Luciano: Lovers-to-Enemies-to-Lovers Mafia Romance

Luciano pulled me closer to him and all thoughts of my family evaporated. Bending his head, heshowered kisses against my neck, whispering the naughty things we would do the moment we got back home. Shivers of delight ran through my spine and desire pooled between my thighs. My body burned with an inferno only he knew how to set off. He knew it would be on my mind throughout dinner. We hadn't even gotten to the restaurant, and I was ready to go back home.We were on our way to Maurizio’s. It has become our default restaurant date. There was nervous energy pumping through my veins. Everything between us had happened so fast, and truthfully, our whole marriage started as leverage against my family. I had been his willing victim, seeing a way out for me and my best friend. Yes, he forced me down the aisle, but I wasn’t blind to the benefits in taking that walk. Protection from my uncle and grandmother.And somehow, we ended up here. We never talked about the future or our plans. Hopefull

GRACEI stared at the computer screen, smiling. It wasn’t the first time he had written me an email asking me to join his team. I assumed it was a man since all his transaction codes came from profiler Ruthless King.To: The GhostFrom: Ruthless KingYou should take me up on my offer. There are benefits to being on my payroll. KI chuckled as I typed my reply.To: Ruthless KingFrom: The GhostNo, thank you. I like being my own boss. I expect my fee to be transferred within 24 hours.Yes, I’m being generous giving you longer than anyone else.P.S. I’m off to the beach. Don’t even think about bothering me for the rest of the day. P.P.S. See, the perks of being my own boss. :-) I pressed the send button and smiled. It was sad that most of my social life consisted oftalking to my two-year-old son, my best friend, and email correspondence with Ruthless King. That name should have caused me fear, but I found that after what Gabriella and I survived over the

“On the grounds of her being deceased. He claims he has evidence of his niece’s death.”The phone line went quiet and the silence stretched between us. I didn’t expect that response. I refused to believe the possibility of Alphonso speaking the truth. That motherfucker was born with a lie on his lips. Deadly anger simmered through my veins; the hate I felt even deadlier.“You there, Luciano?”“Yes,” I responded. “Thanks for heads up. Tell that hooker to keep you busy so you are not calling me in the early morning hours. Later.”I hung up. There was nothing more to say. I locked eyes on my form in the mirror in my large bathroom. She loved this fucking bathroom, would spend hours soaking in the tub while reading or working on her assignments.My phone flew through the air, crashing against the mirror, shattering it into a million pieces. The sound echoed against the tile in the bathroom but the hollow silence still remained. I stood in the middle of the mess I just created and all I co

lucianowe sat around the conference room, in the Vitale skyrise building, the entire Manhattan view stretching on the west wall. The meeting was with the top members of the Columbian crime organization. There were only two of them along with Cassio andmyself. We had to keep it low and under the radar. I sent everyone home and ensured there was nobody around to bear witness to this. Luca had ensured that; there was nobody better than him at ensuring people were invisible and things remained unseen. It was Luca’s forté.Just like guns were Alessio’s forté, laundering money was mine, and drugs were Cassio’s and Nico’s. Raphael Santos did a bit of everything but human trafficking was a leftover legacy of his father’s that he was working on wiping out. We all did a few other things on the side and had legitimate fronts, usually in the form of casinos, but if I needed a drug shipment, usually I went to Cassio and Nico. For guns, it was always Alessio. Anyone that needed money cleaned, they

To: The GhostFrom: Ruthless KingGood answer. I’d like to book the next six months of your exclusive services. Max three times per month, as initially agreed. Monthly retention two hundred thousand. The percentage f*e per transaction remains the same. You accommodate nobody else.K So he was testing me! I didn’t like it; it felt manipulative. I was done being manipulated.But could we afford to refuse his business? No, we couldn’t. Instead of replying, I closed the email and stared at the blank G****e Search page. I was so tempted to use it. All I had to do was type in my family’s name or my husband’s name, and I knew there would be information flowing through the web browser. I had so many questions, but I knew they wouldn’t bring me any good answers. Nor any peace.Curiosity killed the cat, Grace. I needed to remember that.“What are you doing sitting in the dark, staring at your laptop?” Ella’s voice startled me, and I almost dropped my laptop.“Damn it. You scared the crap out of