Way Out: Owned by the Mafia Boss
Ethan Cross, an FBI agent, has been pursuing Dante Valensi, one of the nation's most influential and untouchable crime lords, for years. Dante has created an empire that law enforcement has never been able to destroy. He is cunning, ruthless, and feared by all. Ethan, however, is unique. He has been assigned the task of entering Dante's world as Luca Romano, moving up the ranks, and destroying him from within.
It is almost impossible to get close to Dante. He doesn’t trust anyone and doesn’t allow anyone to be close to him, especially not romantically. However, in the role of Luca, Ethan excels at the game, gains Dante’s confidence, and becomes his right-hand man. He gets closer to his objective with each step. It becomes more difficult to keep in mind that this is only a mission every moment spent with Dante.
Then everything changes one night.
An overly persistent touch. The look says too much. A weakness that neither of them can undo. What little and dishonesty develops into something harmful that is unavoidable.
It’s just part of the job, Ethan tells himself. Dante is an evil creature. that the worst thing he could ever do is fall in love with him. What occurs, though, when the lie begins to seem more plausible than reality?
Ethan has to decide whether to finish his mission and bring down the man he was sent to destroy or to give in to the one person he was never supposed to love as secrets come to light, treachery looms, and blood is shed.
Because there is only one way in with Dante Valenci. And no escape route.
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Chapter: Ashes of Trust(Dante’s POV)I knew Luca had lied the moment he walked into the penthouse.He tried to stand tall, jaw set, his eyes too sharp, too alive for a man who had just run through the city with Santoro’s hounds at his heels. But his hands betrayed him. They shook—not violently, not like a man gripped by panic, but with the subtle tremor of someone who had carried too much, too fast, too far.The blood on his shirt was not his. I could smell it before I saw it. The copper tang carried across the room like incense in a cathedral, announcing sin before confession.“You’re late,” I said. My tone was even, the kind of cold that makes men forget if you’re human at all.Luca—Ethan, though he had buried that name so deep even I almost forgot it—dropped the duffel on the floor. His voice was sandpaper. “We got her out.”He didn’t need to name Mira. I saw her in the shadow behind his words. Safe, somewhere beyond my reach, beyond Santoro’s claws—for now. A victory, but a hollow one.“What else?” I as
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Chapter: The Courier’s Wake (Luca’s POV)My throat went dry. I had a thousand contingency plans, but none for the cold knowledge that Santoro’s men had been closer than we’d thought. I picked up my burner and sent the abort tone: a single chime that was enough. Marcus’s phone should get it and act. Silence was a razor. I waited.The Civic’s driver wore a face I’d seen before in close-ups: a Santoro motor, with the impatient look of men who’d been paid to make a life end. He tilted his head like a vulture smelling carrion.Marcus’s reply came bright as a flare: Civic tailing. Detour now. The van idled and turned; the courier, caught mid-exchange, cursed under his breath and kept moving. I watched the sedan close the gap, and the hairs at my neck bristled.The world contracted. The courier’s passenger door clicked open a second too long when he hesitated, and a man jumped out from nowhere—too trained, too clean. The courier turned; a scuffle. The Civic’s driver moved forward like a man about to harvest. I could se
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Chapter: The Drop(Luca’s POV)Night smells different when you’re about to do something that matters. It’s sharper, full of oil and hot concrete, the scent of engines idling and neon overheating. The laundromat at the corner smelled like bleach and old coins and the faint perfume of someone’s life that keeps spinning. I waited in the shadow of the awning, the bandage at my side riding tight beneath my jacket, a reminder that every breath could be the last I had taken yesterday.Marcus arrived like a man who had practiced slinking for decades: no flourish, no adrenaline, just the quiet competence of someone who’d been asked to do a favor and knew better than to ask why. He was older than me, hands weathered, eyes the color of spare change. He folded into the slot behind the van’s wheel without fuss. Two men in the passenger seats watched the street like hawks.“You sure about the time?” Marcus asked. His voice was low, a rasp as seasoned as the upholstery. He had a face that kept secrets because the sec
