Enemies At The Altar
Mia Romano never wanted the mafia life. The daughter of a ruthless Don, she dreamed of freedom, of love beyond blood-soaked vows. But her world shatters when her father forces her into marriage with Mark DeLuca—his cold, calculating right-hand man. Handsome, loyal, and untouchable, Mark has secretly loved Mia for years, though she has always belonged to another.
Trapped in a loveless arrangement, Mia despises him, clinging to her boyfriend, the one man who ever made her feel normal. But Mark’s world is one of power, protection, and unshakable devotion. And when rivals close in, Mia discovers the dangerous fire that burns beneath Mark’s calm surface.
As they sleep in separate rooms, jealousy brews, especially when Mark’s alluring ex moves into their lives. What begins as hatred slowly twists into longing, obsession, and passion. But in the mafia world, love comes with blood, betrayal, and deadly consequences.
Will Mia surrender to the man she swore she would never love—or will her heart destroy them both? Read to find out.
Read
Chapter: Chapter 52 – Lines in the DarkThe safehouse was quiet again. Too quiet.Mia sat on the edge of the couch, knees pulled to her chest, watching the rain slide down the window. The storm outside was nothing compared to the storm inside her chest.Mark had been pacing for the past hour, silent, tense, hands running through his hair, jaw clenched so tight she could almost hear it from where she sat.Finally, he stopped. He looked at her, eyes dark, sharp, dangerous in a way that made her stomach twist.“I can’t do this anymore,” he said suddenly, voice low but edged with something she couldn’t place. Anger? Fear? Desire?Mia’s head snapped up. “Do what?”He stepped closer, closing the distance between them, and for a moment the storm outside didn’t matter. The rain against the window faded into the background, leaving only the weight of him.“See you with him,” he admitted, voice rough. “Ethan. I can’t stand it. Not a second longer.”Mia froze. Her heart lurched. She’d expected anger. Maybe a fight. But this—this confe
Last Updated: 2025-12-28
Chapter: Chapter 51 – Shared ShadowsMia woke before dawn.Not with panic this time. Not with the echo of gunfire in her ears.Just… awareness.The kind that settled slowly, uncomfortably, until she realized exactly where she was — and who was beside her.Mark sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, his jacket folded neatly over the chair. A gun rested within reach on the nightstand. He hadn’t slept. She could tell by the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers flexed as if they still expected violence to break through the walls.She watched him quietly.For the first time, she noticed how tired he looked when he thought no one was looking.“You’re staring,” he said without turning.She startled slightly. “You weren’t asleep.”“No.” He glanced back at her. “You were.”She pushed herself up against the pillows. “For how long?”“Long enough to know you talk in your sleep.”Her heart jumped. “I do not.”A corner of his mouth lifted. “You told someone to stop lying.”Heat crept up her neck. “Did I say who?”“No.” Hi
Last Updated: 2025-12-25
Chapter: Ch. 50 – The AmbushThe night shattered without warning.Mia had just begun to drift into uneasy sleep when the first gunshot cracked through the estate—sharp, violent, unmistakable. Her eyes flew open as the second followed, closer this time. Screams echoed from the lower floors, boots pounding marble, alarms screaming to life.Her door burst open.“Up. Now.”Mark’s voice was steel, all hesitation stripped away.She barely had time to throw on a coat before his hand closed around her wrist, pulling her into the hallway. The mansion—usually polished and controlled—had turned into chaos. Guards shouted orders, gunfire rang out, glass shattered.“Who is it?” she gasped as they ran.“Doesn’t matter,” Mark said. “They knew where you were.”That chilled her more than the night air slicing across her skin.They took a back staircase, Mark shielding her body with his own, his gun drawn, eyes lethal and alert. A bullet ricocheted off the wall inches from her head. She cried out.Mark didn’t slow. He cursed once—
