Home / Mafia / The Mafioso’s Forced Bride / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Mafioso’s Forced Bride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

87 Chapters

Prologue

Eighteen Years BeforeVenice, ItalyFrediano Giaccobbe was on his knees in front of Giotto Puglia. There was a huge gash on his forehead and blood trickled down his pale face, and there was a bullet wound on his side. He was dying and he knew it. Giotto pointed a gun at him and his finger rested on the trigger. "You smell like a dead man, Frediano."He suppressed the urge to laugh. He couldn't speak, he could only shake his head and wheeze. Already his vision was blurry. There was no more pain. He could only think of his family.Vivia, his beloved wife, and his little girls, Chiara and Amalia. The thought of never seeing them again broke his heart to pieces. The realization that he would die without holding them one last time brought tears to his eyes. He recalled briefly the last conversation he had with Vivia, to keep the girls safe and leave Venice. He begged her to leave and never return. To hide somewhere Giotto would never find them. He did not know where they would go, he asked

Chapter One

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

Eighteen Years LaterSomewhere in Basilicata I take a deep breath through my nose. There's nothing like spring. The scent of flowers is in the air and I can't get enough of it. Mother loves flowers, so I grew up knowing how to care for them and loving them with all my heart."Chiara, get in here!" I hear her say. "It's time for the soap opera."I drop the watering can and I wipe my hands on my apron. Amalia is already seated on the couch popping olives in her mouth and Mother takes a seat next to her. She turns to me. "Tonight's the grand finale. We'll find out if Carlo and Flora will marry.""Of course they will," I roll my eyes. "The protagonists always end up together." Lia throws an olive at me. Lia. I’ve always called her that. "Don't ruin it for us. Just because you don't believe in love, it doesn't mean we don't.""Amalia, don't talk that way to your sister,” Mother warns. Lia and I always bicker. It's inevitable. We just have different views on everything. She rolls her eyes

Chapter Two

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

"Shut your mouth!" He tells me and reaches to pull my hair. He holds a huge chunk of it between his fist. "Or I'll blow your brains out right here." He points the gun at my neck and I have no choice but to remain quiet. I think of mother and Lia. Where are they? Who is this man? Is he a burglar? We don't have anything valuable here. My mother doesn't own a single ring. She sold her wedding ring to pay bills. We don't have anything. What could he possibly want from us? He drags me out of my room and ahead of me, I see another strange man dragging Lia. I scream her name and the man pulls harder on my hair. "Last warning, bitch." Despair overtakes me. No, this can't be happening. Who are these people? What do they want? I’ve never been sworn at before, not like this. Mother is already in the living room. She's on her knees, and a third man has a gun pointed right at her face. "No!" I shout. "Leave my mother alone!" The man taps the gun against my head, but I am beyond caring. This is

Chapter Three

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

I wake up with a head splitting migraine. I wish I could say that I don't remember a thing that happened. That I didn't see my family, my sister and my mother, killed right before my eyes. The image is so vivid, so suffocating that I could scratch my own eyes out. Sobs wrack my body and the pain on my side worsens. It won't stop. The memory keeps replaying over and over in my head. I can't believe they're gone. I can't believe they're dead. Killed by mongrels. There's a hole in my chest so big I'm surprised I'm not dead yet. How can I live with this? How can I live with the fact that they died and I lived? That my life was spared by some criminal. Lia was supposed to have lived, not me. I can't live with this. I'm not strong enough to take this.I should be dead.I think I'm in the trunk of a car, because I'm in a moving vehicle and it's very dark. Some light is seeping through, so I know it's daytime. My hands and feet are bound, so I can't move. At this point, I don't care what they

Chapter Four

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

Darkness. I open my eyes and once again I can't see a thing. There's light seeping through the holes in the trunk, and the car is still on the move. At this point, I don't know how much time has passed, or worse, where I'm even headed to. Everything feels like a hazy dream I'll never wake up from. When I think of Giotto Puglia, my blood boils, and my blood pressure spikes. I grit my teeth so hard I think I chip a tooth. That man, who does he think he is? How could he have ordered my entire family killed? At this point, I wish I was dead. I wish I hadn't been alive to live through this. They'll force me to marry that capo, the one who was there when my family was killed. As if I was nobody. I don't know how, but I'll make that man pay for what he's done to me and my family. He will not go unscathed. He ruined my life, and one day, I will ruin his. It feels like an eternity and a half has passed. The car stops occasionally, but I don't dare scream for help anymore. It's not amounting

