MARKED BY THE MAFIA
Marked By The Mafia – Episode 19&20
[…BOUND BY DUTY…]
GENRE: Dark Romance
TAGS: MAFIAS, OBSESSION, POSSESSIVE, LOVE, STEAMY, LOVE TRIANGLE, EMPIRE, BETRAYAL, CRIME, VIOLENCE, DEATHS AND MANY MORE…
✧༺✰༻✧
✮{…THE CONSEQUENCES…}✮
She lay there helplessly, losing blood. Viper had already escaped.
___
Vixen’s breath was ragged, sounds blurring together… flames crackling, distant shouts, the rapid thud of boots getting closer… and then fading again.
She couldn’t move.
Couldn’t FIGHT!
“DAMNIT!”
Her fingers twitched where they pressed against the bullet wound, and the taste of iron coated her tongue.
Just then, a pair of boots stopped in front of her.
Not guards.
Not Viper.
Someone else.
A shadow knelt beside her, grabbing her chin roughly and tilting her face toward the light.
“Still breathing” the voice muttered.
Deep and unfamiliar.
She blinked through blood and smoke and saw him. Dark tactical gear, a pistol holstered low, and a scar on his left arm.
“Who—” she rasped.
“Save your breath, sweetheart” He grabbed her, lifting her into his arms before she could argue.
Pain tore through her, but she couldn’t even scream. She just clutched at his vest weakly as he moved.
Through the burning hallway.
Down a side corridor she hadn’t even noticed.
He kicked open a service door and emerged into the shadows of the forested hillside behind the villa.
A waiting dirt bike.
“Where the hell—” she managed, barely holding on.
“You ask too many questions” he muttered, pulling a cloth from his pocket and pressing it roughly to her wound. “Bleed out, or shut up and let me save you. Your choice”
Her eyes narrowed weakly. “Who… do you work for?”
He paused for half a second hen swung on the bike with her still in his arms.
His lips curved into a smirk.
“Giovanni”
Vixen raised an eyebrow clearly surprised, but said nothing.
The trees blurred around her as the bike roared to life beneath them.
Her body bounced with every bump, pain splintering through her side.
Still, she found the strength to glare up at him, even if her vision was swimming.
“Why… the hell are you helping me?” she croaked.
Silence.
“Hey!” she rasped louder, trying to shove at his chest, weak as it was. “Are you deaf or just an asshole?”
Still nothing.
Her fists balled or tried to ’cause her fingers barely curled.
Her strength was gone and it infuriated her.
“I don’t need saving” she gritted out.
He snorted, just once but said nothing.
‘Put me down” she snapped.
Nothing.
“I’m a damn mafia soldier, not some fucking damsel in distress!”
Still nothing.
Vixen’s jaw clenched, rage boiling in her chest hotter than the blood loss.
This… this stranger had no right to carry her like she was some helpless kitten. She hated this… the powerlessness, the dependence, the silence.
She wanted answers.
She wanted control.
She wanted her gun and her strength.
Instead, all she had was his silence…
And the sound of the engine as he took her deeper.
“At least tell me your damn name!” she hissed.
He slowed the bike slightly, the engine purring low as he spoke for the first time since.
“Axel”
Just that.
And then… silence again.
Vixen blinked at him through half-lidded eyes, rage still simmering. “Axel…” she muttered like she was etching it into her memory.
Then, with all the strength she had left, she lifted her fist, trembling and slow, and aimed for his jaw.
He didn’t even flinch.
Her knuckles barely brushed his chin before her arm dropped, useless and drained.
“Tch… lucky bastard” she mumbled, head lolling back against his chest.
The engine roared again.
“I’ll keep the punch for that bastard” she whispered darkly, thinking of Viper.
•••
BACK AT THE EMPIRE*
The grand chamber of the Empire was deathly silent.
Ten pairs of eyes staring straight at her.
Vixen stood in the center of the circular floor like a criminal at trial except in the Moretti Empire, trials weren’t about justice.
They were about blood.
She looked like a mess. Dried blood streaked her side, her hair clung to her face.
Still, she stood tall.
Matteo stood at the far end of the room, back straight, arms behind him, black leather gloves stretched over hands.
The ten chairs of the circle were filled.
ACE. BLADE. ROCCO. STORM. AXE. SCARLETT. SYLVIA. ROSA.
No one moved.
Blade twirled his knife glaring at her.
Ace hadn’t moved an inch. Not since she walked in.
Matteo’s black eyes landed on Viper and he walked towards her in silence until he stopped directly before her.
