Roses never fade

For seven years, I was his eyes. But the moment he regained his sight, he decided to marry someone else. Seven years of devotion couldn't buy his heart. I gave him back his dignity. Now that he was restored as the Godfather of the New York Mafia, he laughed with others, degrading me to the status of a mere "mistress." He thought I didn't understand Italian, but I heard him loud and clear: he was going to marry his first love. He arrogantly believed I would always love him, willing to stay in his penthouse like a caged bird. But he was wrong. I boarded a one-way flight to Australia. Dante, I don't want you anymore. By the time he returned home, he would have lost me forever. But a sore loser refuses to concede. Even if he had to burn the world to the ground, he would search for me and beg for my forgiveness.

Chapters

Chapter 2

Elena Rossi's POV:

Donna Isabella didn't pour me tea.

She sat across from me in a private room of a café, where an hour's rental cost more than my mother made in a year.

She slid a black folder across the marble tabletop with her manicured fingers.

"I always knew you were a smart girl, Elena," she said.

I didn't touch the folder yet.

"I want out," I said evenly. "Completely out. No tracking. No loose ends. If Dante comes looking for me, he'll only find a ghost."

Isabella smiled.

"Dante won't come looking for you," she said dismissively. "He's obsessed with you, true. But he's a Vitiello. He understands duty. He's marrying Sofia Moretti in three months. You're just a loose end."

"Then cut it," I said.

I opened the folder.

The number was staggering. Fifty million dollars.

Enough to buy a brand-new life.

But there were conditions.

The recipient must leave the United States within 14 days.

The recipient must never contact Dante Vitiello again.

Breach of contract will result in immediate termination.

In the Vitiello family, "termination" didn't mean a lawsuit. It meant a bullet.

I picked up the pen and signed my name. Elena Rossi.

"Smart choice," Isabella said, snatching the folder back before the ink was even dry. "The funds will be deposited into an offshore account by tomorrow morning. Australia has lovely weather this time of year. And no extradition treaties for us to worry about."

"Two weeks," I said.

"Two weeks," she confirmed. "Don't linger, child. The Don hates long goodbyes."

The ride back to the penthouse we shared was a blur.

The doorman smiled at me as I walked into the lobby. "Good afternoon, Miss Rossi."

He didn't know I had already become a ghost.

I took the elevator to the apartment that occupied the entire top floor.

It was filled with things Dante had given me. Jewelry I never wore. Dresses worth a fortune.

A gilded cage made of diamonds and silk. I finally saw the penthouse for what it truly was.

I sat on the edge of the bed where we had made love just this morning.

My phone pinged.

An Instagram notification.

I usually avoided social media, but curiosity is a poison.

I opened it.

Sofia Moretti had posted a photo ten minutes ago.

It was a close-up of a document on a desk. A marriage contract.

Her hand was resting on Dante's forearm.

It was Dante. I instantly recognized the watch on his wrist. It was my birthday gift to him.

The caption read: Fate always brings back what's yours. #VitielloMoretti #Forever.

I stared at the screen until my eyes burned.

Fate didn't bring him back.

I pulled him out of the darkness. I healed him.

Seven years. How many seven years does a person get in a lifetime?

And yet, she was reaping the rewards.

My phone vibrated again. A text from Dante.

Dante: Have to stay overnight in D.C. Business came up. Don't wait up. Love you.

He wasn't in D.C.

He was with her.

Probably celebrating the signing of their marriage contract.

I replied.

Me: Okay. Stay safe.

I pressed send.

Then I double-tapped Sofia's photo.

Like.

I put my phone down and walked into the walk-in closet.

I didn't take any clothes. I didn't take any jewelry.

I dragged a small, battered suitcase from beneath the racks of designer clothes.

I started packing the things that mattered.

My mother's rosary. The books I used to read to him when he was blind. A dried flower picked from the garden.

I was going to leave.

But first, I had to survive the next two weeks without screaming.

Continue to next part

On our third wedding anniversary, I planned to tell my husband I was pregnant. Instead, I watched him get down on one knee and propose to another woman. In the ensuing chaos, he shoved me down a flight of marble stairs. I woke up in the hospital, losing our baby. The doctor called him, begging him to come. "Tell her to stop this pathetic act," I heard my husband's voice say over the phone. "I don't have time for her games." He hung up. He was at the same hospital, comforting his mistress over a minor burn while our child died. After three years of lies and five broken promises, I finally woke up. I left him a box with the ultrasound photos and my miscarriage diagnosis, signed the divorce papers, and disappeared from his life forever.

