Blazing Stitches

Donna Sofia Marino's birthday is held on Valentine's Day. When Francesco Rossi, the Underboss of the Costa family, announces the news on behalf of Don Enzo Costa, everyone in the family is very happy. Well, everyone but me. As expected, Francesco is quick to add, "Someone needs to guard the headquarters. Camilla, you'll be the one in charge of this task." "What the Underboss means is that you don't really carry out any missions in your daily life. Besides, you have tons of spare time anyway. This time, you are to guard the headquarters so that you can deal with any emergencies that might arise." I just smirk sarcastically. The truth is, I'm always the one dealing with the most dangerous matters concerning the Costa family. The transactions of the firearms worth hundreds of millions of dollars are successfully carried out thanks to the plan I've spent countless sleepless nights perfecting. When a crossfire breaks out, I'm always on the frontlines, fighting for the family's glory despite getting injured. While I'm given the title as the executive director, I'm never given any actual power. In truth, my standing is lower than that of a soldato. I'm always the one carrying out the hardest, the most menial, not to mention the most dangerous tasks. But every time credit is given, it's never given to me. I've been enduring this injustice for five long years. This time, I no longer want to keep enduring anymore. With a smile on my face, I stand up from my seat. "Alright then, Underboss Rossi. I shall guard the headquarters. But this will be the last time I ever do this. After this task is completed, I will officially leave the Costa family once and for all."

I woke in the middle of the night to my Don husband murmuring in his sleep. “Juno, be good. Tomorrow I’ll buy you and Mamma a new house.” My eyes flew open. Juno? That was the name I’d always planned for a purebred Ceylon cat I dreamed of owning, but I’d never gotten one because of my pet fur allergy. And a new house? Could this just be a coincidence? I shook him lightly. “What did you just say?” He frowned and mumbled coarsely, “Had a nightmare. Dreamt of a shootout.” I didn’t press further. In the darkness, I reached for his phone and silently opened his messages.

Hanggang saan ka dadalhin ng mga pangarap mo sa buhay? Si Gianna Camia Lopez o kilala bilang si Mia ay isang 21 years old 3rd year college student na nakipagsapalaran sa syudad upang makapaghanap ng trabaho at mapaaral ang kanyang sarili. Sa kagustuhang maabot ang kanyang mga pangarap at matulungan ang kanyang pamilya sa parehas na pagkakataon, ay pinasok ni Mia ang ika nga nila'y butas ng karayom. Naging dancer ito ng isang sikat na club, Alhambra kung tawagin. At kung saan ay makikilala niya ang lalaking magpapabago sa buhay niya. Isang naiibang lalaki ang makakaagaw sa atensyon ng dilag. The search for that one man begins after that one night in Alhambra.

My Don husband, just to indulge his little mistress's fantasy of playing Don's wife, pretended to have lost his memory at sea and tried to push me out of the family. By chance, I overheard his mistress teasing him: "Can I borrow Don's wife for a few days? And… Can I borrow the Don too?" My husband, all smiles and indulgence, replied, "Of course. Both are yours for a few days." I froze for a moment, then turned away, pretending it did not bother me. The next day, at the family meeting, he announced that his mistress was then his wife, ordered me out of the family business, and demanded I hand over every ounce of authority I held. The elders all turned to me, silently hoping I would defy his ridiculous decree. I said nothing. I handed over the keys and authority without a word. However, he did not know that our next arms deal was just nine days away, and the other party was Amestia's most powerful mafia, the Romano family. They dealt with no one but me.

