MARKED BY THE MAFIA
Marked By The Mafia – Episode 23&24
[…BOUND BY DUTY…]
GENRE: Dark Romance
TAGS: MAFIAS, OBSESSION, POSSESSIVE, LOVE, STEAMY, LOVE TRIANGLE, EMPIRE, BETRAYAL, CRIME, VIOLENCE, DEATHS AND MANY MORE…
✧༺✰༻✧
✮{…ON ALL FOURS…}✮
And Matteo?
He smiled.
Slow.
Dark.
Proud.
Like a predator watching his queen draw first blood.
___
Aurora stood tall, chest heaving, her eyes unyielding. For a woman they believed knew nothing of combat, she looked terrifying and dangerously composed.
And then… a clap.
The sound cracked through the silence like a whip.
Matteo.
Slowly, he brought his hands together again.
Clap and again, clap.
It wasn’t for amusement but laced with a dangerous pride that sent chills crawling down every spine in the room.
A slow, dark smile spread across his face.
The smile of a king watching his queen claim blood for the first time.
Clap… clap… clap…
Each strike of his palms was like a gunshot, echoing in the hollow chamber until it became unbearable to ignore.
One by one, the clan shifted uneasily.
Some lowered their gazes.
Others clenched their jaws, forced to acknowledge what they’d just witnessed, people like Viper.
And then, like a ripple in dark water, hands began to follow.
A hesitant clap from the left, another from the back until the sound grew, uneven but loud.
Rosa lay on the ground, humiliated, panting like a dying dog.
The applause had died down.
Matteo moved towards her, the silence was sharp, ten pairs of eyes locked on them both.
“Impressive”
Not husband to wife, but as her boss.
“Today you’ve fought, and you’ve proven you are not just my woman. You are Moretti blood now. And in this family…” his gaze swept across the circle, “…blood is the only currency that counts”
Aurora held his gaze without flinching.
Matteo’s lips curled into that dark, merciless smile.
“Welcome to the clan,Piccolina”
He turned his back on her, as if her fate had already been decided. A final sentence.
The others finally stirred.
Blade grinned, flipping his knife. “Didn’t think the pretty face had it in her”
Rocco let out a low whistle. “I’ll drink to that. Beat Rosa clean. Damn”
Scarlett chuckled.
“Guess she’s not useless after all” Sylvia muttered.
Rosa finally stood up, her eyes on Aurora before saying, “Welcome to the clan”
“Meeting’s over” Matteo said, and then he walked out.
And Viper? She hadn’t spoken a word since Matteo’s applause. Her eyes were daggers, her lips a thin, bitter line. When Aurora’s name was spoken aloud, Viper left the arena without a single glance back.
The heavy doors slammed behind her.
Nobody followed.
Blade strolled forward, the usual cocky grin tugging at his lips. He stopped right in front of Aurora, stretching out a hand.
“Welcome to the clan, princess” he said, voice dripping with playful arrogance.
Aurora’s eyes flicked to his hand… and then past it. She just turned and started to step away.
The room broke into laughter.
“Ouch” Blade muttered with mock hurt, clutching his chest dramatically as if she’d stabbed him. “She ignores me already”
Aurora paused and then she smirked. She swung lightly, her palm tapping against his chest in a playful hit.
“That’s Blade for you” Rocco said, shaking his head with a grin.
“Always trying too hard” Scarlett added.
“Always failing too” Sylvia muttered dryly.
Aurora exhaled, then walked out of the arena.
Blade caught up quickly, falling into step beside her, hands tucked into his pockets.
“So,” Aurora said suddenly. “Can you tell me anything I need to know about your boss?”
Blade arched a brow, looking almost amused by the question. “You really think any of us know Matteo Moretti?”
Aurora glanced at him, puzzled. “You’ve been with him for years”
“We’ve been with the name, Princess. The man?” He shook his head. “He’s a locked vault. All we know is…” Blade lowered his voice, as if the walls themselves might be listening. “He’s a twin”
Aurora stopped in her tracks, blinking. “Matteo… is a twin?”
