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074. Veronica is Dead
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2025-01-01 04:07:48
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The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 075. The Disappearance
Sierra’s POV After my call with Jordan, I paced the living room length, my thoughts consumed by Luca. Something about his absence gnawed at me. This wasn’t like him; he was always consistent, always present. Even after our last conversation, his interest in staying connected was tangible. By the time Jordan arrived home, my nerves were frayed. His stepping through the door provided some relief, but the strain in his expression quickly made me back on edge. “Did you find out anything?” I asked, crossing the room to meet him. Jordan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing definitive. I spoke to some of my contacts in Crystal Bay, and they’re looking into it. But so far, there’s no sign of Luca anywhere.” “Could it be that he’s just…taking a break?” I suggested, though I didn’t even believe my own words. Jordan’s eyes locked onto mine. "You and I both know that this does not feel right. Luca is an intelligent child, but he is also vulnerable. "If someone is attempting to u
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-03The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 076. Gearing up
Sierra’s POV I could tell there was more to Luca’s disappearance hadn’t come, that there was something much darker involved, and the idea of it couldn’t be taken easily in stride. The phone rang on the coffee table; I picked it up. Jordan texted: “We’re almost there. My heart turned three-sixty inside my chest. The message held my gaze for a few moments while a curious mix of relief and horror rushed through me almost at once. I typed back quickly: “Be safe. Please”. I hit send before I could do some second-guessing and dispatch it to the recycling bin. I just couldn’t stop thinking about Jordan. What if he doesn’t return tonight? The thought made my stomach twist with pain, and I was sure that anxiety was all over my face. She must’ve noticed, because she stood up from the kitchen table, flailed her arms around as if we were robbed, and turned to me with a dubious look. “You’re not okay,” she said gently but sharply as if she were calling me out on something I couldn’t deny.
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-04The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 077. Charging In
Sierra’s POVThe hours dragged on, and the ticking of the clock seemed to mock me. Every minute that passed without a word from Jordan felt like an eternity. My legs couldn’t stop moving about the house in a pensive yet slow walk, my thoughts a whirlwind of worst-case scenarios. My phone sat on the table, buzzing every so often with meaningless notifications, but none of them were from Jordan. I couldn’t stop myself from checking it every few seconds, hoping for an update.Amelia had gone quiet too, her usual energy replaced by a kind of tense focus. We were both on edge, the uncertainty hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break.I couldn’t help but think of Luca. Was he scared? Was he alone? Every scenario I imagined made my chest tighten with fear.The sound of a car pulling into the driveway broke my spiralling thoughts, and I rushed to the window. I couldn’t see much, but the headlights of a car cutting through the darkness brought a small flicker of hope. That was until
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-05The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 78. The Betrayal
Sierra’s POV Every second stretched into minutes that sank my heart deeper into my gut like a leaden weight. Our plan had been simple; find Luca, extract him, and survive. But now on the docks, looking out over the open sea, I felt the weight of the entire world on my shoulders. My pulse raced in my ears, adrenaline all through me, yet my heart would not calm. Next to me, Amelia stood upright and alert, brows furrowed, eyes drawing in everything around us. I found myself admiring her coolness. She was the sort of person who wouldn’t let on fear even as the walls were closing in. Andrew was with us, his face a mask of grim resolve. I had thought he would be the one who was calm, yet he appeared more shaken than myself. He glanced at his phone one more time before looking back at us. “We’ve got eyes on the warehouse,” he said softly. “But there is something... wrong. I haven’t been following Enrico’s men for years, but these are different people. They’re more organised, mo
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-07The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 079. The Escape
Sierra’s POVThe warehouse was chaos. The harsh thuds of gunfire pounding through concrete walls, and every movement was a battle for survival. My heart was pounding in my chest, my body acting on impulse, but my mind was spinning with everything I had just discovered. Andrew’s betrayal. Enrico’s presence. Jordan’s sudden arrival, it was all a jumbled tangle, and I had no clue who to believe anymore.But I didn’t have time to think any longer. Luca was still here. He was still in danger.“Luca, come on!” I yelled above the commotion, my arm reaching toward him. “He stared at me, his eyes wide with fear, but there was something else in them now---a flicker of hope.He stepped shakily toward me, but just as he stumbled into me, the ground shook anew. The armoured truck had completely crashed through the building, a group of Enrico’s men stepping out from behind it, guns trained on us."Move!" Jordan screamed, his voice piercing as he plunged into the brawl. He wrestled one of the men t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-08The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 080. The Truth Unveiled