“You have exactly one minute to make me regret not pulling the trigger the second you walked in here”
“I did what I had to, boss” she said.
Matteo tilted his head. “Did what you had to?”
“You disobeyed orders, got caught like a rookie, forced your partner off her target, and left her bleeding on the floor like trash”
Vixen’s jaw twitched but she didn’t speak.
Matteo’s hand shot out and grabbed Viper by the throat, his grip iron but steady. Not choking her, not yet, but reminding her that he could crush her windpipe with less effort than a blink.
Her boots scraped slightly on the floor.
“You compromised the mission because you wanted to play lone wolf, because your ego couldn’t handle Vixen getting the spotlight. Is that what this is about?”
Viper’s eyes narrowed. “She always takes the spotlight”
“She earned the spotlight!” Matteo’s voice finally thundered, rattling the damn chandelier.
The clan didn’t flinch.
They were used to the sound of hell.
He released her throat with a shove.
Viper staggered back two steps.
Scarlett let out a low chuckle.
“Should’ve just poisoned yourself” Sylvia muttered.
Matteo turned, back to Viper, facing the others.
“She jeopardized the drive. If that download was corrupted, our covers would’ve been blown. Our network would be exposed. Every single one of you would be at risk”
No one spoke.
Then Blade broke the silence. “Vecchio’s still breathing too. Probably planning his revenge as we speak”
Matteo turned back to her slowly. “And when he comes… and blood spills again… that’ll be on you”
Viper’s hands clenched at her sides.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” she said. “Just a chance to fix it”
“You won’t get one,” Matteo replied, smiling, but the kind of smile demons wear before dragging you down. “You don’t get a chance. You get punishment”
He turned to Ace. “Chains”
Ace nodded once.
Two seconds later, cold steel was clamped around Viper’s wrists. No resistance.
Matteo walked up again, this time whispering against her ear, voice dipped in venom.
“I should gut you where you stand. But I want you alive to feel what comes next”
“Strip”
She froze.
The room remained dead silent.
“You want to play hero in my empire? Then bleed for it”
Viper’s fingers shook as she began pulling off her outfits, exposing her smooth back… and the moment she was bare, Blade stepped forward with a twisted grin, holding a glowing iron rod plucked from the red coals nearby.
She didn’t dare flinch.
“Pain,” Matteo said darkly, “reminds us of our place”
The iron touched her back—
SIZZLE!
Her scream ripped through the chamber like a banshee.
She buckled.
Scarlett and Rosa stepped forward, forcing her upright again.
Another brand. Lower this time.
SZZZZZK!
Tears streamed down her face, silent and searing.
“On your knees” Ace commanded.
Blade dropped a small wooden plank covered in nails at her feet.
Viper’s breath hitched at the sight.
Matteo’s words were louder now. “Kneel”
She hesitated and Axe cocked a pistol to the side like a warning.
Viper dropped immediately on the nails.
CRUNCH.
Her knees gave out as the nails pierced through skin. Blood poured freely now, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip to muffle another scream.
Sylvia handed Matteo a whip. He took it without breaking eye contact.
“Three lashes for your stupidity”
Crack!
The first lash tore through her shoulder. Skin split and blood sprayed.
Crack!
Another.
She didn’t scream this time.
Because Viper was a mafia and pain was her heritage.
But her soul… was cracking.
And Matteo knew it.
After the final lash, he tossed the whip aside like it was nothing.
“Let this scar remind you of the right thing to do next time” he murmured.
Rocco stepped forward with something in his hands, a thick wire, its ends sparking.
“No…” Viper whispered, breath catching.
He wrapped the wire around her wrists, binding them behind her raw, bleeding back.
The shock hit fast.
A searing jolt of electricity that arched through her body. Her scream didn’t sound human, it was guttural, broken. Her body convulsed. Her knees tried to fold, but the nails caught her again, stabbing deeper.
The chamber reeked of burnt skin and blood and betrayal.
When the wire was finally yanked off, her body sagged forward, chest heaving, face streaked with sweat, blood, and tears.
Matteo leaned in close, voice a whisper only she could hear.
“Next time you do something like that, I’ll cut your tongue out and make you swallow it”
Then he straightened, turned away, and walked out.
Not a single one of them moved until the door slammed behind him.
Viper’s body finally gave out and she collapsed, unconscious, crumpling into her own blood.
Silence followed.
Until Ace muttered, “She’s lucky he walked away”
One by one, the others turned and filed out looking cold, unbothered and indifferent except Storm who stayed.