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: Ch. 49 – Separate DoorsThe mansion had never felt so quiet—or so empty. Mia lingered in the grand hallway, glancing from the polished doors on either side. One led to her bedroom, the other to Mark’s. She hated the thought of crossing the threshold, of being that close and yet apart. “Separate rooms,” she said, voice firmer than she felt. Mark’s gaze met hers across the hallway. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t protest. “As you wish,” he said simply. The ease of it made her stomach twist. Not relief, not comfort—hurt. Like a knife pressed gently against the soft center of her chest. “Too easy,” she muttered, almost to herself. He raised an eyebrow. “Too easy?” “Yes. You don’t even argue. You just…” She gestured vaguely, frustrated. “…accept it. Like this distance doesn’t bother you at all.” Mark’s expression didn’t change. Calm. Controlled. But she could sense the subtle tension in his shoulders, the line of his jaw. The quiet restraint. “I’m not the one leaving,” he said simply. Her eyes narrowed. “That
Last Updated: 2025-12-21
Chapter: Ch. 48 – Fractured ControlThe mansion was quieter than usual when they returned.Mia tried to tell herself it was relief, not dread, that made her chest tighten. But the tension in the air between her and Mark felt like a living thing, coiling and twisting as soon as the door shut behind them.Mark dropped his coat silently over the rack by the hallway. He didn’t look at her immediately, which only made her nerves jangle louder.“I saw the way you looked at her tonight,” he said finally, voice low. Not accusatory. Not harsh. Just… precise. Like a blade sliding through silk.Mia froze mid-step, hand on the railing leading upstairs. “I… what?”“You,” he repeated, stepping closer. “When Isabella praised me during dinner… the way you tensed, the way your jaw stiffened… don’t try to tell me you didn’t notice it yourself.”Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. She shook her head. “I… I wasn’t…”“Wasn’t what?” His dark eyes bored into hers. “Jealous?”“I’m not jealous,” she said firmly, and perhaps a little too qui
Last Updated: 2025-12-21
Chapter: Ch. 47 – Eyes That BurnMia noticed it halfway through the evening.Not at first—because she’d been too busy pretending she hadn’t just been pulled into something dangerous on the dance floor. Too busy pretending her pulse hadn’t been racing long after Mark’s hand left her waist.But once she calmed enough to breathe again, she felt it.The look.Isabella stood near the edge of the room, champagne untouched in her hand, gaze fixed on Mark with a familiarity that made Mia’s skin prickle. Not longing exactly. Not envy.Recognition.Like she was looking at something she used to know intimately—and wasn’t sure if she still did.Mia’s jaw tightened.She leaned slightly toward Mark. “She’s staring.”Mark didn’t turn. “I know.”That surprised her. “Then why aren’t you looking back?”His voice was low, steady. “Because my attention isn’t on her.”Her heart skipped before she could stop it.They stood close—too close for comfort, too far to touch—surrounded by laughter and clinking glasses and power dressed up as ele
Last Updated: 2025-12-18
Chapter: Chapter 77: Lovers in RuinThe ballroom had not yet recovered from the shock. Whispers still clung to the chandeliers like smoke. The toast had ended, but the silence it left behind was louder than the music that followed. Isabella’s mask had cracked, and everyone had seen it.Adriana’s words still echoed, sharp and fearless. Damian had spoken his defiance, and the world had shifted.But behind the heavy oak doors of the Rossi estate’s eastern wing, silence ruled again. Only two hearts pounded in the dim shadows of a deserted corridor.Damian pressed Adriana against the wall, his hand firm on her wrist, not to restrain — but to steady himself. His storm-gray eyes burned into hers, not with the cold fury he showed the world, but with the desperate hunger of a man breaking apart.“You shouldn’t have done that,” he rasped, his voice rough with equal parts anger and awe. “You put yourself in their crosshairs.”Adriana lifted her chin, fearless even with her pulse racing under his touch. “I was already in their cros
Last Updated: 2025-12-27
Chapter: Chapter 76: The Fall of the False FiancéeThe Rossi ballroom glittered with decadence. Chandeliers poured golden light over marble floors, and the air reeked of wealth, perfume, and deceit. The Rossis had staged another gathering under the guise of “unity,” but everyone present knew it was a show of dominance — a reminder that the Rossi name still commanded the city’s veins.At the center of it all stood Isabella. Dressed in silver silk that clung like liquid moonlight, she wore the mask of a queen. Damian’s queen — or so she let the world believe. Her hand rested possessively on his arm as she paraded him before the vultures in jewels and suits.But Damian was a storm disguised as a man. His jaw was rigid, his hand limp under Isabella’s touch. His eyes, cold and sharp, were not on her. They scanned the room, searching, hunting. Always restless. Always unsatisfied.And Adriana felt it from across the hall. She stood at the edge of the gathering, chained to her father’s side like an ornament. The distance between them ached li
