MARKED BY THE MAFIA
Marked By The Mafia - Episode 13&14
[...BOUND BY DUTY...]
GENRE: Dark Romance
TAGS: MAFIAS, OBSESSION, POSSESSIVE, LOVE, STEAMY, LOVE TRIANGLE, EMPIRE, BETRAYAL, CRIME, VIOLENCE, DEATHS AND MANY MORE...
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✮{...FIRST VISIT...}✮
Then her back met the wall again, his body pressed against hers, pinning her there with heat and want.
___
Matteo lay on his side, naked, one arm tucked under his head, the other resting inches from the woman beside him.
Aurora.
Fast asleep. Her bare back rose and fell gently with each breath, lips parted just slightly in a way that made something primal stir in him.
He stared at her.
Too long and too hard.
His jaw clenched.
He had always wanted her, right from the very moment she first walked into his world, right from when he set his eyes on her, Innocent eyes and defiant mouth. A puzzle he’d sworn to break open. He told himself it was lust, power, maybe possession.
But it was more.
And that made him furious.
His fingers moved on their own, brushing against her cheek which was soft, warm, peaceful. He memorized the curve of her jaw, the length of her lashes. His touch lingered like a secret he didn’t want to name.
His eyes then darkened.
He had ordered that shooting. Cold, clean and necessary. One bullet to erase the mistake. But the damn shooter missed his mark. A flesh wound instead of a fatal one.
Valentina lived and he hated that.
Aurora stirred beside him. A soft sound left her lips.
Matteo yanked his hand back.
In a swift, silent move, he slipped from the bed and dressed up. His eyes flicked back to her once more.
Then he was gone.
The door clicked shut.
Aurora’s eyes blinked open moments later, her brows furrowed in the quiet.
The bed was cold beside her. Empty.
She reached for her phone on the nightstand, dragging it lazily to her chest.
A single notification flashed across the screen.
From: Valentina
*We need to see!
Aurora’s breath caught.
Her fingers tightened around the phone, pulse skipping because whatever this was, it wasn’t over.
It was just beginning.
Aurora stood in front of the full-length mirror, slipping her arms into a white blouse, buttoning it slowly as if every click was a decision made. Her leg still ached but she didn’t care.
Today, she needed out.
For the first time since marrying Matteo, she was walking out of the house.
Her fingers tugged a beige trench coat over her shoulders, hiding the tremble beneath the fabric. She reached down, pulling on a pair of low-heeled ankle boots. It stung like hell, but she didn’t flinch.
No one had kept her prisoner.
But no one had really let her leave either.
Not until now.
Two guards stood firmly at the wrought-iron gates, sunglasses on, hands behind their backs like statues carved from stone.
Aurora approached them.
"Where are you going, ma'am?" one asked, stepping forward slightly.
"I need to see my sister" she said simply, slipping on her sunglasses.
The guards exchanged a glance.
"That’s not—"
"You’re not denying me, are you?" she interrupted, arching one brow, her voice turning sharp. "Because I’d love to explain to Matteo why his wife wasn’t allowed out of her own house"
Silence.
Then a low cough behind them.
It was the driver. An older man named Giacomo, graying at the temples but sharp-eyed.
"If she needs to be driven," he said with a slight bow, "I’ll take her"
Aurora met his gaze and gave a nod. "Let’s go then"
The guards hesitated, then finally stepped aside, the gates creaking open just enough.
As Aurora stepped into the backseat of the black Maserati, she let out a slow, silent breath half relief, half adrenaline.
The gates closed behind her.
•••
VALENTINA'S SECRET APARTMENT,PALERMO*
A hidden luxury flat tucked above an old bookstore in the historical heart of Palermo. From the outside, it looks like nothing special, just aged brick walls, narrow street, vines crawling up the balcony. But behind a coded elevator and biometric lock, the real world ends.
Inside.. black marble floors, velvet curtains, a glass bar stocked with rare liqueurs, and walls lined with weapons and passports. No photos. No trace of anyone ever living there.
Only one person knows this place exists and that's Aurora.
Valentina showed it to her years ago, in whispers and blood. It was their safe house. Their sister sanctuary.
The car pulled up to the forgotten alleyway.
"You can wait here. I won’t be long"
Then she slipped through the bookstore, heads past the old man dozing at the counter, and presses the hidden button behind the dusty bookshelf…
Elevator opened and steel doors closed.
She's going up… to Valentina.
Aurora stepped out of the elevator and into the dark apartment, her heels echoing softly against the floor. A chill wrapped around her despite the closed windows. The space hadn't changed still pristine, still deadly quiet.
She took a breath, her heart thumping.
"Valen—"
WHOOSH.
