PROTECTED BY THE DEVIL
DIANA SANTORO:
Five years locked inside a convent.
Not because I was holy.
Because the family I was born into is dangerous.
My name is Diana Santoro. Mafia blood. And in this world, daughters like me get hidden away until the war is over.
Now my brother’s the Don. And he wants me back.
The man he sent to collect me? Rocco Moretti. The most feared monster in Italy. The devil of Cosa Nostra. They say he pulls confessions out of men with his bare hands—then sleeps like a baby afterward.
Three days on the road. Just us.
He’s expecting some scared little nun-in-training, ready to be escorted quietly back to my gilded cage.
He has no idea that the only innocent thing about me is this face.
****
ROCCO MORETTI:
Forty-seven men. That's how many I've killed. Tortured more than double that. Never lost a minute of sleep over any of them.
So why does this girl—with her innocent eyes and that smart mouth—make me feel like I'm losing my goddamn mind around every bend of this road?
Last night, at some roadside motel, she walked into my room. Ran her fingers over my tattoos, looked up at me with this smirk, and told me she wasn't wearing underwear.
What the hell does she want? To destroy me? To see how far she can push before I snap?
She's a virgin. Untouched. Off-limits.
The one thing a man like me can never have.
But when she looks at me like that—wearing that short dress, lips parted just enough—I forget who I am.
I forget I'm the monster.
And I start wanting, with everything in me, to be the one who ruins her.
Even if it costs me my life.
Even if it costs me everything.
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Chapter: 114. Blood of My BloodDIANAAlessandro's room smelled like antiseptic and blood. He lay in the bed, paler than I'd ever seen him, a bandage on his left shoulder, the rest of his body as still as a statue. His eyes, when they found mine, were the same: hard, cold, assessing."Diana.""Alessandro."I stopped in the doorway. He didn't smile. Of course not."You look like hell," he said."Why did you take that bullet? Why did you get in the middle of it?""It was stupid."He coughed. Grimaced."That bastard husband of yours still hasn't come to thank me.""He's taking care of your niece."Silence. Alessandro looked at the ceiling for a second. Then back at me."I'm not going to apologize.""I didn't ask you to.""I'm not going to sit here feeling regret. I am what I am.""I know what you are, Alessandro."He stared at me.Another silence. The heavy kind."You could have died," I said, my voice breaking at the end."But I didn't."He almost smiled. Almost. For Alessandro, an almost-smile was worth more than any
Last Updated: 2026-05-11
Chapter: 113. Even a Dozen Hail Marys Aren't EnoughDIANAThe clock on the hospital wall wouldn't stop ticking. Each second stretched into forever. I'd been sitting on that hard plastic chair for hours, and Rocco was beside me, our daughter in his arms, his dark eyes locked on me like I was the only thing in the world worth watching.Luna slept deeply. At two months old, the world hadn't managed to hurt her yet. I wanted it to stay that way forever."You're spiraling," Rocco said quietly."I'm not.""You are. I know that face."I ran my hand through my hair. A gesture he knew too well. The same one I'd used since I was a girl, when something was suffocating me and I couldn't—or wouldn't—put it into words.Because how was I supposed to say it out loud? How was I supposed to admit that after everything, I didn't want my brother to die?I didn't say anything. Just ran my hand through my hair again.Rocco sighed. His big, warm hand pressed gently against my back, a soothing touch. That touch had the power to dismantle any wall I tried to b
Last Updated: 2026-05-11
Chapter: 112. The Price of BloodROCCOThe hammer went up and down about fifty times before I finally got the fucking shingle in place. Sweat was dripping down my forehead, the back of my neck, my spine. My shirt was soaked, glued to my skin. The Hawaiian sun didn't give a damn about giving me a break."Rocco, be careful!" Diana's voice floated up from below, mixed with the sound of the crib rocking."I know what I'm doing.""You're going to fall!""I'm not gonna fall."Said that and almost slipped on the wet shingle. Grabbed the rafter hard, muttering to myself. Fuck. Ever since I'd taken over that house, the roof had been nothing but problems. A leak here, another one there. Diana had already threatened to call a professional, but I said no.Getting that last nail in was a relief. I settled myself on the roof, tossed the hammer aside, and lay down on my back. The sky was blue. That unreal kind of blue, like someone had Photoshopped it. The clouds drifted slow. The wind swayed the palm trees. Down below, Diana was h
Last Updated: 2026-05-04
Chapter: 111. A Shadow on the RoadROCCOLuna came home on a Tuesday.The sun was so bright it felt like someone had ordered it special. Diana walked out of the hospital with our daughter in her arms, her white dress swinging in the wind, and I just stood there, watching the two of them, thinking there was no more dangerous combination in the world.Three weeks later, the routine had turned into a well-oiled machine.Wake up. Feed. Change the diaper. Feed again. Change the diaper again. Repeat.I never imagined a seven-pound creature could produce that much shit.“We’re out.” Diana appeared in the kitchen holding an empty pack of diapers. Hair in a messy bun. Face bare. Still beautiful. “The last one.”“What do you mean, the last one? I bought twenty packs last week.”“Well, she used them all.”I looked at the crib in the corner of the living room. Luna was awake, her little green eyes open, tiny hands swatting at the air. She saw me looking and smiled—a gummy, drooly, completely stupid smile. My heart melted.“I’ll ru
Last Updated: 2026-05-01
Chapter: 110. The Heir of BloodDIANAAlessandro stood there, frozen in the middle of the room. Flawless black suit. Perfectly knotted gray tie. Like he’d just stepped out of a meeting in Milan, not a twelve-hour flight to Hawaii.Then he looked at my daughter.Quick. A second, maybe two. His eyes—usually cold as steel—softened. His jaw, always clenched, loosened. He blinked, processing what he was seeing.“It’s a girl,” he said. His voice was lower. More human.I didn’t answer. I pulled Luna tighter against my chest.“How dare you come here after everything you did to us?” I snarled.Alessandro didn’t move.“An informant told me you gave birth at this hospital.”“An informant?” I repeated, horror crawling up my spine.I looked at Rocco. His green eyes were narrowed, jaw locked. Even far from Italy. Even hidden on some lost island in the Pacific. My bastard brother still had reach here.“Leave,” I ordered. “Now.”“Diana—”“LEAVE!”My scream echoed through the room. Luna whimpered. Rocco put his hand on my back.“You
Last Updated: 2026-05-01
Chapter: 109. The Enemy and the White FlowersDIANAThe hospital light was too white.That was the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes.The second was the smell.That clean, terrifying scent of places where life and death dance hand in hand.The third was him.Rocco sat in a plastic chair beside my bed, his body slumped, head thrown back, mouth slightly open. He slept like someone who hadn't slept in days—heavy, deep, as if he'd collapsed right there. Dark circles stood out against pale skin. His stubble had grown wild and unchecked. One of his hands still held mine, even in sleep.I looked at that hand.Big fingers, calloused knuckles, tattoos crawling up his arms and disappearing under the sleeve of a rumpled gray shirt.I tried to sit up.My body screamed.A dull, throbbing pain spread through my abdomen like someone had shoved a hot iron inside me. My hand went to my stomach—empty. Flat. Different."Easy," Rocco's rough voice cut through the silence.He was already awake.Those green eyes—red, actually, from exhaustio
Last Updated: 2026-04-29
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