Donna Beneviento

My boyfriend, Jules Gray, was the most ruthless young Don of his family, while I was the best mercenary who had once struck fear into the hearts of the underworld. He said he liked gentle women, so I laid down my weapons for love. We were at war. To settle it, he broke my hand and sent me to the Grays' rival family as a 'sacrifice'. "Skylar Shaw, it's your honor to die for the Gray family." Three years later, I returned as the Donna, took over his territory, and blew up his arms ships. When he knelt before me, begging for mercy out of our past ties, I grabbed his neck with my mechanical right hand and fired the gun without hesitation. "Survival rule number one—the loser dies!"

The day the Thorne family announced our engagement, the New York underworld let out a collective sigh of relief. Because I was set to marry Daemon, the most straitlaced Don in the city, which meant I could no longer be the wild rose who tore up the racetrack. But I resisted with every fiber of my being, finding creative ways to test his limits. During his ten-million-dollar card game with a rival family's Capo, my hand "slipped" and sent a bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti spilling across the ancient map that outlined their territories, sabotaging the entire negotiation. Daemon, however, just slowly and deliberately wiped the wine from the back of his hand. He didn't even frown as he cleaned up my mess. Then I "accidentally" let my spirited Arabian stallion loose in his immaculately manicured courtyard. The beast went wild, trampling his prize-winning rose garden into mud. But he arrived with his private doctor in tow, crouching before me as his long fingers gently traced the scratch on my arm. "Did the beast hurt you?" Just that one question, and my heart melted completely. "Daemon, I can marry you. But before that, has there ever been another woman who owned your heart?" "I don't share my man. Not in any way." He pointed to his heart, his gaze unwavering as he met my eyes. "Before you, this was empty." After we married, the word on the street in New York's circles of power was this: If you angered Don Thorne, his Donna might plead your case. But if you angered the Donna, you were on your own. Even I began to believe that Daemon, that mountain of ice, would eventually melt for me. Until the day I went to find him, clutching a positive pregnancy test, bursting with joy. Only to hear the family's Consigliere ask him, from the top-floor study, what the best lie he'd ever told was. Daemon chuckled and said casually, "She asked me if anyone had my heart before her." "I told her no."

Dr. Elena Russo’s life shatters when her father is assassinated and she discovers he was a mafia Don. As the last Russo heir, she must claim her father’s throne or watch three hundred people die. But the Five Families won’t accept an inexperienced woman, and they’re already attacking. Damien Cross, a ruthless rival underboss, offers a deal: marry him in a contract alliance and merge their territories, or lose everything. With enemies closing in and forty-eight hours to decide, Elena signs her life away to a dangerous stranger. Their marriage is warfare. Every negotiation tests loyalty, every touch sparks unwanted desire. As Elena transforms from doctor to Donna, learning to kill alongside Damien, the hatred between them ignites into something far more dangerous. In the mafia, love is the deadliest weapon, and trust might get them both killed. Tags: Mafia, CEO, Dominant, Contract Marriage, Betrayal, Hate to Love

Llevaba tres años casada con Alexander. Todo el mundo le temía por su crueldad, pero conmigo siempre había sido muy tierno. Sin embargo, todo cambió hace seis meses, cuando Elena recibió un balazo por él durante una balacera. Alexander siempre decía que ella fue herida por salvarle la vida, así que yo tenía que ser comprensiva. En la gala más prestigiosa de la familia, mi esposo, el Don, Alexander, llegó del brazo de su asistente, Elena. Llevaba prendido al pecho el broche de rubí que simbolizaba la posición de la Donna de la familia. —Elena recibió un balazo por mí. Le gustó el broche, así que se lo presté por un tiempo. De todas formas, tú eres la única Donna aquí. Trata de tener algo de clase. No discutí con él. Me quité el anillo de bodas y saqué los papeles de divorcio. —Si tanto le gusta, que se lo quede. Incluyendo este lugar junto a ti. También renuncio a eso. Alexander firmó sin dudarlo, con una sonrisa arrogante. —¿Qué clase de jueguito manipulador estás inventando ahora? No eres más que una huérfana. Sin la protección de nuestra familia, no vas a durar ni tres días en Sicilia. Te doy una semana para que te arrepientas de esta estupidez. Luego no vengas llorando de rodillas. Saqué un celular satelital encriptado que no había usado en tres años. Alexander no sabía que, en realidad, yo era la hija menor de la familia mafiosa más antigua de Europa. Pero mi familia y la de Alexander siempre habían sido enemigas. Para casarme con él, me cambié el nombre e incluso corté toda relación con mi papá y mis hermanos. La llamada entró. Respiré hondo y susurré: —Papá, me arrepiento de lo que hice. Manda a alguien por mí en dos semanas.