He didn’t move for a long moment, just stood there… staring at the broken figure slumped in the middle of the room, bloodied, unconscious, and half-burned.
Then he stepped forward.
Kneeling beside her, he touched her neck lightly checking if she was still breathing.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips, too soft to be heard by anyone else.
Without a word, Storm slipped his arms beneath her ravaged body, lifting her gently into his arms like a fragile thing that might shatter even more. Her head rolled against his chest, blood staining the front of his favourite hoodie.
Bridal-style.
He carried her as if she weighed nothing.
As if she hadn’t just been tortured by her own.
The massive doors creaked open again as he stepped through, her blood trailing behind them, marking the path.
And then the doors shut once more, sealing the room in silence.
Up above, Blade leaned against a pillar, twirling his butterfly knife slowly, his expression unreadable.
He hadn’t left like the others.
His eyes, darker than usual, lingered on the spot where Viper had collapsed just moments ago. Where she’d bled, screamed, and still… hadn’t begged.
A low sigh escaped him as he flipped the blade once more.
“I hope Vixen’s fine… wherever the hell she is” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
“You should know Vixen by now” came a voice from behind him.
Blade didn’t turn, but he smirked when he heard the snap of a gum bubble.
Rosa.
“She’s definitely fine”
Blade tucked his blade into his boot and glanced toward the far corridor.
His smirk faded.
“…She better be”
•••
MATTEO’S MANSION*
Aurora slowly opened the bedroom door, the mansion is always silent and she hates it. Imagine staying here from morning till night, doing absolutely NOTHING. Very tiring and boring.
She needed air.
No… she needed answers.
Her jaw clenched as she descended the stairs.
Without hesitation this time, she turned down the corridor that had called to her before. That room.
The door was slightly ajar, just like the first time as if it was waiting for her.
She slipped inside.
The familiar scent hit her again. Metallic, heavy. The air carried sweat and gunpowder. Weapons lined the walls like deadly art, untouched but alive. She ran her hand along the cold edge of a throwing knife before tossing it away, that’s not why she’s here.
Her eyes flicked to the wall and there she was.
The woman in the portrait.
Aurora moved closer. The frame was pristine, the canvas hauntingly beautiful. That same sadness in the woman’s eyes stared back at her like she knew what it meant to belong to Matteo Moretti.
“Who are you?” Aurora whispered.
The woman didn’t answer, of course, but the ache in Aurora’s chest deepened.
Was she Matteo’s lover?
His first wife?
Dead?
Worse… forgotten?
Aurora reached out, her fingertips grazing the painted lips. Cold.
“I bet you hated him too,” she muttered bitterly. “Or maybe you loved him. Maybe that’s why you ended up in a damn frame”
A sound behind her, a soft creak.
She spun quickly, adrenaline shooting through her.
But no one was there.
Only silence.
She took one final look at the portrait, then whispered, “I won’t end up like you”
But then, that same feeling.
Like the shadows behind her had come alive.
She turned slowly, dread curling in her stomach.
Matteo.
His tall frame emerged from the dimness like a phantom from a nightmare.
Eyes locked on her coldly.
He didn’t speak at first. Just stared at her with that unreadable expression that always made her feel like prey.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He finally spoke up.
Aurora stiffened.
“I—was just walking. Looking around”
His jaw tightened.
“This place isn’t for you. You don’t come in here. Ever”
Her hands clenched at her sides. “It’s just a room, Matteo”
His eyes flicked to the painting, darkening further.
“You looked at her”
Aurora nodded slightly. “Who is she? She looks… sad”
He didn’t answer her but she was persistent.
“Was she someone you loved? Is that why—”
“Stop”
But she didn’t.
“Why is she hidden away here like some buried sin? What happened to her?”
That did it.
Matteo strode forward.
One arm shot out, grabbing the portrait from the wall in a violent motion.
Without a word, he hurled it across the room.
The frame shattered against the far wall with a deafening crash. Glass exploded outward. A piece struck Aurora’s leg, slicing her skin.
She gasped, falling back a step as pain bloomed.
Blood welled up, trickling down her calf.
He turned to her, fury twisting his features. “I told you to stop talking about it, but you’re too damn stubborn!”
Before she could blink, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.
“Matteo! What the hell are you doing? Put me down!”
She pounded weak fists against his back, legs kicking in protest.
He just stormed out of the room, carrying her like a wild thing needing to be caged again.
•
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TBC😈