Sierra’s POVThought after thought played in my head as I struggled to understand what just occurred. The explosion. The gunfire. The chaos. The betrayal. Everything was spinning out of control, and I just could not get a solid handle on any of it.Luca was safe for now, but we were far from the woods. The situation was a lot more complex than I’d conceived. Andrew had brought us to safety, yet there in the calm of the car, that whatever had taken place still weighed heavily on me.My gaze crossed to Andrew, seated across from me. His face was impassive, but I could read the tension in his shoulders, the tightness in his jaw. He was a man who had borne secrets, and I had to know what they were. I couldn’t allow him to keep this from me any longer.“Andrew,” I said, my voice breaking the thick silence. My throat felt tight, but I squeezed the words out. "What the hell is going on? Why didn’t you tell us the truth?”He didn’t answer immediately. He looked away, but not before holding
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-10The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 081. The Calm Before the Storm
Sierra’s POVWe kept driving until we reached a safe house far away from the just-blown-up new hideout. Shortly after we stepped in, Jordan barged into the house too. He looked so battered and unkempt.I was at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, trying to steady my nerves. The heat of the cup didn't soothe the storm raging in my veins. It wasn’t just the fear of Luca, or for Jordan, or even for me. It was this great unknown of what we were going to deal with. The stakes were higher than ever, and the cost of failure was unimaginable.In the next room, Amelia suited up and went over her equipment like a well-oiled machine, fluid and precise. She needed this moment when everything was on the line. I carefully tucked Lucas into an underground hide-out within the safe house with some snacks to quench the rage of hunger before we returned.Jordan, too, was quiet. He sat opposite me, his face taut with a slanting glare, his eyes dull from staring into a vacuum. He w
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-11The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 082. The Reckoning
Jordan’s POV The room erupted into chaos. In a flurry of action, Andrew and I ran forward, guns drawn, footfalls in sync. The men surrounding Alessandro weren’t able to respond. I looked at their shocked faces, to find out we had taken them by surprise. They didn’t recognize us, but it didn’t matter. The element of surprise was on our side. The first shot broke the quiet, a loud jolt that ripped through the night. I had not thought, nor had I hesitated. I fired true, and bagged one of the men who had lunged for his weapon. Andrew was next to me, moving me quickly and efficiently. He took another man to the ground, disarming him before a second shot brought him down. Alessandro’s gaze caught mine from across the room, and for half a second all was still.’ I couldn’t afford to let the moment wash over me, but I felt it the rush of relief, of knowing he was alive, that he was here and we were taking him, taking him out. However, there was no time for relief. Not yet. Not until
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-11
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The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 175. We Won
Jordan’s POVThe war didn’t end overnight. It took us months of intentional planning, restructuring and rebuilding trust.Carlos and Lorenzo Moretti not only maintained control of their syndicate but did so under stricter rules. Enough with the senseless bloodshed.” No more betrayals.Alessandro emerged as the power broker but moved to settle relations among erstwhile opponents.What about Gabriel Dravamen? He continued to be a wild card but honoured the pact. It meant Sierra would never have to see him again. He slipped away into the shadows, leaving us in peace.***I should have known that peace was an illusion. The second we made a truce, I felt the claws of the past itch at my back, lying in wait for an opportunity. The life we had struggled to break free from wasn’t going to be free easily. When our fragile new beginning unravelled, it was the enemy without who tore it apart but it was one of our own. Night had descended, cloaking the safehouse in lulling tranquillity. Sierra
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 174. A Truce Or Blood Feud
Jordan’s POVIt was a lengthy, ruthless and tumultuous struggle. Blood spotted the pavement, and the air was still tinged with gunpowder and sweat. Gabriel Dravamen’s cultists had shaken the very foundation of the city’s underworld when they turned against the men of Carlos Moretti. But now, looking at the rubble, I knew this battle would not last forever. I glanced at Sierra, her face smeared with dirt, her hair a wild tangle from their adventure, but the spark in her eyes was still bright with fierce determination. She had fought for me, she had risked everything, and I’d be damned if I was going to let her spend the rest of her life in constant fear. We had to put an end to this insane battle by hook or crook regardless of how weak I felt.“Jordan…Do you think this battle is worth it,” she asked but I looked at her and suddenly lost my words.“What do you suggest we do?” I asked her after taking time to think on her question for a few minutes.“End it. Reconcile with your enemies
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 173. To Hell With Fate
Jordan’s POVThere was a palpable tension in the night air, a heavy mix of unvoiced threats. My fingers flexed at my sides, and every muscle in my body stood up, ready to pounce. The instant the door opened on the van I sensed it. Before us, lined up like a barricade, the fleet of cars stood, their headlights casting harsh beams into the dark, illuminating the figures waiting beyond. Dressed in shades of dark, masked under darkness, armed men stood at attention. Their postures screamed discipline, precision, and most importantly, prepared to unleash hell. From the outside looking in, it was evident these were not just hired guns. They were men trained for combat, their loyalty inextinguishable, and their mission palpable. Carlos Moretti moved like a man in command, rolling the cuffs of his pricey suit as though he wasn’t in the heart of a goddamn battlefield. He flourished on chaos; it had shaped him, and if nothing else, I knew he never walked into a fight he didn’t think he coul
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 172. The Surprise
