To Marry A Monster

To Marry A Monster

August Fortuna

5.0
Comment(s)
944
View
19
Chapters

Isla is a hardworking but naive college student chasing her dreams far from home...that is until one wild week in Vegas turns into her worst nightmare. Kidnapped by Dante Valenti, the cold, untouchable Don of the Las Vegas underworld, Isla is forced into a marriage she never asked for. The reason? Her father's debt. The price? Her freedom and dreams. Dante doesn't want love. He wants power. And Isla is nothing more than a pawn in a dangerous, top-secret deal-at least, that's what he wants her to believe. But the longer they stay together, the harder it is for them to ignore the tension between themselves. And as Isla starts to uncover the truth behind her father's debts, she discovers something terrifying: That she has a bounty on her head. And to Dante and many others, she's suddenly worth more dead than alive.

To Marry A Monster Chapter 1 The Wedding

The first time I got married, my husband got shot at the altar.

And the first time was now, and he had pushed me behind the altar, then disappeared from my view.

It all began at 10:15 am, and it would've started by 10 am on the dot had I not decided to piss off my soon to be husband and maids by deciding I wanted to go use the toilet immediately after I had been helped into my wedding gown. But I still made it on time, and I stood at the back of the cathedral, wearing a white off-shoulder custom-made Hany el Behairy dress bejeweled with precious jewels like pearls and diamonds. A dress that most definitely cost more than my future, an expensive luxurious dress that I wore to just show off how wealthy and powerful my husband was, not to actually beautify me.

The aisle stretched out, and I limped slowly across, alone, because I knew no one and had no family here to accompany me. Guests turned to look at me, but most of them weren't even smiling. They were just watching. Wondering why I was walking like I had a peg leg on my wedding day.

I wouldn't blame them. A mafia marriage wasn't really about love, it was more about power. Territory. Maintaining an image.

My future husband stood at the altar-Dante Valenti, the most powerful and most ruthless Don in all of Vegas- wearing a black suit. With his face straight as if set in stone and with eyes that looked like they hadn't known warmth since birth. He didn't even blink or acknowledge me as I reached the altar. Lucrezia, the maid of honor was standing at the altar, and she supported me as I tried to climb the steps up, so I wouldn't trip over. Dante didn't even care, he just had the same expression he'd always had, the one of bored superiority.

Immediately I stood facing Dante, the priest started quickly as if he had foreshadowed what was to come. He skipped the vows and all the romantic stuff, because it was obvious none of us would mean anything we said.

"Do you, Dante Valenti, take her to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

He didn't hesitate.

"I do."

Liar.

The priest turned to me and asked me the same question. I waited a bit too long to answer because I hated this man. With all my soul. All my heart. I wanted to say no, I wanted to scream get me out of here and take of my heels and run out of the cathedral.

But I didn't.

"I do," I said, bitterness lacing my words.

The Priest then declared us husband and wife and Dante leaned in to kiss me.

That was when the glass shattered.

The stained glass windows behind us exploded, sending glass shards flying everywhere into the air. Before I could even process what was going on, men in black were dropping from the ceiling, people were screaming, with some of them running or ducking for cover. But the noise that somewhat jerked me back to reality was a gunshot which rang out loud and clear, and next thing I knew, the white of Dante's shirt began turning red. Dante's shoulder jerked back under the impact of the bullet, but he immediately pushed me behind the pew.

"Stay low." He hissed at me, raising up my legs and tucking them sideways, so as to hide them from sticking out from the side. I was still in shock and couldn't even properly process what was going on, or understand why some patches of my dress turned red after Dante touched me. Dante turned away and pulled out a gun, then ran away, disappearing from my sight. Behind the altar, all I could think about was how I was going to die before my twenty-second birthday, all because I was going to marry a man whom I didn't even want to. Who I hated.

Seconds passed, and I began to grow uneasy. Where was Dante? What was even going on? No, I must look and see what's going on. I mustered up the courage to peek out through the side, so in case I was next, I would say the Lord's Prayer before I died. Immediately I did that, a bullet whizzed in my direction, but it wasn't for me. A man was trying to run to the altar too, so he could hide with me but the shooters caught him. He slumped in front of me, his eyes still open, staring at me, and blood seeping from his mouth.

I screamed.

And that was how they found me.

Continue Reading

You'll also like

When Love Rebuilds From Frozen Hearts

When Love Rebuilds From Frozen Hearts

Landslide

On the night of my career-defining art exhibition, I stood completely alone. My husband, Dante Sovrano, the most feared man in Chicago, had promised he wouldn’t miss it for the world. Instead, he was on the evening news. He was shielding another woman—his ruthless business partner—from a downpour, letting his own thousand-dollar suit get soaked just to protect her. The headline flashed below them, calling their new alliance a "power move" that would reshape the city. The guests at my gallery immediately began to whisper. Their pitying looks turned my greatest triumph into a public spectacle of humiliation. Then his text arrived, a cold, final confirmation of my place in his life: “Something came up. Isabella needed me. You understand. Business.” For four years, I had been his possession. A quiet, artistic wife kept in a gilded cage on the top floor of his skyscraper. I poured all my loneliness and heartbreak onto my canvases, but he never truly saw my art. He never truly saw me. He just saw another one of his assets. My heart didn't break that night. It turned to ice. He hadn't just neglected me; he had erased me. So the next morning, I walked into his office and handed him a stack of gallery contracts. He barely glanced up, annoyed at the interruption to his empire-building. He snatched the pen and signed on the line I’d marked. He didn’t know the page tucked directly underneath was our divorce decree. He had just signed away his wife like she was nothing more than an invoice for art supplies.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
To Marry A Monster To Marry A Monster August Fortuna Modern
“Isla is a hardworking but naive college student chasing her dreams far from home...that is until one wild week in Vegas turns into her worst nightmare. Kidnapped by Dante Valenti, the cold, untouchable Don of the Las Vegas underworld, Isla is forced into a marriage she never asked for. The reason? Her father's debt. The price? Her freedom and dreams. Dante doesn't want love. He wants power. And Isla is nothing more than a pawn in a dangerous, top-secret deal-at least, that's what he wants her to believe. But the longer they stay together, the harder it is for them to ignore the tension between themselves. And as Isla starts to uncover the truth behind her father's debts, she discovers something terrifying: That she has a bounty on her head. And to Dante and many others, she's suddenly worth more dead than alive.”
1

Chapter 1 The Wedding

24/05/2025

2

Chapter 2 The Mistake

24/05/2025

3

Chapter 3 The Kidnap

24/05/2025

4

Chapter 4 The Debt

24/05/2025

5

Chapter 5 The Decision

25/05/2025

6

Chapter 6 The Decision II

25/05/2025

7

Chapter 7 The Contract

25/05/2025

8

Chapter 8 The Booklet

26/05/2025

9

Chapter 9 The Pondering

29/05/2025

10

Chapter 10 The Bravura Gala

29/05/2025

11

Chapter 11 The Escape

01/06/2025

12

Chapter 12 The Heartbreak Hotel

01/06/2025

13

Chapter 13 The Capture

03/06/2025

14

Chapter 14 The Saviour

07/06/2025

15

Chapter 15 The Recovery

08/07/2025

16

Chapter 16 The Visit

04/10/2025

17

Chapter 17 The Discharge

04/10/2025

18

Chapter 18 The Wonderful Wedding

04/10/2025

19

Chapter 19 The Bloodied Up Bridegroom

15/10/2025