Beneath the mask

Beneath the mask

Angel T.

5.0
Comment(s)
173
View
22
Chapters

Elena Rossi, a 17-year-old bookworm, has always lived a sheltered life under the watchful eye of her overprotective father. What she doesn't know is that her father, Antonio Rossi, is a powerful mafia boss who has been keeping her in the dark about their family's dangerous legacy. When a rival mafia family threatens to destroy the Rossis, Antonio makes a desperate deal: Elena will marry Luca Moretti, the 28-year-old heir to the Moretti crime family, to secure an alliance. Luca Moretti is ruthless, calculating, and used to getting what he wants. He agrees to the marriage for power, expecting Elena to be a meek, obedient pawn. But Elena's fiery spirit and innocence challenge him in ways he never anticipated. As the two navigate their forced union, they uncover secrets, face betrayals, and slowly fall for each other. When a deadly betrayal puts Elena's life at risk, Luca must choose between the mafia world he's always known and the girl who has shown him a life beyond violence and power. In the end, love triumphs, and they forge a new path together, leaving the shadows of their past behind.

Chapter 1 The proposal

The rain poured relentlessly, tapping against the windows of the Rossi mansion like a thousand tiny fingers. Elena sat curled up in the window seat of her bedroom, her favorite book resting in her lap. The storm outside mirrored the unease in her heart, though she couldn't quite place why.

"Elena," her father's voice called from the doorway, pulling her from her thoughts.

She turned to see Antonio Rossi standing there, his usual stern expression softened by something she couldn't quite name. At 17, Elena had grown used to her father's mysterious ways, but tonight, something felt different.

"Yes, Papa?" she asked, closing her book and setting it aside.

Antonio stepped into the room, his polished shoes clicking against the hardwood floor. He hesitated for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. "I need to speak with you about something important."

Elena's stomach twisted. Her father never spoke to her about "important" things. She was kept in the dark, shielded from the world outside their gated estate. She nodded, bracing herself.

"You're getting older," Antonio began, his voice steady but laced with an emotion Elena couldn't place. "And it's time for you to take on more responsibilities."

"Responsibilities?" she echoed, confusion knitting her brows together.

Antonio sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "Elena, our family... we have certain obligations. And to secure our future, I've arranged a marriage for you."

The words hit her like a punch to the chest. "A marriage?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Papa, I'm only 17. I'm not ready for this."

"You don't have a choice," Antonio said firmly, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of guilt. "This is for your safety, for our family's safety."

Elena's mind raced. "Who am I supposed to marry?"

"Luca Moretti," Antonio replied, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The name sent a chill down Elena's spine. She had heard whispers of the Moretti family-ruthless, powerful, and dangerous. She had never met Luca, but the stories were enough to make her blood run cold.

"Papa, please," she begged, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't want this."

Antonio's expression hardened. "This isn't about what you want, Elena. It's about survival. Luca will be here tomorrow to meet you. Be ready."

With that, he turned and left the room, leaving Elena alone with her thoughts. She stared out the window, the rain blurring the world outside. Her life, once so predictable, had been turned upside down in an instant.

The next morning, Elena dressed carefully, her hands shaking as she buttoned her blouse. She had no idea what to expect, but she knew one thing: she would not go down without a fight.

When the doorbell rang, her heart leapt into her throat. She descended the staircase, her father waiting at the bottom with a man she had never seen before.

Luca Moretti was tall, with sharp features and piercing green eyes that seemed to see straight through her. He wore a tailored suit, his posture exuding confidence and power. Elena felt small under his gaze, but she lifted her chin, refusing to let him see her fear.

"Elena," her father said, his voice unnaturally cheerful. "This is Luca Moretti."

Luca stepped forward, his eyes never leaving hers. "Elena," he said, his voice low and smooth. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Elena forced a smile, though her heart was pounding. "Likewise," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

As they sat down to talk, Elena couldn't shake the feeling that her life was no longer her own. But deep down, a spark of defiance ignited. She would not let this man-or anyone-control her.

Little did she know, Luca was just as intrigued by her as she was terrified of him. And their meeting was only the beginning of a story that would change both of their lives forever.

Continue Reading

You'll also like

Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Dorine Koestler
4.1

I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

The Billionaire's Secret Twins: Her Revenge

The Billionaire's Secret Twins: Her Revenge

Shearwater
4.4

I was four months pregnant, weighing over two hundred pounds, and my heart was failing from experimental treatments forced on me as a child. My doctor looked at me with clinical detachment and told me I was in a death sentence: if I kept the baby, I would die, and if I tried to remove it, I would die. Desperate for a lifeline, I called my father, Francis Acosta, to tell him I was sick and pregnant. I expected a father's love, but all I got was a cold, sharp blade of a voice. "Then do it quietly," he said. "Don't embarrass Candi. Her debutante ball is coming up." He didn't just reject me; he erased me. My trust fund was frozen, and I was told I was no longer an Acosta. My fiancé, Auston, had already discarded me, calling me a "bloated whale" while he looked for a thinner, wealthier replacement. I left New York on a Greyhound bus, weeping into a bag of chips, a broken woman the world considered a mistake. I couldn't understand how my own father could tell me to die "quietly" just to save face for a party. I didn't know why I had been a lab rat for my family’s pharmaceutical ambitions, or how they could sleep at night while I was left to rot in the gray drizzle of the city. Five years later, the doors of JFK International Airport slid open. I stepped onto the marble floor in red-soled stilettos, my body lean, lethal, and carved from years of blood and sweat. I wasn't the "whale" anymore; I was a ghost coming back to haunt them. With my daughter by my side and a medical reputation that terrified the global elite, I was ready to dismantle the Acosta empire piece by piece. "Tell Francis to wash his neck," I whispered to the skyline. "I'm home."

The Scars Behind My Golden Dress

The Scars Behind My Golden Dress

Catherine
5.0

I spent four hours preparing a five-course meal for our fifth anniversary. When Jackson finally walked into the penthouse an hour late, he didn't even look at the table. He just dropped a thick Manila envelope in front of me and told me he was done. He said his stepsister, Davida, was getting worse and needed "stability." I wasn't his wife; I was a placeholder, a temporary fix he used until the woman he actually loved was ready to take my place. Jackson didn't just want a divorce; he wanted to erase me. He called me a "proprietary asset," claiming that every design I had created to save his empire belonged to him. He froze my bank accounts, cut off my phone, and told me I’d be nothing without his name. Davida even called me from her hospital bed to flaunt the family heirloom ring Jackson claimed was lost, mocking me for being "baggage" that was finally being cleared out. I stood in our empty home, realizing I had spent five years being a martyr for a man who saw me as a transaction. I couldn't understand how he could be so blind to the monster he was protecting, or how he could discard me so coldly after I had given him everything. I grabbed my hidden sketchbook, shredded our wedding portrait, and walked out into the rain. I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years—a dangerous man known as The Surgeon who dealt in debts and shadows. I told him I was ready to pay his price. Jackson and Davida wanted to steal my identity, but I was about to show the world the literal scars they had left behind.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book