A sharp blow sliced through the air aimed straight at her head.
Aurora twisted on instinct, ducking low. The metal rod missed her skull by an inch and smacked into the doorframe behind her with a crack.
She spun, her eyes wild only to see Valentina, dressed in black, her long hair tied back, a wicked grin spreading across her face like a shadow.
"Still alert as ever" Valentina murmured, lowering the weapon with a satisfied smirk.
Aurora’s breath was ragged. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Valentina stepped forward, slow, eyes never leaving hers. "Had to be sure you weren’t soft now… wife"
Aurora clenched her jaw, standing tall despite the pain in her leg. "Is this about me marrying Matteo instead of you?"
The room suddenly felt tighter.
"You know why I did it, Valentina," Aurora continued. "You were shot… dying… and the only way to help, to keep everything from crashing… was to replace you"
Valentina’s eyes flared, but she didn’t speak.
"I had no choice"
A long silence.
Then Valentina gave a slow, humorless chuckle. "You always had a choice, Aurora. You just made the one that kept you warm in his bed"
"Excuse me?"
"We both know you've always liked him, I saw the way you looked at him the first time we saw him"
Aurora’s jaw tightened. "So what if I did look at him? It never meant anything"
"Then why are you defending yourself like it does?"
"You think I wanted this life?" Aurora continued, stepping closer. Her voice was low now, trembling with a rage that had nowhere else to go. "You think I wanted to wear that ring, lie in his bed every night praying I make it out alive?"
"He branded me like property. He bent me until I broke. And when I broke, he smiled. Like he enjoyed it. Like he finally had proof I belonged to him"
Silence.
Aurora wiped the corner of her eye harshly. "So don’t you dare accuse me of betrayal. Don’t you dare look at me like I won. You want Matteo? Take him. Take the monster. But don’t stand there acting like I stole something when all I did was survive"
Valentina’s fingers clenched around the metal rod, knuckles white and scoffed.
"Then leave him" she snapped coldly, turning away without an ounce of sympathy. "If he’s that much of a monster, pack your bags and walk. He's not yours to be in the first place"
Aurora’s lips parted in disbelief. "You really don’t care?"
"I stopped caring the day you replaced me, whatever pain you feel now? You chose it"
Aurora's jaw clenched. Her throat burned, but she refused to let her sister see the tears forming behind her eyes.
"Goodbye, Valentina" she muttered, turning toward the elevator.
But she didn’t make it two steps.
Out of nowhere.
WHAM!
Valentina charged, shoulder-first, slamming Aurora off balance. Her wounded leg buckled and she crashed to the ground with a sharp gasp.
"You don’t get to walk away that easy" Valentina hissed, towering over her.
But Aurora was already recovering.
She flipped up with a burst of fury, ducking Valentina’s swing and driving her elbow into her side. Valentina grunted and swung back, fists flying, wild and fast. Aurora blocked one hit, absorbed the second, and retaliated with a jab to the ribs that sent Valentina stumbling.
"Come on!" Valentina growled, lunging again.
Their bodies collided, crashing into the glass coffee table, shattering it beneath them. Glass scratched Aurora’s arm, but she didn’t stop.
She twisted, kicked, pinned.
Seconds later, Valentina was flat on her back, Aurora straddling her, a knee on her chest, breathing hard.
"You know I’m stronger than you" Aurora spat. "My secret practice with Enzo didn’t go in vain"
Valentina hissed beneath her, fists clenching, rage burning in her eyes but she couldn’t move. Couldn’t shake her off.
Aurora leaned closer, her face inches from hers.
"You want a war, sister?" she whispered. "Careful. You just might lose"
And for the first time… Valentina knew it was true.
Aurora stood slowly, chest still rising and falling from the heat of the fight. Her blouse was torn at the sleeve, a thin trail of blood on her forearm. She looked down at Valentina, still pinned beneath broken glass.
"You should’ve stayed my sister" Aurora said quietly.
She turned away.
Each step she took toward the elevator echoed like a final warning. She didn’t look back, not even once. With a hiss of steel and a ding, the doors slid open.
She stepped inside and she was gone.
Silence filled the apartment like thick smoke.
Valentina lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling through strands of hair sticking to her sweat-slicked face. Her lips parted as she coughed lightly, pushing herself up on one elbow with effort.
She stared at the blood on her fingers.
Then, she gave a dry, breathless laugh.
"That bi+ch is stronger than me" she muttered under her breath.
A glint returned to her eyes.
The war between them had only just begun.
•••
UNKNOWN LOCATION*
The walls were concrete, cold and windowless. Lit only by the harsh flicker of an overhead bulb. Pipes hissed faintly in the corners. It smelled of metal, oil… and power.