Mafia Modern Romance

9.7

BOUND TO MY MAFIA KING

9.7

Prostitution wasn't exactly the future Ariella pictured for herself. But a series of unfortunate events landed her in a brothel she couldn't escape. Until he came in. His name is Killian Morozcov. He moved liked he owned the world and planted bullets in the heads of men who looked at him the wrong way. He came into the brothel and left with her, and no matter how much she pleaded, he refused to tell her why. In Ariella's experience, she's learnt that you either stab someone in the back or they'll do it to you. Yet Killian showed her a side of humanity she'd never seen before and her defences fall, leading to a love that they both knew couldn't last. he was an heir to a Mafia kingdom, and she was a girl from a brothel with no familial backing. their love was doomed the moment Killian saved her. especially since he saved the wrong girl. he'd gone to the brothel thinking Ariella was his lost sister, Stella Morozcov. he'd been wrong and in the process of continuing his search for Stella he grew attracted to Ariella. so much that he felt that he couldn't breath without her. Their love is built on nothing but pain and deceit...skeletons rotting in their closets. They both have secrets that could tear them apart. But the past is a funny thing... no matter how much you run from it, it always guns you down in the end.

Mafia Modern Romance

7.3

Forbidden Sinful Desires: A Steamy Spicy Erotica Collection

7.3

TRIGGER WARNING This book is STRICTLY EROTICA. It contains graphic sexual content, taboo themes, age gaps, and explicit scenarios intended for mature audiences only (18+). If you are underage or easily disturbed by mature, forbidden, or extreme content, do not read this book. About the Collection This is not romance. There are no fade-to-black moments. Every word drips with heat, sin, and raw pounding desire. Between these pages, you'll find stories that push boundaries and explore the forbidden-age gap temptation, reckless taboos, and sinful encounters. And when you think you can't take more, a bonus awaits you at the end-an exclusive MILF , BDSM series written to make you horny instantly. If you came here for the hottest, most descriptive, most unapologetic erotica. You're in the right place. Are you ready to sin? Don't touch yourself too much🤭

Adventure Mafia Romance

8.7

He Saw Her, Not His Wife

8.7

My husband of three years, tech mogul Harrison Lang, has severe face blindness. So I became a brand, not a wife, wearing only blue and Chanel No. 5 so he could recognize me. But at a party in Cannes, I watched him walk through a crowd of hundreds and embrace his mistress, Kassie, with a look of pure joy. He saw her instantly. Later that night, I was mistakenly arrested. I screamed his name for help. He looked right at me and told the police, "I don't know her." He left me to rot in a French jail cell, claiming he didn't recognize me without my "uniform." But how could he see her in a gold dress, yet not his own wife being dragged away? It wasn't his illness; it was his heart. It had learned her face, but never bothered with mine. Now, years later, he' s had me arrested again at my own art show. But as the cuffs click shut, an old fire captain steps forward. "I was at the wildfire that caused his condition," he tells the police, looking at Harrison. "And I know the girl who saved his life." Then, he points directly at me-at the star-shaped scar on my wrist.

Mafia Modern Romance

7.7

Mr. Knight, Your Ex is a Lab Mogul

7.7

On the night of their fifth wedding anniversary, Jolie Knight cooked an entire dinner herself. But it wasn't until nearly ten o'clock that Kaden Knight finally came home-and the first thing he did was head straight for the shower. The food on the table had already gone cold. Jolie dumped everything into the trash without hesitation. When she picked up the jacket Kaden had tossed onto the couch, planning to throw it in the wash, her fingers pulled out a lace T-back thong from the pocket. It wasn't the first time she had received that girl's little provocations. Including this one, it was the ninety-ninth. The bathroom door swung open, and Kaden stepped out. He was shirtless, with a white towel loosely hanging around his waist. He glanced at the pink lace thong in her hand and barely reacted, only lifting a lazy eyebrow. "Larry can be childish. You don't need to get worked up over her," he said. Jolie's eyes traveled over the face she used to adore-still handsome, still familiar. How had things fallen apart in less than five years? But it didn't matter; she had promised herself that after forgiving him 99 times, she would divorce him. The 99th time had arrived, and their marriage was over. "I've decided to join the three-year closed research project you mentioned last time."

Mafia Modern Romance

8.6

Once His Little Girl, Now His Proper Mafia Wife

8.6

"I was sold to a devil - a man who owned empires, destroyed lives, and believed love was weakness. That devil now owns me." When 19-year-old Malissa is betrayed by her own father and sold to settle a mafia debt, she's forced into the cruel, mysterious world of Hayden Castellano - a ruthless mafia king known for his cold heart and blood-stained hands. She's to serve as his slave. No rights. No freedom. No escape. But Hayden didn't expect her fire. Her resistance. Her refusal to break. As days turn into weeks, their war of wills turns into something else - something dangerous. Hayden becomes possessive. Obsessive. And just when Malissa starts to feel the pull of his tortured soul, she uncovers secrets that could cost her everything - including the truth about her own bloodline. Because in Hayden's world, love doesn't save you. It marks you for death. "He said he owned me. He never expected I'd own his heart."

Mafia Modern Romance

Roses never fade

Chapter 2

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