Devil at the Altar - A Mafia Romance

Devil at the Altar - A Mafia Romance

nicolefox859 · Completed · 172.6k Words

358
Hot
2.4k
Views
138
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

A kingdom of corruption—that is my birthright.But before my father gives me the throne that’s rightfully mine, I must fulfill one condition:I must find a wife.Dani is the perfect target.Innocent, beautiful, unsuspecting.But vulnerable. Oh, so vulnerable.She says she doesn’t need me.But if there’s one thing I understand, it’s desire.That’s the only weapon I need to bring her world to its knees.So let the wedding bells ring.I’ve found my fake wife.And I’ll drag her to the altar if I have to

Chapter 1

Angelo

I glide through the night in my sleek black sedan. Windows tinted. Watch golden. Knuckles bloody.

It’s time to take up our collections.

The men I am calling upon do not want to see me darken their doorstep. But they deserve neither my pity nor my mercy. I am coming to collect what is owed. What is rightfully mine. Nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, my second-in-command, Levi, doesn’t agree with me being here. I can feel him scowling, seated next to me in the back seat. He believes that a man like me—the son of Carlo De Maggio and the next in line to become don of the infamous De Maggio Family—should not dirty himself with something so simple as the collection of tribute money. He’s been in my ear about it since the moment we set out on this little errand.

“Tell me something, Giuseppe,” I muse, interrupting Levi’s whining.

Giuseppe glances in the rearview, guiding the steering wheel. He is a giant man, my lieutenant, with a soft face and dark eyes. A good, trustworthy soldier.

“Yes, boss?” he asks.

“Is it possible for the men to respect a leader who hides in his castle?”

He narrows his eyes. That’s what I like about him. He always thinks carefully before speaking.

“No, I don’t think so,” he rumbles. “Not if he stays there all the time. Or unless he’s old. Men can respect a man who’s already paid his dues.”

Levi grunts beside me, shaking his head. He’s stick-thin with a wisp of black mustache and dark brown eyes. I’ve known him since we were kids, and those eyes have always been the same: searching. Perceptive. Aware.

“Dio aiutami, Angelo,” he growls. “Next thing I know, you’ll want to clean the fucking toilets, just to prove a point. Tell the truth: you just want to take your anger out on this poor city.”

I grin savagely and punch him in the shoulder. A little too hard, I’ll admit. He raises his fist as though to strike me back. Both of us smile.

“The collections have to be made, my old, grumpy friend, and who better than us, the most dangerous and capable men in the city?”

“Remind me to get you business cards with that printed on it,” Levi drawls. “Christ, you’re on something special tonight, even for you.”

“Get with the spirit, Levi,” I say, laughing. “It’s collection time. Best time of the month.”

“For you, maybe,” he drawls. “Not so much for our evening’s hosts.”

He scratches his chin and broods as Giuseppe pulls up outside the rundown apartment building and parks. The three of us step out and stride over to the intercom. As usual, bystanders scamper out of our way.

I press a buzzer at random.

“Y-yes?” an old-sounding lady inquires, voice crackly. “Who is it?”

I pitch my voice up high, feigning innocence, as I say, “I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am, but we have important business in 10F and I’m afraid they are not answering. Would you be ever so kind as to buzz us up? Now, I know you must be careful nowadays—this city can be dangerous, can’t it?—but let me just tell you two things: my name is Angelo De Maggio and I have it on good authority that as soon as my business is taken care of, you’ll find two-hundred dollars under your doormat.” I let go of the button. Levi laughs and shakes his head sadly at my side.

Silence, and then, “Yes, yes.” The door opens.

I glance at Giuseppe. “Attend to the cash for our little helper. We’ll take the collection.”

“You got it, boss.”

Levi is not happy with me. “You gave your real name. That could be dangerous. What if her nephew is a goddamn Albanian lieutenant or something?”

“You are the most paranoid man I have ever met. Come on, we’re running behind.”

We head to the top floor of the apartment where our target—Derrick Salsworthy, a two-bit dealer of stolen and knockoff electronics—lives. He borrowed from the Family because he had a business opportunity that he thought just couldn’t fail, and men like him can’t exactly stroll into a city bank and get a legitimate loan.

But of course, it did fail. They almost always do. And now, the time for repayment is past due.

I knock heavily on the door so it trembles in the frame. Levi stands back, hand idling impatiently near his hip, where his gun hides.

“How crazy do you think this poor bastard is?” I laugh. “You think he’s going to kill Levi Mancini? He’d get drawn and quartered and have a different chunk of him sent to all five boroughs. Relax. You’re putting me on edge.”