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

The new Consigliere wanted to restructure the Mafia family’s affairs by sinking her claws into me. My boyfriend, who was a Mafia Don and wildly in love with me, wanted to get revenge on her for me. He planned to raise her status to the skies and make her suffer a horrific downfall when the right time came. He kicked me out of the family and gave all my responsibilities to the new Consigliere. She received luxury cars and jewelry from him as gifts, but he told me to tolerate it as part of the plot. When my younger brother's kidneys started to fail, I begged my Don boyfriend for the surgery fees, which he agreed to give me. On the day of the surgery, I waited from daylight to daybreak for the money, but nothing came. That was when I saw an Instagram post from the new Consigliere, taunting me. "My family's Don is such a wonderful man. Someone who was kicked out of the family was brazen enough to ask him for money. What if she can't repay us? I had to stop the money transfer. I hope this woman will find a better excuse the next time she tries to scam him." The mess ended with my brother dying. My Don boyfriend called me later in an attempt to cajole me. "Don't be mad. Joey can have his surgery later. I'm just tolerating Rosetta to encourage her to become full of herself. The higher she climbs, the harder she'll fall. Don't worry! Her birthday will be in a few days. I'll humiliate her, then make her lose everything. We'll have our wedding after that. That will cheer Joey up!" However, I knew that his so-called plot was the start of him falling in love with another woman. That was when I no longer wanted him.

Madeleine Júlia Cordeiro lives in a quiet, plant-filled apartment in the rougher part of Chicago. She’s twenty-one, broke, vegan, and studying animal science at the local community college. She cries over rescue dogs, talks to her plants like they’re her best friends, and thinks violence is something that only happens in action movies. Her life is calm, predictable, and painfully ordinary. Until he bleeds all over her floor. Adriano Capone is violence in human form—shot, hunted, and very much the kind of man her sweet little heart should run from. He’s everything she hates: violent, dangerous, cruel in the way only a mafia prince can be. He’s everything she’s sworn to avoid but he's hurt and Maddie has a soft spot for lost things. So, she stitches him up. And he stitches himself into her life. He's the devil incarnate. She's never even slapped someone. But fate doesn't care about perfect matches... It threw fire into the hands of a flower girl.

"A Prince and a Peasant sitting in a tree K I S S I N G ." - unknown. "It's all false." The Prince stared straight into his father's eyes. "I have never laid my eyes on this girl in my entire existence, father." Prince added. "Very well." The King said thoughtfully. "Young lady you have to be punished for having spread falsehood on my son's name but I do sympathize with you considering you are with child." All the people of Acamas had been watching, as this had been done in public appearance. Everyone was in stitches of laughter after the Prince had denied the allegations but even more people who knew Lucia knew that she wasn't one to lie, cheat or even lay with a man before marriage. Lucia knew right there and there that her life was doomed and above all she was a fool. fool. doomed. que sera sera.

Farrah Vale doesn’t believe in curses. She’s a logical person, a medical student who stitches people up, not someone who prays to statues. So when she finds her name scribbled in blood beneath the Weeping Statue of the old campus, she laughs it off… until she dies in a car crash that same night. Except she wakes up on a train with six other passengers... Then, sitting across from her is a man she knows, Shane Calder, the ex who broke her heart a few weeks ago. But before she could process the situation, she heard a voice... [ Welcome, Cursed Ones.You have been chosen to play the Trial of Seven Sins. ] [ Survive all seven worlds, and your curse will be lifted. Fail, and your soul will burn forever. ]

Kasumi Azai finds herself at the center of a delicate negotiation to end the longstanding feud between the Red Sun and Blazing Winter packs. Against her wishes, her uncle pressures her into a marriage with Severin de Rosa, son of the Blazing Winter pack's Alpha. But Kasumi's plans are thrown into disarray when she discovers that her Alpha mate, Thaddeus de Rosa, is in fact the Alpha of the Blazing Winter pack and secretly desires her. To further complicate matters, Thaddeus's twin brother, Theodore de Rosa, also claims Kasumi as his mate. And just when she thought things couldn't get any more complicated, Kasumi finds herself attracting the attention of their uncle, Cretheus de Rosa, who could jeopardize her relationships with the twin brothers and her husband. Caught in a tangled web of desire and duty, Kasumi must navigate a precarious path to keep the peace between the packs. How can she avoid conflict when everyone but her Alpha mate's son has designs on her? And how can she prevent the Alpha mate's son from becoming the catalyst for an all-out war between their respective packs? ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵ Moon Goddess' Daughters series: Kiena, the Goddess of Gallant and Retribution