Blade gave her a sly smirk. “So we heard. Never seen him. Never confirmed. But rumors stick for a reason”
Before she could push further, he sighed and threw his hands up. “Excuse me, nature calls” With a dramatic spin, he strode off down a side corridor, leaving her standing there with her mind spinning and her heart pounding.
A twin?
Aurora’s chest tightened, her thoughts tangled iA n more questions than answers.
She heard incoming footsteps and Blade came to view again.
“By the way…” he drawled, hands tucked lazily into his pockets, “…you fight good for a princess”
Aurora groaned, rolling her eyes. “Stop calling me that”
He tilted his head, mischief flashing. “Can’t, Princess. It suits you”
Her lips twitched despite herself. “Blade…”
“Princess” he countered immediately, stepping closer, lowering his voice like it was a secret between them.
She huffed a laugh, shoving at his chest. “You’re impossible”
He smirked, clutching his chest dramatically like she’d struck his heart. “Ouch. Right here. Wounded by a princess’s hand”
Aurora shook her head, laughter breaking through her exhaustion.
“Okay, bye for real this time” He flicked open his butterfly knife, and started swirling till he was out of sight.
Aurora stood rooted, a thousand thoughts colliding in her mind, and none of them had answers.
•••
AXEL’S PLACE*
Vixen’s eyes fluttered open and for a moment, her mind clawed through the fog of morphine, searching for memory, for footing. The last thing she remembered was blood, fire, Viper’s smirk vanishing in smoke… and a stranger’s arms holding her steady.
Her stomach clenched and burned. Instinct took over.
She shot upright too fast, ignoring the fire in her already stitched abdomen as her hand went automatically for the knife strapped to her thigh.
Only it wasn’t there.
Her fingers met bare skin. No blade. No gun. Nothing.
Her breath hitched, body tensing as shadows shifted at the edge of the room.
“Easy…”
The deep voice anchored her.
She whipped her head toward it, eyes narrowing. He was there. Axel. Sitting back in a chair like he owned the space, arms folded across his chest. The scar on his arm caught the light, the faintest smirk tugging his mouth as if her reaction amused him.
“You’ll tear those stitches if you keep moving like that””
Her glare sharpened. “Why the hell am I here?”
“Because you’d be a corpse if you weren’t,” he replied flatly, leaning forward just enough that she caught the weight in his gaze. Not pity, not concern. Just… assessment.
Vixen’s fists clenched at the sheets. “I didn’t ask you to save me”
“Good thing I wasn’t waiting for permission”
That stung more than the wound. Her pride bristled, her heart pounding with the rage of helplessness.
Her eyes darted around the small room, unfamiliar, bare except for the bed, a table, and his chair. Not Giovanni’s villa. Not any safehouse she knew. Neutral ground. Which made him dangerous.
She forced herself to sit straighter despite the tearing pain, her chin lifting. “You work for Giovanni”
His jaw ticked. A pause. “Sometimes”
“Sometimes?” she repeated, bitterness biting her tongue. “What the hell does that mean?”
He didn’t answer, just studied her as if her fury was a performance he’d already seen a thousand times.
Her lips curled into a sharp, humorless smile.
“You’re not much of a talker, are you?”
“Only when there’s something worth saying”
Her eyes narrowed. “And dragging me out of a burning villa wasn’t worth explaining?”
“You’ll live. That’s all you need to know”
Vixen seethed, every nerve in her body itching for a weapon. “You don’t get it. I don’t want to live if it means owing you”
That finally earned a reaction because his brows lifted slightly, and a low chuckle slipped out. “Good. Then don’t owe me. Pay me back”
She froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Axel leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“It means I didn’t pull you out of there for free. You want answers? You want control back? Then get strong enough to stand. Until then, you’re mine to keep alive”
Her pulse spiked at the audacity, the sheer nerve.
Vixen bared her teeth i..cz1n a dangerous smile. “Careful, Axel. Men who try to own me don’t tend to last long”
He smirked. “Good thing I’m not just a man, sweetheart”
“Why did you save me? Why not drag me to your boss like the obedient soldier you’re supposed to be?”
