Devil You Hate: A Dark Mafia Romance

CELIAMarriage. A legal bond of love and the union of two people becoming one. For many women, it’s the greatest moment of their lives. It’s something they’vedreamt about; the beautiful dress, the gorgeous venue, and a handsome prince charming who would swoop in and sweep them off their feet.When I was a little girl, I had those same dreams. I thought I would marry for love. That my future husband would be my fierce protector, my knight in shining armor. It’s too bad that was all a lie.As soon as I was old enough to realize that my life was never really mine, I let the idea of marrying for love go and accepted reality. Which leads me to my current predicament.I have to marry this stupid man. It’s the only thing that echoes in my head as my fiancé sits beside me in my family’s dining room at dinner. Like always, no one speaks. The only sounds are the scraping of forks across porcelain and the occasional tinkle of ice when my mother lifts and lowers her whiskey glass. Her third sinc

Marco leaves a few moments later, and I shut the door behind him, nearly sagging against it. I take a couple of deep breaths and gather my wits. I’ll allow myself this one reprieve before I’m forced to mask my pain and put on a smile.I suck one last calming breath into my lungs as I scrub a hand down my face and lift my chin. I might be drowning, but as long as a part of my head is still above water, I’ll continue on. I tiptoe past the dining room, hoping to escape without further notice. As soon as I reach the stairs, I race up them, stripping out of the itchy dress as I go. By the time I reach my bedroom door, the dress is off. I leave it in a heap near the door and slam the heavy wood behind me.There, if one of them wants to come speak to me after that, at least they know what they are in for. The heels that I hate just as much as the dress fly across the room in opposite directions as I kick them off. Each of my toes ache, so I sit on the edge of the bed in nothing but my underw

We ride through the city, and the closer to my destination we get, the higher the buzz under my skin climbs.Today begins the end of it all.Soo glances at me, his hands clenched so tight around the steering wheel his knuckles are white. “Are you ready for this?”Of all the people in my life, only he and my brother could question me without earning a bullet to the temple.“Do I not look ready?” I counter, staring straight out the windshield.The familiar upscale neighborhood is where one of the worst crime families in the world hides out. They pretend to stay beneath the radar, but everyone knows the darkness that circles them. There is no hiding evil. It’s best to wear it like a badge of honor.Soo doesn’t comment on what I look like, so we lapse into silence. The side-gate for a large mansion stretches out in front of us. Two figures dressed in black, one carrying a small form over their shoulder, rush down the driveway. The prospect of getting revenge gives me an all-new excitement

She stares at me wide-eyed, her breaths heavy out of her nose. When she nods, I stand again and leave before I do something drastic, like drag her over my lap, fuck her into oblivion, and ruin my investment.Because men are going to line up for a taste of her body.Until someone pays for the privilege, she’s mine alone.3CeliaThe man’s gun is bigger than my face. I don’t know why it’s the only thought that stuck in my head while he towered over me, covered in someone’s blood. No, I do know. It’s my brain trying to disassociate, to give itself a hold in reality, so I don’t fucking lose it.Lose it like I am right now.My hands are shaking as I stare down at them. Shock is setting in, and while my years of home-study psychology should help me, a trauma response isn’t necessarily controllable.I let the images wash through me. The tattoos under the thick layer of blood up his arms. The rich material of his blood-splattered dress shirt. The flint blue of his eyes, again broken only by

It takes so long for him to answer that I figure he’ll simply ignore me, but then he clears his throat, and words tumble out his smug mouth.“Everything. I want everything from you. And when I take it all, every single bit of you, I’ll get my revenge on every member of your weaselly family.”Revenge? On my family?It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that this man wants revenge. My father is not known for kindness or charm. If only the bastard in front of me knew how little my family gave a shit about me. They’ve only ever cared for the connection I can make when I leverage my vagina into marriage. I wonder if my father ever cared about me at all.Maybe when I was a child. I have a few lovely memories of my father bouncing me on his knees, or maybe that’s just my mind making up stuff that never happened? All my vivid memories are of my parents acting like strangers toward each other.I don’t offer this information up to him since I doubt he cares.A chill settles over me, and I clutch