At the center of the dim room sat Elijah Varga, war criminal, arms dealer, empire builder. His suit was grey and bloodless. The gold rings on his fingers gleamed like trophies from the dead.
Before him was an open black case filled with warheads, chemical triggers, prototype detonators. His fortune. His leverage.
And a tiny silver flash drive was missing from it.
He ran a hand through his slick dark hair, jaw clenching.
His fingers drummed the table in frustration as his second-in-command, Marlo, stood nearby, silent like a statue. Elijah's phone buzzed again. Another encrypted ping from the same number.
Aurora Bellanti.
She had read the message.
Still hadn’t replied.
Just then, a reinforced steel door creaked open with a hiss. Two tall guards stepped aside as a figure entered, not Elijah’s equal… but his superior.
Shadowed in a long black coat, face partially veiled by low light, only the glint of a signet ring gave him identity. A ring no one wore unless they belonged to the old network, the Ghost Syndicate.
Elijah instantly stood.
"Sir—" The man raised a hand. One motion. Silence.
He approached slowly, then stopped a breath away from Elijah. His voice was cool, with an accent impossible to place.
"So you’re telling me… those little ants of girls outsmarted you?"
Elijah flinched, but held his ground. "We had the drive. Matteo’s men intercepted—"
"Matteo’s men…" the man said, scoffing. "You let those rats break into our circle and take that drive?"
Elijah swallowed.
The man stepped closer, cold breath touching Elijah’s ear.
"See where the love of a woman has led you. Risking empires for a face and a fragile name"
He turned now, pacing to the other end of the room.
"You will get that drive back, Elijah or else. That drive contains classified missile routing contracts, nuclear test locations, names. If it leaks… our shadows will burn"
Elijah nodded slowly. "I understand"
"Good. Because if you fail again…" the man paused, looking him straight in the eye.
"There won’t be another sunrise for your bloodline"
And with that, the man turned and disappeared into the corridor beyond, shadows swallowing him whole.
Elijah remained still. Breathing hard.
Then he picked up his phone again, and sent another message to Aurora.
•Tick-tock, bella. Time’s running out. Get me the drive… or you won't know what will happen to you.
•••
MORETTI'S EMPIRE*
Aurora expected the black Maserati to pull into the Moretti mansion gates.
It didn’t.
Instead, Giacomo who barely spoke two words took a sharp left off the main path and her brows furrowed.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
Giacomo’s eyes flicked up to the rearview. "Boss orders, signora"
She didn’t reply.
She just sat straighter.
Moments later, the car slowed in front of a compound hidden beneath heavy security tech and towering steel gates wrapped in barbed wire.
The Moretti Empire.
The real one.
The gates parted, revealing an industrial fortress surrounded by gun towers, coded doors, and armed guards that looked like soldiers straight out of a nightmare.
The car rolled to a stop.
As soon as Aurora stepped out, she was met by a lineup.
A deadly lineup.
ACE, BLADE, ROCCO, STORM, AXE, VIPER, SCARLETT, SYLVIA,ROSA And then—
VIXEN.
All curves, crimson lips, and smoky eyes. She walked toward Aurora like a queen through fire.
"Mrs Moretti" Vixen purred. "The infamous wife finally visits"
Aurora only stared at her without saying anything.
Vixen led her down a corridor lined with bulletproof glass and surveillance feeds, stilettos clicking softly. At the door to Matteo’s private office, she paused.
"You still look too soft to survive this place" Vixen whispered with a smirk.
"That’s what makes me dangerous" Aurora said and smirked inwardly. She's often underestimated until they see her in action.
Vixen's smile widened at her words.
"I like you already. Anyways we're here, see you later" She said and swayed away.
Aurora pushed the door open.
Matteo sat at his desk. The moment she entered, his gaze swept over her landing on her bruised arm but said nothing.
"I heard you left the mansion" he said.
"I’m not a prisoner" she replied flatly.
"I never said you were. Where did you go?"
"None of your business"
His eyes narrowed. "Valentina did that to you"
Aurora froze. "How did—"
"Answer my question"
"Matteo, forget that. I need to tell you something—"
BANG!
His hand slammed the table, eyes wild.
"Answer my damn question!"
Aurora gritted her teeth. "Yeah. I met Valentina and—"
That was all he needed to hear.
Matteo rose from his seat, rage radiating from him like fire off coals. He pressed the button on the desk intercom.
"Ace"
Seconds later, the door opened.
"Bring me Valentina in the next thirty minutes. Alive. And well. I want to destroy her myself"
His eyes locked with Aurora’s, dark with obsession and fury.
"No one touches her. Except me"
•
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TBC😈
Next pls 😩.....you should post today abeg 🙏🥹
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