Axel didn’t answer.
Instead, his hand slid across the table beside him, fingers curling around the cold steel of a pistol. He spun it lazily, the barrel flashing under the dim light as if the weapon itself was mocking her question.
The silence stretched.
Click,spin and balance. The gun twirled between his fingers like a toy, but his gaze never left hers.
Vixen’s chest rose and fell in a stubborn rhythm, though her pulse hammered against her ribs. She hated the way her eyes kept flicking to that gun. Hated that he didn’t need to speak for his message to crawl into her bones.
Axel leaned back in his chair, lips curving into a faint, dangerous smile as the gun stilled in his grip.
No answer.
Just the soft sound of metal against skin… and the silent reminder that sometimes, silence itself was the deadliest weapon.
•••
BACK AT THE EMPIRE*
Matteo entered into a room, where his father rested. The heavy doors creaked open, and the scent of polished oak and faint incense drifted out.
Inside, Don Salvatore Moretti lay preserved in a glass coffin. His features were as sharp as ever, but pale now, as though even death itself bowed to him.
Matteo stood there, expression unreadable, eyes locked on the man who had ruled empires and spilled oceans of blood.
Then… beep.
The vibration in his pocket pulled him back. Matteo slipped out his phone and read the message, his jaw tightening slightly.
Without another glance at the coffin, he turned and walked out, heading straight for his office.
Moments later, every member of the clan was seated before him, including Aurora.
Matteo leaned against the desk, rolling his cuffs with calm precision before finally speaking.
“We’ve been invited to a masquerade ball”
Every pair of eyes fixed on him.
“We’ll all be there” He let the silence linger, then added, “The mission is simple. Clean. Neat. No suspicion”
“We kill Elijah Varga”
The words fell heavy, final, like a death sentence.
Matteo’s gaze swept the room, cold and piercing, daring anyone to so much as breathe out of turn.
“We end him before he tries anything stupid to get back his drive,” he said, his voice laced with quiet authority. “Are we clear?”
A chorus of “Yes, Boss” echoed back.
His eyes narrowed slightly, studying each face.
“Good” Matteo straightened, slipping his hands into his pockets. “This isn’t just another job. Elijah’s mistake was thinking he could outsmart me. Make sure the mask you wear isn’t the only thing hiding your identity”
“We walk in shadows” Matteo finished, voice calm but final. “And when we leave, Elijah Varga will never see another dawn”
The room fell silent again, the kind of silence that promised blood.
“Be ready by 7. Dismissed”
One by one, they filed out, leaving the office suffocating with quiet authority. But as Aurora turned to leave, his voice stopped her mid-stride.
“Not you”
She rolled her eyes, then turned back.
Matteo rose from behind his desk, his dark eyes never left Aurora as he crossed the space between them.
When he reached her, his hand slid around her waist possessively. He drew her close until her breath caught against his chest. His head dipped, lips grazing dangerously near the curve of her neck, the heat of his breath making her shiver.
Just as his mouth was about to press against her skin, Aurora’s voice cut through the charged silence.
“Who’s Bianca?”
Matteo froze, his grip tightening unconsciously.
“Who’s Bianca?” She repeated.
“Answer me, Matteo”
His jaw ticked, his grip on her waist still like steel.
“How did you find out?” he rasped.
“That’s not important—”
“How did you find out!!?” His roar shook the room, his hand jerking up midair as if to strike her. But at the last second, he stopped his fist slamming into the wall instead, plaster cracking under the force.
He turned, his breathing harsh, his shadow swallowing hers.
“Get out before I hurt you”
“I’m not going anywhere”
His head snapped back to her, his eyes dark and dangerous.
“You won’t like what I’ll do to you, piccola bellezza” he groaned, his voice a low warning edged with desire.
“You’ve done worse to me,” she shot back, chin lifted. “I don’t care what you do now”
That was it. The last thread of control snapped.
Matteo seized her chin, forcing her gaze into his, his breath hot against her lips as he whispered…
“Drop,” he breathed, his voice gravel-dark. “On all fours… before I forget what little control I have left”
•
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TBC😈
