Queens Don't Cry

"I will do whatever you ask." I said, my voice steady even as my heart pounded like it was ready to fly out of my chest. "But I won't be a second Isabella. Not for you, and not for anyone else." Matteo's eyes darkened. "You are already her replacement. I think that counts as a second Isabella." *** Valentina Russo never expected her to take such a turn. When her sister, Isabella, flees from an arranged marriage to the ruthless Mafia Don, Matteo Nevarro, Valentina is forced by her mother to take her place. Trapped in a world of betrayal, deceit, and power, Valentina must find a way to survive and find her sister while also trying not to fall in love with her husband.

I was about to kill my mother's murderer…until he almost killed me first. As the daughter of a respected policeman, justice burned in my blood. I watched my mother die at the hands of a Mafia Lord. And I swore to make him pay. But when I confronted Don Theron, I didn't expect to be wrapped up in his arms, his grip choking life out of me. “Say your last prayers, princess,” he growls, tightening his grip like the devil he was. I struggled, I gasped for air, my heart raced but there was no saving from this doom. I thought I was done for. But then he let me go. But my freedom wasn't a gift, it came with a heavy price–a gruesome curse. In a twisted deal with my father, the man who murdered my mother became my husband. Now, every morning I wake up beside a monster who's cloaked in charm, secrets and control. My soul still burns for vengeance, his soul thrives on possession. And with every day that passes by, I wonder… Will I ever make it out of here alive?

"In the dark underbelly of the city, where loyalty is a luxury and power is a deadly game, two souls collide in a fate-bound dance. Aurelia Montez, a 24-year-old restaurant owner with a heart of gold and a spirit of steel, is forced to make a Faustian bargain with the ruthless city lord, Baron Lupo Bianchi, to save her family from the merciless wrath of the mafia. Baron, a 250-year-old bloodthirsty werewolf in disguise as a 35year ruthless mafia with a penchant for destruction and a heart consumed by grief and anger, sees Aurelia as a tantalizing target for torment, her resemblance to his traitorous lunar mate a constant reminder of his pain. As their paths entwine, a spark of humanity awakens within Baron, threatening to disrupt his cruel plans and transform his malevolent nature. But will Aurelia's determination and resourcefulness be enough to tame the beast within, or will the darkness consume them both? Dive into a world of loyalty, power, and redemption, where the lines between good and evil blur, and the fate of two souls hangs in the balance."

Luciano Martello is a man who has it all: wealth, power, and control. But when his past comes back to haunt him in the form of the one woman he's never been able to forget, he's forced to confront the one thing that can bring him to his knees: his weakness for her. Will he be able to overcome his demons and claim the love he's always desired, or will his weakness tear them apart forever?"

I was with a fishmonger for seven years. Every night, he pinned me beneath him, reckless and wild. Until one day, he took off his bloodstained apron and came clean–he was getting engaged to Sophia, the Bilotti heiress. Only then did I learn that he was the Don of the Colleo family. “Hahaha! You fooled around with Ms. Mancini for seven years, only to take another delicate young lady’s hand in marriage. Surely, she’s going to come at you.” “Don Colleo, you should keep things sweet with her.” His men’s laughter echoed in my ears. “What’s the rush? I’ve broken her well enough these past seven years. If you don’t mind, you can have her for a couple of days. Evelyn… flexible.” On the day of Vincent’s engagement party, I handed the evidence of his crimes to the police. As the sirens ripped open the city night, someone called out my name. I smiled and leaped from the eighteenth floor.

|ON HIATUS & UNDERGOING A REWRITE| The new king of the underworld has been crowned and now he has come to collect the debt owed to his family by will or by blood. When Luca Moretti goes to collect an old debt from an orphanage housemaster, he expects to be paid in full. However, instead of cash, the housemaster offers him a young orphan girl as exchange. At first, Luca is incensed about the request but then he lays eyes on her and something stirs within him. Her purity and innocent wild beauty enchants him. Reluctantly, he agrees to take her. Their relationship, though strained at first, takes a blossoming turn and Luca realizes that she brings light into his dark world. But their relationship is not without challenges. An unexpected revelation throws Eliana into the wild darkness of the underworld and almost knocks Luca off his feet. A war threatens to break them apart and Luca is left with a conflicting choice; to choose between protecting his family or a love that could cost him everything and destroy all he holds close to his heart.