Levi shakes his head. “It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s you. You shouldn’t be out here.”

“Relax,” I repeat. “Rilassare. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Who is it?” Derrick finally grumbles from the other side of the door.

“You know who it is,” I say pleasantly. “Open up, Derrick. First and final warning.”

The door cracks open and immediately, he’s full of excuses. Derrick has greasy hair and dirty fingernails and—oh, for fuck’s sake—he’s trotted his wife and kid out to try and make us soft. They stand at the rear of the apartment, near the grimiest, water-stained section of wall, wearing hangdog expressions as if to fill us with pity.

My rage rises. What sort of man uses his family as props?

“We have been calling, Derrick,” I growl.

“Have you?” He tries to laugh as his eyes move over me and Levi, his Adam’s apple shifting as he swallows nervously. “My phone’s been broken, Angelo. You know me. I’d never ignore a call from you. I’m not an idiot.”

I don’t even listen to what he says. It’s as meaningless as a cow bleating at the slaughterhouse. “You’ve missed your payment. You owe us two thousand dollars. Does it seem like a good idea to owe the De Maggio family two thousand dollars?”

I walk close to him, having to force myself not to look at his family. The wife has her hand across her kid’s chest. She’s shielding him from me. As if I’d ever fucking hit a woman or a kid.

Anger rages in me. Derrick is the one who borrowed money and couldn’t pay. He should be the one cowering. Not this desperate woman. Not this innocent child.

He blinks stupidly at me. “I …”

“Spit it out, Derrick.”

“I’m just surprised to see you here, Mr. De Maggio,” he splutters. “I expected—”

“Some poor bastard you might be able to talk into letting you off in exchange for, oh, I don’t know—an hour alone in bed with your wife? Someone gullible? Someone merciful? Let me spare you the trouble and inform you: you expected wrong.” I feel a cold spear of anger moving through my spine. I try to control it. I try to breathe.

Most of all, I try not to look at his wife and child cowering in the corner.

“Do you have my money or not?” I snarl.

“I can get your money, sir,” he mumbles.

“Wrong answer, Derrick.”

“Stronzo,” Levi swears in mock disgust, shaking his head. “I think you owe us four thousand dollars now, Derrick. For the medical bills.”

“M-medical bills?” There is no color left to his face.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Twin Prince Alphas Student Mate

Twin Prince Alphas Student Mate

4.7k Views · Completed · H.A Shah
Caught in a web of forbidden love, conflicting loyalties, and hidden truths, Lyla finds herself at the epicenter of a love story as complicated as it is intense. "Fate's Chosen Mate: Bloodmoon Chronicles" delves into the tumultuous life of Lyla, a young student at a prestigious academy for supernaturals. Lyla isn't just any student; she's linked by destiny to Cameron and Samuel, her warrior trainers who are also the enigmatic alpha princes of the werewolf race.
As her 18th birthday approaches, her brothers warn her about the powerful pull she might feel toward dominant wolves. But it's not just any wolves they need to worry about—it's her teachers. Cameron and Samuel are more than just older, wiser, and off-limits; they might just be her fated mates.
While navigating complex relationships, academic pressures, and the normal trials of young adult life, an unexpected threat jeopardizes the academy. Explosions rock their world, forcing Lyla and her love interests into a chaotic swirl of heroism, heartbreak, and hard choices.
Will Lyla follow her heart and let destiny lead the way, or will the very rules that bind their world tear them apart? Amidst turmoil and taboo, Lyla must make choices that could forever change the course of her life and the lives of those she holds dear.
Discover a story where love isn't just complicated—it's forbidden, ageless, and defies all rules. In a world of supernatural beings and extraordinary stakes, will Lyla's love life be another casualty, or her saving grace?
After One Night with the Alpha

After One Night with the Alpha

542.6k Views · Completed · Sansa
One Night. One Mistake. One Lifetime of Consequences.

I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.

My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.

But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.

In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.

"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.

"Who the fuck is Jason?"

My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.

I ran away for my life!

But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!

They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.

Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”

There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.

WARNING: Mature Readers Only
Human Capture (Up North #2)

Human Capture (Up North #2)

1.7k Views · Ongoing · eenboterham
She was a ghost in the trees. Now, she is a prisoner of the pack.

Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.

Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.

One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.