Sierra’s POVSilence enveloped us for a heartbeat, the only noise the drone of the engine and the uneven gasps of our party. Inside the van, the air was thick with anticipation and something more, something dark.Then, as my eyes adjusted to the low-light interior, I froze in my throat. In the corner sat Carlos Moretti, wearing a sleek black suit, and dark glasses on the bridge of his nose. A cigar hung limply from one side of his mouth, a thin wisp of smoke curling up to the ceiling.“You all didn’t know I was here. Well, I accept that compliment you gave earlier,” he said, “Oh, you are welcome,” he barely echoed and pumped out more smoke into the air with reckless abandon.Still talking to himself and all, he chuckled, a slow and gruff laugh that sent a shiver down my spine. It went on too long, stretching that moment into something just disgusting, something grotesque and even annoying, that made my stomach flip.I felt like reaching out to him and smacking him in the face to keep
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 171. A Narrow Escape
Sierra’s POVA sharp crack of gunfire pierced the night, and instinct kicked in. Jordan was tumbling down with me as a bullet whined past us and struck the concrete wall behind us.My pulse throbbed so violently that I feared it might rupture my ribs. Dominic was already shooting back, his responses quick and exact. Ethan drew his weapon too, well braced as he shot at the men surrounding us. “Go! Go! Go!” he shouted to his men and directed them with one hand in the air as he plunged them ahead whilst the other hand rested solidly on his gun. He looked in our direction as well and nodded his head for us to move to where the huge crates were stacked.I held Jordan and moved towards the crate whilst Ethan watched our fours ensuring we were behind the crates before going head into the battle that had been staged. I wondered where all the police vans had gone because such chaos and ceaseless firing should have bought them out of their cocoons except they had been bought over.Hiding behin
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 170. Moretti’s Men
Sierra’s POVI wrapped my arms around Jordan when balance abandoned him and he walked with me like an old man slowly finding his step. He had just been through a serious coma, and I knew he needed time to get his strength back. His body had not fully recovered, but his spirit, his fighting spirit, was as full as a young man's spirit should be. Every step we took together led us onto shaky ground, but I was unwilling to drop the thread. I wasn’t about to let anything or anyone pull him away from me again. As I led him down the sterile corridor, I kept looking back at him, asking him over and over if he was in pain. "How do you feel? Is anything bothering you? Does anywhere hurt?”We had to put up a brave front, of course, but Jordan shot me a cheeky smile with twinkling eyes that had mischief reflected in them, even with that happening.“You’re babying me too much, Sierra. I'm fine," he pouted back with love in his eyes.I couldn’t help but chuckle, though every fibre of my being wa
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 169. On The Move
Author’s POVCarlos stared blankly for a moment, trying to process the gravity of what had been revealed. But he also knew that in a game like this, someone was always behind the curtain, calling the shots. But this new player, this enigma, was the wild card he hadn’t counted on. He looked over at the door, his brain already working out the next few things. The stakes had never been higher. The fate of his family, even the power dynamic in Crystal Bay, it all was at stake and if this new player had been behind it all, the rules of the game would have changed and Carlos needed to adapt fast, or else lose it all.He walked around the room, the quietness in the area surrounding him was murky. The unknown player stuck in his mind and gnawed at him. Who were they? Why had they decided to make their move now? Because he knew all too well that everything was about power in this world, but the ones pulling the strings, those behind the scenes could make or destroy it all.His men had been
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 168. Eyes On The Target
Author’s POVOnce Lorenzo and Alessandro were gone, Carlos settled into the same chair, fingertips tapping a gentle beat against his desk as he processed the contents of the file. There was an atmosphere of tension around, and the doubts he had been trying to suppress grew louder by the second. There was no telling the moves of a man who might be willing to betray his own brother.Dominic Pierce was a wild card. But that was something Carlos could not lose, not at stake. Carlos picked up the phone off the desk and dialled a number he recalled by heart with a soft sigh. It was one of his most trusted men, a loyal veteran beyond question. Moments later, there was a click on the phone, and a voice came through to the other end.“Did you knock, boss,” the voices said, low and steady. "What’s the situation?"“I want an update,” Carlos said. His tone was steady, but there was an undercurrent of urgency. “How is it along the outside of the facility where Jordan’s being held?”There was a b
The Mafia's Kingpin's Arranged Bride 167. A Betrayal in Question
Author’s POVAlessandro had his hands clasped behind his back, standing with a proud and confident posture, but there was a glimmer of awareness in his harsh features. He was expecting this conversation. He knew Carlos would bring up his concerns, it was his nature. No victory was ever too quickly celebrated, and no ally was ever completely trusted.After a long silence, Carlos released a breath. “You’ve done well, Alessandro,” he eventually said with a smoothness that had an edge of something sharper.“Getting Dominic Pierce to play our little game was no small task. You managed to do it, and for that, I salute you.”Carlos leaned back in his chair, his eyes cold, and warm applause echoed through the crowded room. The gentleness of his tone was just a preface to something colder.“But…” he said, letting the single word hang in the air like a dangerous pause. “A brother betraying his own blood?” He cocked his head a little, studying Alessandro’s face. “A man of this sort is not to be