Last Updated: 2025-12-27
Chapter: Chapter 75: Blood on the AltarThe Rossi chapel was a place of shadows. Built beneath the estate centuries ago, its stone walls bore the weight of secrets older than the family itself. Candles flickered in iron sconces, their smoke curling toward a vaulted ceiling blackened with soot. At the heart of the chamber, an altar of cold marble stood like a slab for sacrifice.Adriana was dragged inside by two guards, her wrists still bound in silver. The chains rattled against the stone floor, each sound echoing like a death knell. She struggled, but the grip on her arms was iron.Her father waited near the altar, flanked by Isabella. Don Rossi’s suit was immaculate, his silver hair gleaming under candlelight, but his eyes were merciless. Isabella, in midnight silk, leaned against the altar with a predator’s smile.“Why here?” Adriana’s voice cracked but carried strength. “What game are you playing?”Her father gestured to the altar. “This family was built on sacrifice. Blood spilled, vows broken, lives claimed — all sanc
Last Updated: 2025-12-27
Chapter: Chapter 74: Adriana’s StandThe Rossi estate was alive with whispers. Guards lined the halls, their boots clicking like metronomes of oppression. The windows had been barred, the gates reinforced, and every corner seemed to watch her. Adriana felt it in her bones — she was no longer a daughter. She was a prisoner.But she had learned something from Damian: cages were only temporary.Adriana sat by the mirror, staring at her reflection in the gilded glass. Dark circles framed her eyes, but beneath the exhaustion, something new glimmered — steel. Her father wanted obedience. Isabella wanted her broken. But she would give them neither.She rose, tugging the chain on her wrist until it rattled, a harsh defiance in the silent chamber. If they think I am weak, they will underestimate me. And if they underestimate me, I will have my chance.The door opened without warning — again. Isabella stepped inside, draped in crimson silk this time, her lips painted the same shade. She looked every bit the queen she longed to be,
Last Updated: 2025-12-27
Chapter: Chapter 73: The Spider’s WebThe Rossi estate was a palace built on shadows. Gilded halls, velvet curtains, chandeliers dripping with crystal — all glitter hiding the stench of blood that clung to its foundations.Adriana sat in her locked chamber, the heavy oak door looming like a prison wall. She pressed her palms to the cold windowpane, staring out into the dark gardens below, where shadows moved like hunters. Freedom had never felt so far.She tugged at the chain around her wrist — delicate-looking, but strong, its silver links biting her skin. A mockery of jewelry. Shackles dressed as finery.Her father’s voice echoed in her head, that venom-laced growl: “You are my daughter. Your loyalty is not yours to give away — it is mine to command.”Adriana closed her eyes, fighting the burn of tears. Damian’s face rose in her mind — the storm in his eyes, the way he had touched her as though she were both fragile and fierce. If he knew what her father had done… if he knew the leash Isabella had wrapped around her nec
Last Updated: 2025-12-25
Chapter: Chapter 72: Damian’s WrathThe city had grown quiet after the storm, but for the Moretti heir, silence was just the breath before violence.Damian Moretti was done bleeding. Tonight, others would.The underground garage was filled with the low rumble of engines, the smell of oil and gunpowder hanging thick in the air. Damian’s men assembled, black-clad and armed, faces grim under the flickering fluorescent lights.Marco leaned against a car, watching Damian pace like a caged predator. “You’re planning something big,” he said. “Something reckless.”Damian stopped, turning slowly, his eyes sharp enough to cut glass. “Not reckless. Necessary. Rossi thinks he can cage her. Isabella thinks she can poison me. They’re wrong.” He raised his hand, the scarred knuckles catching the light. “Tonight, they’ll learn what happens when you take what’s mine.”The men shifted uneasily, but no one spoke. They could feel it in him — the shift. Damian wasn’t leading like a strategist anymore. He was leading like a storm.The Rossi
Last Updated: 2025-12-25
The Guy Who Lives Next Door
When sixteen-year-old Ruby Cole’s life gets uprooted from her sunny hometown to the loud streets of New York City, she expects the worst. New school, new rules, new people—total disaster.