On the fifth year after marrying Giovanni Santoro, the Don of the Santoro family, he decides to make a public appearance with his mistress, Valentina Conti. He no longer denies the truth behind the romantic scandals. Videos of them that have been taken in secret, as well as salacious gossip featuring the two, are spread like wildfire in New Albion. It's an act of declaring ownership over Giovanni that he himself has silently permitted. There are even busybodies who don't know their place and decide to prod me for answers with smiles on their faces. "Does this mean someone else is going to replace you as the Donna of the family?" That night, the underworld of New Albion secretly goes through a thorough purge. I file for a divorce with Giovanni immediately before marrying his biggest enemy, Franco Messina. After that, the Santoro family goes into bankruptcy. Their power and authority easily crumble into dust. Giovanni kneels before me. With tears running down his face, he begs me for forgiveness. I just smile while waving the divorce agreement in my hand. "Sorry, but we're already divorced."

Three years ago, my husband’s brother took a bullet for him. So Gwen brought his brother's widow, Eliza, into our home. I was the Donna in name only. I had to step aside for Eliza in everything. Once, Eliza faked slitting her wrists. She said I drove her to it. Gwen grabbed my throat. Murder flashed in his eyes. "Get out. The Falcone family has no place for a venomous bitch like you." He gave her the family's art foundation to "make it up to her." It was supposed to be mine. This time, I said nothing. He was signing a stack of business contracts. I just slipped the divorce papers in with them. A few days later, he noticed I wasn't home. He searched all over Chicago. He couldn't find me. That's when he saw the divorce decree. He finally understood. I was gone. For good. That day, the untouchable king of the Chicago Outfit… shattered.

My fiance, Luca Rossi, cuts off my finger with a cigar cutter to seize Ossuary Signet, my famiglia heirloom. Afterward, he parades it like a trophy and slips the ring onto the finger of Sofia Constanzo, the heiress of the Constanzo famiglia. He mocks me openly. "An orphan like you has no right to wear the ring meant for the future Donna of the Rossi famiglia." Sofia lifts her hand to flaunt the ring, feigning concern as she says, "Alessia, don't be angry. At worst, I will have Luca compensate you with a golden finger later." Everyone present watches me as a joke, yet I laugh out loud. I wipe away my tears and start to applaud. "Congratulations, Luca. You traded one of my fingers for the Rossi famiglia's one and only lifeline." I look at his stunned expression and smile cruelly. "Do you think it's just a ring? No. It is the sole key to unlock the billions in assets under my name. The moment it leaves my hand, the Rossi famiglia begins its countdown to bankruptcy and liquidation."

The Rossi family has a rule. If you want to be the next Donna, you have to prove yourself. Make three hundred million dollars, clean money, in a single year. All on your own, no family help. I spent ten years trying to do it for Vincent. I built ten companies from the ground up. But every single time, just as I was about to cross that finish line, something would go wrong. Everything would just… collapse. This year, I finally did it. I ran to his study, audit in hand, my heart hammering against my ribs. I thought I’d finally won. Instead, I learned my entire life was a lie. He handed my entire empire to Ava—my father's bastard. All because she supposedly saved his life once, and he wanted to make her the real Donna. I gave up. On him. On my family's dream of rising with his. Then I picked up the phone and called the Outfit in Chicago. "Your marriage proposal," I said. "I accept."

I'm married to Don Vincenzo Corleone of the Corleone family for five years. During those years, I'm the Donna whom everyone is envious of. But only I know that his love doesn't belong to me anymore. Vincenzo no longer takes me to core family gatherings. Our home is filled with photos of him and his childhood sweetheart, Lina Villo. At the banquet, Lina, who has won an award with the recipe she has stolen from me, nuzzles against Vincenzo's chest while receiving everyone's congratulatory wishes. Meanwhile, I get berated by the same man in public. Even when I get kidnapped, Vincenzo chooses to not save me just because he wants to take care of Lina. I've given Vincenzo five years of my love, only to end up with nothing good. So, I delete all of his contact information and board the ship meant for Castelloro. Vincenzo, I'm not going to pine for the genuine love and respect you owe me anymore. Let's not see each other again for the rest of our lives. We don't owe each other anything anymore.

Blurb: A retelling of Cinderella, with a twist. Her Prince never met her at a ball, but in a bike crash, when she tried to escape years of abuse. She was never the beauty in a glass slipper, but a wolfless girl born from an Alpha’s line. He was not a Prince Charming. Not a saviour. Just a Don from a line of ruthless Rogue Alphas, and heir to a fearsome security company the packs could not mess with. Yet Donna-Belle accepted whatever life threw at her when she wound up under his protection and had to sign a contract that promised his protection and her cooperation. As long as she had a way to get back her inheritance and fight her stepfamily, she did not mind getting entangled with danger and mixed signals. Being the Don’s ‘personal heiress’ was not a day’s job, but Donna was determined to raise her company to greater heights and get back at her abusive stepfamily. Even if she played with a volcano yet to erupt, she was set on breaking away her fears and insecurities and stepping up for herself. He never believed in the old myth of mates. She never wanted to be entrapped by him. They both never got what they wanted. Fate decided.