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Chapter: An Offer of Inclusion(Dante’s POV)I considered the cost: the men will mobilize, there will be eyes on the road, Santoro will learn that someone has a whisper of our movement and he will react. But Marcus was clean, old-world enough to move ghosts and quiet enough to make parts of the city disappear for a night. He had a reputation for being practical, like a man who traded lives, not drama. If Luca wanted Mira moved, we’d move her. That meant dredging Santoro’s network and flushing rats. It meant a game of knives in the dark and the possibility that a man I had been building something with would walk away before I could say I wanted him.I made a choice I had long forbidden myself. “Yes,” I said. “Tonight.”Relief cracked his face in a dangerous, childlike way. He wanted to smile and almost did. “Thank you.”“Don’t thank me yet,” I warned. “You will owe me an explanation you cannot sing into a lullaby. You will owe me steps and names and a cut of your pride. You will owe me something that keeps me from b
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Chapter: Start Telling Me (Dante’s POV)“Who is this for?” I asked.He swallowed. “Marcus. He watches out for me. He’ll… he’ll move her if I say the word. If I can’t get out clean, he’ll take her.” The words came out fracturing, each one a shard.Marcus. Marcus had no patience for drama and even less fondness for men who played with lives. I knew the man; he’d once taken a bullet for a bartender who’d given him a sandwich and a grin. Marcus moved like an honest clock — slow hands, steady tick. If Luca had breathed that name into a strip of paper, he had chosen the right kind of ally for extraction.But use and trust are not the same. I studied the folded square the way a man might stare at a jagged blade and measure whether it could cut his palm. “You passed my men already?”“No,” he said quickly. “I—no. I hid it before they came. I was going to send it out tonight.” His mouth dried. “I thought to wait for dark but—”“But you came here instead,” I finished. The arc was small and neatly self-inflicted. “You tho
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Chapter: The Measure of a Man(Dante’s POV)There are measurements you learn to make by muscle memory—distance to the next cover, how long a pistol’s cartridge will burn, the time it takes for a man to draw a knife and regret it. There are other measurements a lifetime in this city teaches you more slowly: the angle of a guilt-hardened lie, the pause between someone’s words and what they mean, the weight of a promise when it’s dressed in fear.This morning my measure was simple: Luca moved like a man with an agenda, and agendas do not come free.He’d been quiet all night, sleeping in the north wing while I ordered the city’s perimeters tightened to a whisper. My men swept the avenues where Matteo’s people liked to breathe; my eyes were on the cameras and the ledger. I expected him to wake and find me ready with a schedule, a list of rules framed in threats and mercy. Expectations are tools, not prisons, and mine are always sharp.Instead, he surprised me. Not because he tried something dramatic—he was smarter than
Last Updated: 2025-09-20
Behind the Spotlight
Ethan Blake and Julian Cross are Hollywood’s favorite rivals—two A-list actors whose off-screen feud is as legendary as their on-screen performances. For years, the media has played up their animosity, feeding into the narrative of two stars who can’t stand each other. And Ethan is fine with that. Julian is arrogant, reckless, and far too good at getting under his skin.
But when they are cast as romantic leads in a high-profile LGBTQ+ blockbuster, everything changes. Forced into close proximity, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. Heated arguments behind the scenes turn into charged moments neither of them can ignore. A single off-script kiss during filming shatters their carefully constructed walls, sending both their careers—and emotions—into uncharted territory.
The media explodes with speculation. Rumors spread like wildfire, and their public feud only adds fuel to the fire. A PR crisis forces them into damage control, but every interview, every staged moment, only makes it harder to deny the truth simmering beneath the surface.
As industry backlash looms and personal stakes grow higher, Ethan finds himself at a crossroads. He has spent years playing it safe, hiding behind his carefully curated image. But Julian refuses to be another script he follows. He wants something real.
In an industry built on illusion, can two men who were never meant to fall for each other survive the spotlight’s harsh glare? Or will fear and fame tear them apart before they even have a chance?
Enemies on screen. Lovers behind the scenes. But can they survive the ultimate Hollywood scandal?