Elena Rossi married Victor Moretti, the most feared mafia Don in the underground world. For three years, he treated her like a queen. Everyone said the ruthless Don was madly in love with his wife. Elena believed them. Until the night everything fell apart. At a family banquet, Elena was drugged. When she begged Victor to stay with her, he simply told his guards to take her to the hospital—then left to meet her sister. In that moment, the love Elena had once been so proud of shattered. She soon learned the cruel truth: Victor had married her only because he believed she was the woman who once saved his life. And now that the “real” savior had appeared—her sister—Elena had become nothing more than a mistake. So Elena made her choice. She quietly arranged everything, had Victor unknowingly sign the divorce papers, and disappeared from his world—carrying his unborn child. Only after she was gone did Victor realize. The woman he thought he married out of gratitude had long become the one he could not live without. The woman who had saved his life years ago had been Elena all along—only she had been injured back then and lost that part of her memory. By the time the truth came to light, Elena was already gone. The cold-blooded mafia Don who once controlled the entire underworld finally lost control.

My parents were branded as "traitors" within the Lucchese family. To show the family's mercy, I was taken in as their "sacrificial lamb" to atone for my parents' sins, and I lived with them for 12 years. Those 12 brutal years would have been unbearable if not for one thing: the Don, Antonio Lucchese, had twin heirs who became my only protection. Until that night, when they believed Martina Browne's lies about me and handed me the execution poison known as "The Vow of Silence." "Drink it, Chiara Colombo." Dante Lucchese's voice was cold, his eyes fixed on me. "Prove your loyalty to the Lucchese family." I drank the poison, and it burned through my throat like acid. Through my blurred vision, I watched as his twin brother, Enzo Lucchese, pulled the real traitor close to him. He said coldly, "Take Chiara to the infirmary. Don't let her die in the banquet hall." The day I was released from the hospital, I made a phone call to the Lucchese family's deadliest rival. My voice was hoarse as I spoke each word slowly. "I have evidence that could bury the entire Lucchese family. Marry me, and I'll help you destroy them."

Everyone said I was Domenico Calvetti's most obedient woman. On our first wedding anniversary, he flirted with a pair of twins at the gambling table. He had lipstick smeared all over his shirt. I smiled and wiped it away with a silk handkerchief, but he swatted my hand aside. "Don't kill the mood." In the third year, the star performer from the club he ran showed up at my door with a gun pressed to my temple, demanding to take my place. Without flinching, I disarmed her using the technique he taught me and disposed of the body myself. Behind me, he held his new lover and laughed softly. "Lucia, you always know what to do." In the fifth year, he blew up the library my father left behind just to make his new flame, Marilena Rossetti, smile. That library was my mother's favorite spot when she was alive, and it held the only photographs of our family of three. The explosion made me the laughingstock of the city. People whispered, "Signora Calvetti can't even protect her own memories." Everyone believed I could never leave the Calvetti family or Domenico, but they forgot how this all started. Back then, he rescued me from my adoptive father and fell in love with me at first sight. He knelt and begged to marry me, swearing he would protect me from blood and pain for the rest of my life. For ten years, I held onto those empty words. At our tenth anniversary party, his hundredth mistress arrived. Alice Russo, fresh out of college, held a glass of red wine and poured it down my gown while Domenico watched. "Signora Calvetti, this dress is so old. Given your position, you should be wearing something better." Everyone at the party waited to see my humiliation. Instead, I lowered my eyes and dialed Domenico's father's number. "Father, the ten-year agreement is over. I won't be Signora Calvetti anymore."

At the underground black market auction in New York, Lorenzo Moretti won a rare red diamond with a bid so high it made jaws drop. The entire Commission was waiting for the other shoe to drop—waiting to see me become a joke. Because in the Moretti family, every time Lorenzo gives away a diamond, it represents another one of his betrayals. White diamonds are hush money to cover up tabloid scandals. Blue diamonds mean he had a "slip-up" at some wild party. Pink diamonds mean I caught him in his private apartment, rolling in the sheets with another woman with my own eyes. But this time was different. It was a rare red diamond. Everyone guessed the Don was preparing to divorce me. Instead, Lorenzo publicly declared his love. He said this red diamond represented a "Blood Oath"—a symbol of his true heart and loyalty to me. He said that from now on, he would return to the family and pledge his allegiance only to me. Everyone congratulated me on finally taming the Sicilian Wolf. I, however, left the signed divorce papers in the safe, and all alone, I left him forever.