Chapter Five

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

I wake up with a start. The room is much lighter than before, so it's safe to assume it's daytime. I note that the door is still closed and that is a small comfort. But anyone could have walked in while I was sleeping. I didn't wake up once. I couldn't sense anything, I was out like a light. This thought haunts my peace of mind, so I brush it aside for now. I don't know what to do, so I start by washing my face. The t-shirt I wore yesterday is crumpled, so I change it to a darker one. I sit back down on the bed and stare at the closed door. Now that I got the chance to rest, I can think more clearly. I don't want to go back out there, but what choice do I have? I can't stay in here forever. Eventually, this haven I've created for myself will crumble to pieces, and I'll have to face whatever awaits me behind that door. I think of that Enzo and how I'm supposed to marry him. It makes me sick. How can I marry that man? He's a criminal, a killer. My first task will be to prevent that f

Chapter Six

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

Fabrizio is in the living room watching another documentary. I can't focus enough to figure out what it is. Last night, I was so certain and confident that my plan would work and that I would have the courage to see it through, but now that I'm awake and he's on the other side of the door, I'm nervous. What if this doesn't work? I can't afford to fail. I have to try. And if I happen to fail, I'll try again. This can't be the end. This isn't how I end up. Someone has to avenge my family and that's me. The authorities will help me with that. I just need to get to them first. I keep my door on the knob and I urge myself to open it. When I do, the door swings open and I lose my balance but I manage not to fall to the floor. Fabrizio is on the couch but he doesn't even look up. I see that the food he brought yesterday is still on the counter, so that facilitates things. I walk to the kitchen and grab the can of tomato soup. I open one of the cupboards and I find a small pot. I open some

Chapter Seven

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

As soon as I get to the hospital, I regret my careless decision. Everyone is staring at me as if I were a madwoman, and maybe I am. I haven't seen Fabrizio yet, not since I kicked him and started yelling that I was kidnapped for everyone to hear. He looked around desperately, naively wondering why someone who fainted suddenly sprang up and started shouting for help. He was still trying to help me, even after all I did. No one moved a finger to help me. I kept spewing out names like Giotto Puglia and Giaccobbe and everyone turned away from me. When a couple of nurses grabbed me and shoved me into a room and locked the door behind me, I knew I was in deep shit. I'm not stupid enough to assume they'll help me. Fabrizio has probably already notified them and they're on their way here. This is a standard hospital room, with a bed but no equipment. I try the door countless times, but there's no chance. It's locked and I have no way to escape. I sit on the bed and take deep breaths. I mus

Chapter Eight

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

Fabio.I can't believe he would betray us. He was always like a brother to us, a son to my mother. He would eat with us. He's been in our home. He was family, but he didn't hesitate to give us away to that band of criminals.I think of that terrible day and suddenly, his behavior makes sense. He was tense. That tool he borrowed. He didn't even want to come inside. He never even gave us a warning. How could he have so little consideration for us? It makes me so angry that I could spontaneously combust.Aurelio's pleasure in telling me this was palpable. He couldn't conceal it. He watched me crumble to pieces and then glue those pieces back together. His confession destroyed me and he knew it would. They set a perfect trap for us, we had no way of escaping. With Fabio's help, they got all the inside information that they needed. Fabio knew all of us inside out. Every negative emotion I felt before multiplied. Doubled. Tripled. Quadrupled. I turn on my side and stare at the door and thin

Chapter Nine

The Mafioso’s Forced Bride/Bee Diaz

I couldn't do it.I couldn't end my life.There was something bigger that stopped me. The plan melted off my brain and I went through the trouble of undoing all the knots. Now I'm agonizing over the damned engagement. I haven't gone through the trouble of checking the wardrobe. When the time comes, I'll grab whatever I lay my hands on. I'm not dressing up to impress him. I don't know if I should be anxious about it. He has a girlfriend, so I'll deduce that it will only be me, him, and Aurelio. He'll hand me a ring (if there is one) and I'll be brought back here to rot and fester. I don't rule Giotto out from the possible list of guests. I have to prepare myself mentally to see him and not act out. That's the priority right now.There's a knock on the door. Aurelio clears his throat, "You have an hour. Are you ready?" I don't reply. I feel a tiny prickle of panic, but I immediately push it aside. Getting ready won't take me five minutes. There's no hairdo or makeup or anything simila

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