with more force than necessary and tried again to move past him. But he was faster. Both of his hands found my waist this time, locking me in place. And then he lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing and set me on the sink counter. My hands shot out to push him away, I opened my mouth, ready to tell him exactly where he could go, but his finger pressed against my lips. “Shhh, just shhh...” his gaze said, though his lips didn’t move. My chest heaved as anger burned through me. My lips pressed into a tight line as I glared at his face, but his focus wasn’t on my face. His eyes had already dro
Viviane ☩═✦═☩ Stella’s favorite pink gown. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The silk clung to me in all the ways it used to cling to her like it was made for her and no one else. My hands trembled as they smoothed over the fabric, my fingertips skimming the delicate spaghetti straps, the soft sheen of the silk, the open back that dipped low. It felt wrong and right all at once, wearing this. Like I was trespassing into a memory that didn’t belong to me but still clung to me like a second skin. My vision blurred, and I had to blink hard to clear the moisture pooling in my eyes. She lent it to me. I remember the way she smiled as she handed it over, the way she laughed and said, “You’ll look better in it than I ever could.” She was lying, of course. Stella lit up every room she walked into, and in this dress, she looked like a star. She lent it to me but I never got the chance to wear it. And I never got the chance to give it back. My chest tightened as I wrapped
Viviane ☩═✦═☩ Numbness. It wasn’t just a feeling, it was the absence of it, a void where something should have been. Like standing in the middle of a fire and not feeling the heat. It was the cruelest kind of punishment because it wasn’t pain—it was the loss of even that. I looked at him, the man I would’ve given everything for, the man I still would and felt the kind of emptiness that comes from feeling too much for too long. I loved him. I loved him so much it hurt. But that love had hollowed me out, until all that was left was this ache I couldn’t get rid of. It wasn’t that I stopped caring, I couldn’t even if I tried. He was still the one I’d die for, still the one I’d burn my entire world down for. But when I looked at him now, there was this cold, cruel distance between us, and I didn’t know if it was his fault or mine. I wanted to scream at him, shake him, make him see what he was doing to me. But instead, I just sat there, silent, staring at the man who still owned ev
Alessandro ☩══♛══☩ “Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice was barely audible. She leaned in, her forehead pressed against mine, “Why?” she repeated, “Well... because you did it to me. You took everything I hated about myself and made me live in it, drown in it. And now?” her hands slid up to cup my face, her lips just brushing my ear as she hissed, “It’s your turn.” I clenched my teeth, fighting the instinct to lash out at her, to tell her to stop, to end this insanity. But I knew if I said a word, if I gave her even an inch, this madness would spiral out of control. I needed to get it over with once and for all. “You don’t like this, do you?” she murmured, her voice honey-sweet, she took another drag, the ember glowing bright, and then tilted her head, exhaling the smoke directly at my neck. It clung to my skin, suffocating, and I fought the urge to jerk away. I kept my eyes fixed on the wall, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction. Her breath was warm agai
Alessandro ☩══♛══☩ “God forbid anything in your world not revolve around her,” she spat and I could hear the hurt buried underneath her words, “Your loyalty. Your blind devotion. She could burn you alive, Alessandro, and you’d still protect her. You’d throw me to the flames just to keep her warm.” I opened my mouth to argue, to explain, but no words came. I couldn’t even breathe past the knot in my chest. How could she think that? Viviane stood there, glaring at me, she wrapped her arms around herself like a shield, not against the world—against me. And it wrecked me because I could see it in her eyes. She believed every word she said. She thought I’d put Francesca above her, that I’d choose anyone over her. She couldn’t be more wrong. “You don’t get it,” I finally bit out, “You think this is about her? You think I’d protect her over you? Goddammit, Viviane, you are so far off the mark, it’s insane.” Her jaw tightened, “Am I?” she muttered, “Then explain it, Alessandro. Ex
Viviane ☩═✦═☩ I used to think nothing could break me. That I was untouchable. Unshakable. Unbreakable. And now I was curled up on the couch in Brandon’s empty apartment, clutching a spoon like it was the only thing keeping me from falling apart. A half-melted pint of chocolate ice cream sat in my lap, barely touched, while some cheesy rom-com played on the TV. Never thought I’d end up here. Viviane Kane, the one who walked away before anyone else could reduced to this. Alone. Pathetic. Watching strangers pretend love fixes everything while mine left me shattered. Maybe this is what karma looks like. Maybe I deserved it. I thought I could handle anything. Thought I could keep my walls high and my heart out of reach. But then Alessandro happened. And now...now I couldn’t even hold myself together. The tears came before I could stop them, hot and bitter, sliding down my face in waves that wouldn’t let up. I wiped at them angrily, furious at myself for feeling this way.