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Chapter: A Role I Never Auditioned ForEthan’s POVHe used to dream of this.The flashing cameras. The spotlight. The world knowing his name and—maybe more importantly—respecting his work.But now, as Ethan stood backstage at the Dolby Theater, collar tight against his throat, nerves pulsing behind his ribs, all he could think was: What if it costs me everything else?Julian was still in the green room, talking to their agent. Calm. Collected. So effortlessly composed it sometimes ached to watch him. And Ethan loved him for that composure—but tonight, it felt like a wall between them.They were being honored as a creative duo. Glass Mercy was up for multiple awards. Their recent joint interview had gone viral for being “candid,” “brave,” “romantic.” And now, their agents were quietly fighting over their future: Who gets to direct what next. Who headlines. Who gets first billing.Not “Ethan and Julian.”Just Ethan. Or Julian.Alone.The applause thundered like static in his ears when their names were called.Julian took his
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
Chapter: What It Means to StayJulian’s POVThe apartment felt different now.Not emptier. Not heavier.Just… quieter. Like something had shifted between the floorboards and breath, and even the walls were holding still, afraid to disrupt the fragile balance Julian and Ethan were trying to find again.Julian sat on the floor, his back against the cold kitchen cabinet. A cup of tea—lukewarm and untouched—rested beside him. He was still in last night’s shirt, sleeves rolled, collar open, like time had slowed but never stopped.He wasn’t avoiding Ethan.But he wasn’t rushing back, either.Because this—this kind of love—didn’t move on declarations or drama. It moved on the cracks. The spaces in between. The willingness to stay when every instinct said to run.Two days had passed since the confrontation.Since Ethan had looked at him like he wasn’t just a man falling apart—but one worth catching anyway.Julian had replayed every word. Every hesitation. Every quiet truth they hadn’t said until they had no choice.He’d sp
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
Chapter: The Silence Between UsJulian’s POVIt started with the coffee.Ethan always made the coffee. Two mugs. One splash of oat milk, one black. Quiet domesticity, the kind Julian had never known before him.But that morning, Julian woke to an empty kitchen. No Ethan. No coffee.Just a silence that rang louder than any argument ever could.At first, he told himself it was nothing. Maybe Ethan had gone for a walk. Maybe he was on a call. But the doubt was already there, coiling.Had something shifted?Julian told himself it was just residual tension from the visit. Caleb showing up had dredged up everything Ethan had buried. But it wasn’t just about Caleb.It was about the way Ethan had looked at him afterward. Like he was grateful. Like Julian had saved him again.And that was the problem.Julian didn’t want to be the savior anymore.He wanted to be… chosen.They didn’t talk about it that night. Or the next.Ethan was soft with him. Attentive. But careful, too.Julian started noticing the hesitations—Ethan glanci
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
Chapter: Ghost in the DoorwayJulian’s POVJulian was learning to let Ethan carry parts of him.To lean, to speak first, to say I need you out loud.It wasn’t easy. Not for someone who’d always been the calm one. The shield.But after Ethan shared his story—the quiet horror of being shaped by someone who called it love—Julian had held that pain like something sacred.They’d crossed into a new kind of closeness.Not just lovers. Not just co-creators.Something messier. Braver.So when the doorbell rang that Sunday afternoon, Julian opened it without thinking.And the ghost was standing there.A man. Early thirties. Expensive jacket. That kind of smile that knew it could cut.“Ethan home?” he asked, like he had every right to be.Julian blinked. “I’m sorry. Who—?”The man tilted his head. “Tell him it’s Caleb.”Julian froze.Caleb.The name Ethan never said—but the one Julian had tucked away in the back of his mind. The man who taught Ethan to mistrust softness. The one who made pain look like passion.Julian’s voic
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
Chapter: A Room I Never Let You IntoEthan’s POVThere were memories I’d sealed in a box a long time ago.Not because I’d forgotten.But because I thought I had to—if I wanted to be loved.If I wanted to keep moving.Julian once told me that healing wasn’t about forgetting.It was about learning to live alongside the ache.Tonight, I was ready to try.We were curled up on the rug in the living room, the lights low, a vinyl humming in the background. It was one of those rare nights when nothing urgent pressed in—no interviews, no questions, no headlines.Just us.Julian had made tea—green for me, chamomile for him. He loved rituals like that. Quiet little ways of saying “I see you” without the weight of language.He was sketching idly in a notebook with his bare feet stretched across my lap. I watched the way his fingers moved, confident and clean, as if drawing helped him organize the chaos he didn’t speak aloud.And I realized: this was the safest I’d ever felt.Which made the confession all the more terrifying.“I want
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
Chapter: Something Soft to Fall IntoEthan’s POVThere were nights when the silence between us said more than any argument could.Tonight, it wasn’t sharp or hostile. It was soft. Cautious. Like both of us were afraid to speak first in case the words cracked something we’d only just started rebuilding.Julian had fallen asleep on the far edge of the couch. Not distant—just exhausted. His body curled in on itself, one arm tucked beneath the throw pillow like it could hold him together.And I sat there, watching him. Feeling both heavy with love and light with fear.Because he was finally letting me in.And I didn’t know how to carry that without breaking myself.A year ago, Julian had been the one holding me through every tremor, every night terror, every panic attack masked as a migraine. He didn’t flinch when I flinched. He didn’t leave when I needed space. He didn’t stop showing up even when I asked him to.And now that he was unraveling—even just a little—it terrified me how instinctively I wanted to fix it.As if I c
Last Updated: 2025-06-06
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