Short Stories & Novels

The night the Famiglia is attacked, Luca Gambino abandons me, who is severely wounded, and turns to protect another woman instead. "Wait here. Carmela was grazed by a stray bullet. I need to get her to safety first." I press the wound on my stomach, but the bleeding just won't stop. "But I was shot too!" Luca sighs and says, "Elena Pasquini, you are my fiancee. You need to think of the Famiglia as well. If the rest of the Famiglia learns that I abandoned my comrades in the middle of an attack just to save you, who else will still be willing to risk their lives for me next time?" With that, he escorts Carmela—who has only suffered from a tiny scratch—off to safety and disappears into the night. Just before my blood runs dry, I yank off the necklace symbolizing my Donna status from my neck and throw it into the pool of blood beneath me. I no longer want a man who will always only put Famiglia loyalty before me.

A week before our family wedding, my fiancé, Matteo, suddenly changed the location to a luxury yacht in Boca Raton. I only found out when the wedding coordinator called me. Over the video call, I heard Matteo's careless voice in the background: "It's just a wedding. It's the same anywhere. Don't bother asking Sienna. She does whatever I say." "Besides, Camilla always dreamed of a fairytale wedding at sea. I'm just making her dream come true. Sienna will understand." Just because his childhood friend, Camilla Moretti, said she liked ocean views, he ruined the wedding I spent months planning. And he didn't even bother to tell me. He knew damn well I nearly drowned as a kid. He knew deep water terrifies me to my very core. Matteo thought I was crazy in love with him. After all, I once took a bullet to the head for him, damaging my vision. He was dead sure I'd back down again and smooth things over with my family. He thought wrong. I'm done taking his garbage. I tore up the wedding contract and walked away without looking back. Screw this wedding. And screw him.