To save her family from financial ruin, Elena Romano is forced into an arranged marriage with the most feared man in New York's underworld-Luca Moretti, a ruthless mafia boss. What begins as a cold, loveless union soon transforms as Elena discovers...
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I can't ignore the weight pressing against my chest every time I look at Elena. It's not just the burden of responsibility—it's something deeper, something sharper. A gnawing urgency that won't let go, sinking its claws into my skin, reminding me that time is slipping through my fingers like sand.
She doesn't belong in my world. The confusion in her eyes, the way fear flickers beneath the surface, it all echoes in a place inside me I rarely acknowledge. A part that knows what it means to hesitate, to question. But hesitation gets people killed, and I refuse to let her be one of them.
When I told her to think about it, I meant it. But I also knew the choice I was giving her wasn't fair. It wasn't just about repaying a debt—it was about stepping into something inescapable. A world where loyalty is currency, power is survival, and mercy is nothing more than a weakness waiting to be exploited.
I was never meant to be gentle. And yet, with her, I find myself standing on a precarious edge, caught between what I should do and what I want to do.
And what I want is her.
I see the hesitation flicker in her eyes, the war raging beneath the surface. I understand it. Leaving everything she's ever known—her home, her brother—isn't a decision she can make lightly. No matter how cruel that home has become, it's still familiar. And the unknown? That's terrifying.
She's been thrown into a storm without a lifeline, forced to choose between two impossible paths. She can stay, suffocating under the weight of a life that will never be hers, crushed by the hands that should've protected her. Or she can come with me—a man who is anything but safe, who drags shadows in his wake, and whose world is built on a foundation of power and blood.
Neither option is ideal. But one of them will destroy her. The other? That depends on how much she's willing to risk.
The brutal truth is that if she stays, she's condemning herself to a life where freedom is nothing more than an illusion. A gilded cage, polished on the outside but rotting at the core. Her father's actions—bartering her away like a transaction, a deal struck in blood and greed—are proof of the merciless world she was born into.
I've seen it in her eyes. The exhaustion that runs deeper than fatigue, the silent scream buried beneath layers of forced obedience. The quiet kind of desperation that breaks people long before they even realize they're shattered.
It's a life stripped of choice, of dignity, of hope. And I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy—let alone the one person I can't seem to walk away from.
I need her to understand that my world, for all its shadows and brutality, is built on structure and strength. Chaos doesn't rule here—I do. And in that order, in the ruthless efficiency of power, there's stability. A place for those who know how to survive.
Yes, the role she'd play is restrictive, but it's also laced with privileges most can only dream of. Protection that no law, no name, and no amount of wealth can guarantee. Power that doesn't just shield—it devours threats before they can even form.
She thinks she can stand on her own, and fight against the current. But the world outside these walls won't bend for her, won't offer mercy. It will break her, piece by unforgiving piece. And the terrifying truth? I'm the only thing keeping that from happening.
I'm not naïve—I know exactly what it means to exist in this world, to wear the weight of my name like both armor and a target. The mafia isn't a fairytale, and loyalty is a currency that can be bought, betrayed, or bled for. But it's also the only world where power creates order, where knowing your place means knowing your worth.
If Elena chooses me, she won't be walking into the unknown without protection. She won't be left vulnerable, another casualty swallowed by the chaos. I won't lie to her—I can't promise a life untouched by violence, untouched by blood. But I can promise she'll never be alone.
She'll have a place, a role, a future shaped by her own hands, not dictated by fear. And in a life where danger is inevitable, control is the only real security. I can give her that. If she's willing to take it.