But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon

Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon

498.3k Views · Completed · Riley
My name is Audrey, and I'm the adopted daughter of the Bailey family.
Four years ago, the Bailey family faced a devastating financial crisis.
Just when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, a mysterious benefactor emerged, offering salvation with one condition: a contract marriage.
Rumors swirled about this enigmatic man—whispers claimed he was hideously ugly and too ashamed to show his face, possibly harboring dark, twisted obsessions.
Without hesitation, the Baileys sacrificed me to protect their precious biological daughter, forcing me to take her place as a pawn in this cold, calculated arrangement.
Luckily, in those four years, the mysterious husband never asked to meet in person.
Now, in the final year of our arrangement, the husband I've never met is demanding we meet face to face.
But disaster struck the night before my return—drunk and disoriented, I stumbled into the wrong hotel room and ended up sleeping with the legendary financial mogul, Caspar Thornton.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

2m Views · Ongoing · Jaylee
Soft hot lips find the shell of my ear and he whispers, "You think I don't want you?" He pushes his hips forward, grinding into the back of my ass and I groan. "Really?" He chuckles.

"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."

I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.

Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.

"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."


New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.

Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates

When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.

But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Princess's Revenge

The Princess's Revenge

64.6k Views · Completed · Xena Kessler
Two nations are at war. Valencia's pack is massacred by Alpha Marcus, and she is enslaved by him. When he dies, she is to be buried alive with him as a sacrifice.

Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.

Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.

As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Cursed To Be His

Cursed To Be His

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Sophie Smith
Talia Morgan was born a wolf.
At thirteen, everything changed.
After her parents were murdered, she was cursed by a powerful witch and used as a vessel for Elder magic. Saving her life came at an impossible cost; the curse was broken, but so was the wolf inside her, leaving her human.
Ten years later, Talia hides her grief behind sharp sarcasm and a smile she no longer believes. When a rogue attack proves she can no longer protect herself, or the people she loves, she leaves the only home she's ever known for the quiet human town of Ashbourne Hollow, determined to disappear.
Instead, she catches the attention of the town's most dangerous owner.
Alaric Lazarus is a vampire who rules from the black castle overlooking Ashbourne Hollow. He is cold, enigmatic, and impossible to read, but he awakens something in Talia she can't explain. She doesn't trust him. He trusts her even less.
Then vampires begin turning up dead.
Forced into an uneasy alliance, Talia and Alaric uncover a trail that leads back to the family she lost... and the curse she thought she'd escaped. As old enemies emerge from the shadows and buried secrets come to light, Talia discovers that everything she believed about her past was a lie.
Because the curse that stole her wolf was never meant to save her.
It was meant to lead her to him.
This is book 3 in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Book 1 - The Matchmaker
Book 2 - The Heir of Flame and Fang
Cursed Fates

Cursed Fates

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Taylor Ashcraft
Charlotte Sinclair was murdered at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. After dying, she wakes up in the body of another. She pieces together information from her first day as Aribella Voss, realizing that she's been reincarnated into a book she knew all too well. The only problem: She was fated to die in this story as well. She sets out on a mission to ensure that doesn't happen, but when she begins changing important parts of the story, she also changes the plot of the story she knew. Without the upper hand, Aribella no longer has idea what lies in her future.
Where I End and She Begins

Where I End and She Begins

974 Views · Completed · Briana Wilson
Amelia is starting high school with her best friend Lola — confident, magnetic, fearless Lola — the girl who makes the world feel manageable. While Amelia juggles grief, an absent father, and the heavy responsibility of raising her younger brothers, Lola is her escape. Her courage. Her voice. The version of herself she wishes she could be.
But when a body lies at Amelia’s feet, and her hands are covered in blood that isn’t hers, one question echoes louder than the rest:
How did it come to this?
As the school year unfolds, cracks begin to show — in friendships, in family, and in Amelia’s own mind. The lines between loyalty and control blur. Between truth and perception. Between who she is… and who she thinks she needs to be.
Because some friendships don’t just shape you.
They consume you.
And when the illusion shatters, there’s always something left behind.
My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret

My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret

1.7k Views · Completed · Marina Ellington
A wild party night leaves me with fuzzy memories and a mortifying encounter I can't quite piece together. Then I meet Marco—the quiet basketball player who just transferred for training—and there's an instant spark I can't explain.

As the team's benchwarmer, Marco practices harder than anyone, though few seems to notice. There's something about his quiet determination that draws me in, and I find myself falling for the underdog.

But when Marco's true story starts unraveling—about that first night, about who he really is, about the future he's destined for—I realize I might have gotten in way over my head.

And there's another problem: this was always meant to be temporary. His training program has an end date, and we're both fighting against a reality that seems determined to pull us apart.

When everything is on the line, how far are we willing to go for love?
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

19.6k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?

.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.6m Views · Ongoing · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination