Echo Visual

Eu renasci, voltando para o dia antes do meu casamento. A primeira coisa que fiz? Troquei de noivo com a minha irmã. Da última vez, me casei com Julian, um magnata da tecnologia de temperamento calmo. Ele não conseguia lidar com o meu jeito explosivo, e eu não suportava o quanto ele era fraco. Nosso casamento desmoronou em menos de um ano. Minha irmã, doce e tímida, estava em um casamento arranjado com Robin Kane, o Don da maior organização criminosa de Nova York. Ela não conseguiu suportar aquela vida brutal e caótica. Atormentada por Isabella, a suposta "paixão de infância" de Robin, acabou caindo em uma depressão profunda… e morreu. Então, quando tive uma segunda chance, tomei uma decisão. Eu seria a mulher que se casaria com o Don. Mas eu nunca esperei que, depois do casamento, aquele Don frio e implacável se tornaria um homem completamente diferente. Todas as noites, ele me prendia contra o corpo, me beijando como se fosse obcecado, sussurrando: — Boa garota… vou fazer você se sentir bem… só mais uma vez, baby…

Five years into my marriage to the Don, Ives Moretti, he left me for dead during a shootout to get his mistress, Isabella, to safety. I woke up three days later in a private hospital room. No apology. Ives was cold. “You’re my wife. You knew the risks. Stop being so dramatic.” Then, he added, “Isabella’s different. She’s fragile. She needed me.” That was followed by three months of the silent treatment. Like always, he expected me to be the one to break, to come crawling back begging for forgiveness. Three months later, I handed the Irish deal to Isabella on a silver platter. The big one I’d spent half a year building myself. Ives thought it was a peace offering. He smiled, a rare, genuine thing these days. “I knew you’d come around. As a reward, we’ll go to Vegas. I know you’ve always wanted to go.” The next day, Isabella whined about being bored, and he broke his promise. He took her to Vegas instead. Told me it was “urgent family business.” This time, I didn’t cry. Didn’t make a scene. Ives was pleased I was being so understanding. He had no idea I was already cutting all ties to the Moretti family. That he’d already signed the divorce papers. I was free.

I am Alpha Dominic’s fated mate. I saved him when he was at his lowest. He didn't care that I was just an ordinary Omega. Countless times, as we mated, he’d kiss me like he was starving for me, whispering that I was a gift from the Moon Goddess herself. But that was before his ex—the high-born she-wolf, Chloe—came back. He started letting his pack walk all over me. And when my grandmother was framed for poisoning Chloe, he had her thrown in the dungeon cells without a second thought. I begged him, but Dominic just shot me a cold, warning look. "Evelyn, our mating ceremony is a week away. Don't let this scandal ruin it." He didn't know. That night, my grandmother died in those cells. And I made a decision. I refuse to be his Luna.

Renací y volví al día antes de mi boda. ¿Lo primero que hice? Intercambiar de esposo con mi hermana. En mi vida pasada, me casé con Julian, un magnate tecnológico de carácter apacible. Él no podía soportar mi temperamento explosivo, y yo no toleraba lo blando que era. Nuestro matrimonio se vino abajo en menos de un año. Mi hermana, dulce y tímida, estaba comprometida en un matrimonio arreglado con Robin Kane, el Don de la familia criminal más poderosa de Nueva York. Ella no pudo soportar aquella vida brutal y caótica. Torturada por Isabella, la supuesta amor de la infancia de Robin, cayó en una profunda depresión y murió. Así que, cuando volví, tomé una decisión: esta vez, la que se casaría con el Don sería yo. Pero jamás esperé que, después de la boda, aquel Don frío y estoico se convirtiera en un hombre completamente distinto. Cada noche me tenía debajo de él, besándome como si estuviera obsesionado, mientras me susurraba al oído: —Buena chica. Voy a hacerte sentir bien. Solo una vez más, nena.

In the middle of the night, my husband started talking in his sleep. "My little treasure, Daddy's taking you and Mommy to the new house tomorrow." But we were using protection. Where the hell did a kid come from? So I opened his phone. I saw the money transfers to another woman—spent on all kinds of luxury shit and a house. The photo album had pictures of her in a skimpy stripper outfit, a little bump in her belly. The last one was an ultrasound. Four months along, it looked like. I didn't make a sound. Just saved the evidence. They were about to learn the price of betraying a mafia princess.

Di suatu malam, suamiku tiba-tiba mengigau dalam tidurnya. "Anakku sayang, besok Papa akan bawa kamu dan Mama ke rumah baru." Padahal kami selalu pakai pengaman. Jadi, dari mana anak itu muncul? Aku pun membuka ponselnya. Di sana ada riwayat transfer uang ke wanita lain, dihabiskan untuk segala macam kemewahan dan sebuah rumah. Album fotonya penuh dengan gambar wanita itu yang mengenakan pakaian penari telanjang yang minim, dengan perut yang sedikit membuncit. Foto terakhir adalah hasil USG. Sepertinya sudah empat bulan. Aku tidak mengeluarkan suara apa pun. Hanya menyimpan semua buktinya. Sebentar lagi mereka akan belajar, sebesar apa akibat yang akan ditanggung karena mengkhianati seorang putri mafia.

I’m the princess of the Hillrose Family. He’s Blair Falcone, Don of the Falcone Family. A perfect match. We were New York's power couple, the envy of everyone in the underworld. Until three days before our wedding. One minute, we were lost in each other, his body moving inside me, his lips trailing fire across my skin. The next, he calmly announces, "Flora, there's something I have to tell you." "Legally, I already have a wife. The old man married me off to her six years ago. She's the daughter of a man who took a bullet for him." "If you can live with it," he continued, "our marriage is still on. As planned." I stared at him in disbelief. "What about me? What were our six years?" He took a slow drag from his cigar. "I know what this is. So, what's it gonna be?" My hand instinctively went to my stomach. He didn't know. I was going to tell him my happy secret tonight: I was pregnant. But now, I wasn't going to tell him a damn thing.

Me desangraba en una esquina tras un ataque de una familia rival. Mi esposo, Dante —el subjefe de la familia Torrino— estaba en su auto, sosteniendo a la hermanita de su mejor amigo. Me lanzó una mirada fría y dijo: —Déjala. No es nadie. Más tarde, cuando otro me salvó, caminé a casa empapada en mi propia sangre. Encontré a Dante meciendo a Serafina, preocupadísimo por ella. Ella solo tenía una rodilla raspada. ¿Y la sangre que cubría mi ropa? Ni siquiera la vio. Solo observé. No dije nada. Luego saqué mi teléfono y llamé a mi madre: —Mamá, necesito volver a casa.

Cinq ans après mon mariage avec Dante Moretti, le Don de la mafia de Paris, tout le monde savait qu'il m'aimait plus que sa propre vie. Il s'était fait tatouer un violon pour moi, juste à côté de son blason familial, un symbole de loyauté qui ne pouvait jamais être effacé. Jusqu'au jour où j'ai reçu la photo envoyée par sa maîtresse. Une serveuse de bar, nue, vautrée dans ses bras, la peau marquée de sombres ecchymoses laissées par un sexe brutal. Elle avait griffonné son prénom juste à côté du tatouage violon. Et mon mari l'avait laissée faire. « Dante dit que seul le fait d'être en moi lui permet encore de se sentir un homme. Tu n'arrives même plus à le faire bander, pas vrai, chère Alessia ? Peut-être qu'il est temps de t'effacer. » Je n'ai pas répondu. J'ai simplement passé un seul appel. « J'ai besoin d'une nouvelle identité et d'un billet d'avion pour partir. »

When we were eight, Kaelen burned down an entire pack territory just to save me. He swore an oath before the Moon Goddess to be with me forever, to never leave my side. Not even his own father could keep us apart. Then, a pregnant human girl reeking of his scent strutted into my office, a smug smirk on her face. "He says you're old and boring," she gloated. "That your scars turn his stomach." He seems to forget that he's the reason I have every last one of them. And I am not some weak woman he can just humiliate.