But she didn’t expect him.
Kai Kingston.
Her next-door neighbor.
The loud, ridiculously handsome, rich boy who throws parties that last until 3 a.m.
The boy every girl wants…
…except Ruby.
Because Kai is rude. Arrogant. Annoying. A certified heartbreaker.
And after she accidentally embarrasses him on her first day of school, he decides to make her life miserable.
But the more they clash, the more Ruby realizes that Kai’s smirk hides loneliness…
And the more Kai pushes her away, the more he finds himself drawn to the one girl who refuses to worship him.
Enter:
A charming boy at school who actually treats Ruby right.
A jealous Kai who hates how much he cares.
Secrets, late-night rooftop confessions, family drama, heartbreak, and a love that neither of them expected.
Because sometimes the boy she swore she hate…
…is the one her heart can’t let go of.
Welcome to the loudest, sweetest, most confusing year of Ruby’s life. Read to find out what happens
Read
Chapter: Ch. 20 — The Kingston NameThe library was supposed to be neutral ground.That was what Ruby told herself as she slipped through the tall glass doors after school, backpack heavy on her shoulders, thoughts heavier still. Libraries didn’t take sides. Books didn’t whisper. Facts didn’t care who your parents were.She needed that illusion.“Group project,” Lila had announced earlier, dropping into the seat beside Ruby in history class. “Local power structures and modern influence. Partners assigned by last name.”Ruby hadn’t laughed at the irony. She’d barely heard the rest.Now she sat at a long wooden table beneath soft yellow lamps, the scent of paper and polish filling her lungs. Theo sat across from her, already pulling books from his bag.“You don’t have to stay,” Ruby said quietly.Theo looked up. “I want to.”She nodded, grateful and guilty all at once.They divided the work easily—too easily. Theo took notes with calm efficiency. Ruby opened her laptop, typed in the project keywords, and let the search re
Last Updated: 2025-12-27
Chapter: Ch. 19 — Rumors Have TeethRumors didn’t spread at St. Celeste High.They hunted.By Tuesday morning, Ruby could feel it before she saw it—the way people glanced at her, then quickly away, the way whispers followed half a step behind her down the hallway like something breathing at her back.She didn’t need to check the gossip app.She already knew.Theo walked beside her, hands tucked into his hoodie pockets, expression neutral in that careful way he wore when he was bracing for impact. His calm only made the knot in Ruby’s chest tighten harder.“They’re saying things,” she said quietly.“I know.”“About me.”“I know.”She stopped walking and faced him. “Why aren’t you mad?”Theo hesitated, then shrugged. “Because being mad won’t stop it.”“That’s not an answer.”“It’s the truth.”Ruby exhaled sharply through her nose and continued toward class, anger buzzing under her skin like static. She was mad—furious, actually—but beneath that was something worse.Humiliation.First period passed in a blur of half-heard
Last Updated: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Ch. 18 — Lines Are DrawnBy Monday morning, St. Celeste High had chosen sides.Ruby felt it the second she walked through the front gates—the way conversations dipped when she passed, the way eyes tracked her like she was a headline waiting to happen. The school had always been loud, but now it buzzed with something sharper. Suspicion. Curiosity. Loyalty.Team Kai didn’t wear jerseys or badges. They didn’t need to. They moved with confidence, laughter ringing too loud in hallways, shoulders brushing past people who didn’t matter. Teachers smiled at them longer. Doors opened quicker.The others—the curious outsiders—kept their heads down.Ruby tried to do the same.It didn’t work.First period was English. Ruby slid into her seat, heart thudding, and pulled out her notebook. When the bell rang, Mr. Halvorsen cleared his throat and announced a surprise quiz.Ruby blinked. Surprise quizzes weren’t in the syllabus.She answered carefully, confident enough. When papers were returned twenty minutes later, her stoma
