My Father, Marconi

I had two fathers. One was Vincenzo, who was gentle and cultured. The other was Matteo, who was called "Il Diavolo Sanguinario", meaning the bloodthirsty devil, by everyone. Both were men my grandfather, Don Rossi, had chosen for my mother, Sofia. In my last life, my mother had chosen Vincenzo, thinking he was the man she could trust for the rest of her life. But after a woman called Carla came between them, he grew colder toward my mother and me. He took Carla's side and became convinced that my mother had drugged him on purpose and slept with other men. In his eyes, I was a bastard whose father was unknown. After my grandpa passed away, Carla framed my mother repeatedly. Vincenzo would let her get away with it every time. He had even forced my mother to apologize and locked us in the basement, to the point of starving to death in the end! When I opened my eyes again, I was back at my fifth birthday party. My grandpa was still gravely ill, and he was urging my mother to make a choice. "Sofia, whoever you choose will inherit everything in the Rossi family and protect you and Lia in my place." Mom held me in her arms, hesitant to make a decision. I pointed at the man everyone called the Diavolo Sanguinario. "Pick him! Only he can protect us!"

He’s my father’s sworn enemy–and the most dangerous man I’ve ever wanted…………. Marcelo Sanchez is young, unprepared, and still nursing a broken heart. When his father sends him to negotiate with Vincenzo Casano, a ruthless mafia boss and lifelong rival, he expects hostility, not temptation. Vincenzo should see Marcelo as nothing more than a pawn. Instead, he sees a challenge… and a desire he can’t ignore. What begins as a tense business meeting spirals into a dangerous game of power, passion, and the one thing neither man ever expected.

After a bitter falling out with her mother, Mavi decides to leave her past behind and seek a connection with a father she barely knows. In a quiet and reserved town, she tries to rebuild her life, facing not only the wounds of her mother’s rejection, but also the watchful eyes of a new reality. What Mavi didn’t expect was that a chance encounter with a stranger would awaken a desire that would consume her — and, even more shocking, this man turns out to be Alexandre Xavier, the most respected surgeon in the region and her father’s best friend. Amidst unexpected encounters, heavy glances and conversations interrupted by tense silences, an undeniable attraction begins to take root — an attraction that neither of them can deny. Alexandre, always the calm and disciplined professional, finds himself undone under the weight of emotions he has never allowed himself to feel, leading him to question everything he knew about loyalty, love and desire. My Father’s Best Friend is My Love is a story of forbidden attraction, challenging boundaries and a love that defies reason. How far can you go for a love that is born from the impossible?

Ever since my husband, the mafia capo Rocco Marchetti, poured all his attention and the family's resources into his brother's widow, the woman whose husband took a bullet for him. I found our daughter Tessy's diary, where she had started writing, "My Papa is gone." A nun from her private Catholic school called, asking about his passing. I paused for a moment. "Yes," I replied. "He passed away a long time ago." On Father's Day, the school organized a trip to the church to light prayer candles. While other children wrote cards praying for their fathers' safety, Tessy neatly wrote just two words on hers: "To Heaven." During the parent-teacher open house, the nuns displayed the children's decorated diaries on their desks. The theme for their entries was My Father. My Papa died in a shootout in the next neighborhood over. A lady there wouldn't stop crying, and then Papa never came home. After every entry like this, she would clutch the crucifix on her necklace, her small hand gripping it so tightly her palm grew slick with sweat. Eventually, Rocco sensed the growing chill at home. He dropped everything and rushed back to the estate with a bouquet of expensive red roses, hoping to celebrate his daughter's birthday with her. The door opened. On the coffee table lay Tessy's new diary, its title scrawled in a childish hand: If Papa Were Still Alive.

Nico Romano told me he had no choice. After his brother Enzo died, the Varrone family needed a new Don—and Enzo’s widow, Serena, needed a child to secure the bloodline. So Nico went to her bed again and again. Every time he came back to me, he carried her perfume on his skin and the same gentle lie in his mouth. “Just wait a little longer, Valentina. Once Serena gives birth to the heir, I’ll give you and Luca everything you deserve.” So I waited. For six months, I watched the man I loved become another woman’s husband in every way that mattered. I watched my son fall asleep by the window, waiting for a father who always promised to come home and always found a reason not to. Then Serena was declared pregnant. The entire Varrone family celebrated as if a miracle had happened. Nico’s mother announced that Serena’s child would be the rightful heir, while my son would be introduced to the world as an orphan Nico had taken in. “No one can know the Don has an illegitimate child with a nobody,” she said. My son’s little hand trembled in mine. “Mommy,” Luca whispered, looking at Nico, “am I not Papa’s child?” Nico heard him. He saw the tears in his son’s eyes. But Serena held his arm, and Nico said nothing. That was the moment I stopped waiting. I took off the ring Nico had given me seven years ago and placed it in Serena’s hand. “Congratulations,” I said. “You belong in this family far more than I ever did.” Then I took my son—and the child Nico did not yet know I carried—and walked out of the Varrone mansion for the last time. They all thought I was a nameless woman with nowhere to go. They didn’t know my father was the most feared man in Italy’s underworld. And I was his only heir.

I was just 7 years old when my dad abandoned my mother and I. After a few months my mother was killed and I was taken to an orphanage. One year later I was adopted by a mafia boss. He gave me the fatherly love I never experienced but his life was cut short to and I was crowned the heir to the Mafia empire. Now I will avenge my loved one's death...But an unexpected feeling sets in...