Last Updated: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Ch. 17 — New Rivalry SparkThe shift was quiet.No shouting. No dramatic confrontation. No slammed lockers or raised fists.Just tension—thick, watchful, coiled.Ruby felt it the moment she stepped into school the next morning.Kai Kingston didn’t look at her.That was new.Usually, even when he pretended she didn’t exist, she could feel his awareness like a shadow following her through the halls. Today, his attention was elsewhere.On Theo.Kai leaned against the lockers with his friends, posture loose, expression bored. But his gaze tracked Theo’s movement with precision—measuring, calculating.Predatory.Ruby’s stomach tightened.Theo noticed too.He didn’t flinch. Didn’t slow. Just adjusted his backpack strap and kept walking, calm as ever.That scared her more than if he’d reacted.“Is it just me,” Lila whispered beside Ruby, “or does it feel like someone’s about to get murdered?”Ruby swallowed. “It’s not just you.”By second period, the air felt electric.Kai slid into his seat late, chair scraping loudl
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: Ch. 16 — Kai Sees Theo With RubyRuby felt Kai before he spoke.It was like a pressure shift in the air—subtle but undeniable. She turned slowly, already bracing herself.Kai stood a few feet away, hands shoved into his pockets, posture casual in the way that meant he was anything but. His gaze flicked once more down the hallway where Theo had disappeared, then settled back on her.“Didn’t take you long,” Kai said lightly.Ruby frowned. “For what?”“To replace me.”She stared at him. “You were never—”“Relax,” he cut in. “I’m kidding.”But his jaw was tight.And his eyes weren’t smiling.Ruby crossed her arms. “If you’re here to start something, don’t.”Kai tilted his head. “You’re walking around with Alvarez now?”She stiffened. “His name is Theo.”Kai’s mouth twitched. “I know.”That shouldn’t have bothered her.But it did.“So?” Ruby said. “Is that a problem?”Kai’s gaze dropped briefly to her shoes, then lifted again. “Just surprised.”“Why?”He shrugged. “Didn’t think you’d go for the quiet hero type.”“I’m not
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: Ch. 15 — Theo Helps HerRuby had never hated a seating chart more in her life. She sat stiffly at her desk, eyes glued to her notebook, pretending to copy notes while her brain replayed one sentence over and over: You’re paired with Kai Kingston. Behind her, she could feel him. Not his breath. Not his voice. Just the presence of him—too close, too aware, like static in the air. Every time he shifted in his seat, her shoulders tensed. Every time his pen tapped the desk, her jaw tightened. She refused to turn around. “Miss Hale.” Ruby flinched. “Yes?” she said quickly. “Are you following?” the teacher asked. “Yes,” she lied. A quiet chuckle came from behind her. Kai’s. She gripped her pen harder. The class dragged. Numbers blurred. Equations twisted into nonsense. She’d always been decent at this subject, but today her thoughts kept tripping over humiliation, rumors, and the echo of that lipstick message in the bathroom mirror. Princesses don’t survive here. When the bell finally rang, Ruby shov
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
LOGIN
