The Devil's Bride

The Devil's Bride

Prettyvillian · Ongoing · 208.2k Words

954
Hot
955
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

"You took everything from me."
Simone Alejandro was supposed to have her perfect fairytale ending—marrying the man she loved, uniting two powerful mafia families, and living a life of luxury. But in a single gunshot, her world shattered. Her father, the feared Don Alejandro, lay dying in her arms. Her fiancé ran like a coward. And she? She was captured.
By him.
"You're nothing but a spoiled princess playing pretend."
Nicholas Stravkos is a man who doesn’t ask twice. Cold, ruthless, and deadly, he stormed into Simone’s wedding and left a trail of blood in his wake. He expected to find a delicate little princess, begging for her life. Instead, he found fire—a woman too fierce, too proud, and too furious to break.
"Kill me, or let me go. But I will never bow to you."
Now, locked in his mansion, Simone refuses to be just another pawn in his game. She wants revenge. She wants answers. She wants out.
But Nicholas isn’t planning to let her go.
Not yet.
Not when she’s the most thrilling challenge he’s ever faced.
Not when she makes his blood heat with every sharp-tongued retort.
Not when she looks at him like she’s ready to destroy him… or kiss him.
"Careful, princess. Keep pushing me, and you might just like where it leads."
In a world of power, betrayal, and forbidden temptation, Simone must decide—fight against the man who stole her life or give in to the dark pull of the devil in Armani.

Chapter 1

  ~SIMONE'S POV~

  The weight of a hundred years of Alejandro's legacy rested on the ivory silk draped over my shoulders. My wedding dress, a custom Vera Wang creation worth more than most homes, felt more like armor than a celebration.

  This marriage was more about a military alliance than a love match.

  "You look beautiful, mija."

  My father's voice, usually commanding enough to make grown men tremble, softened as he entered the cathedral's private lobby.

  Don Vincenzo Alejandro, feared patriarch of Sicily's most powerful crime family, looked at me not as his heir but as his daughter.

  Just for a moment.

  "Is it time already?" I asked though I knew the answer. The cathedral bells had just finished their third toll.

  He nodded, approaching to adjust my veil with surprising gentleness. His fingers, the same ones that had signed death warrants and million-dollar deals, trembled slightly.

  Age or emotion, I couldn't tell.

  "Your mother would be proud," he said, the rarest compliment from a man who mentioned my dead mother perhaps once a year.

  "You're securing our family's future today."

  That's what this was...security.

  My marriage to Rafael Russo would unite two powerful families, ending generations of bloody territorial quarrels. My heart had little to do with it, though Rafael was handsome enough with his perfectly sculpted jaw and piercing blue eyes.

  He had dated me properly, respected my boundaries, and made promises of freedom within our arrangement.

  It was the best I could hope for as Don Alejandro's only child.

  "I won't disappoint you, Papa," I promised, meeting his gaze in the mirror. Ice blue eyes...my eyes...stared back from his weathered face.

  The only biological trait I had inherited from him.

  He squeezed my shoulders, a gesture worth a thousand words from such a taciturn man. "You never have."

  The door opened, revealing my uncle Baron, my father's younger brother. Unlike Papa's softened behavior, Baron's face remained sharp as a blade, his dark suit impeccably pressed.

  "The guests are waiting, Vincenzo," he said, not bothering to hide his impatience. "The Russos are getting restless."

  My father's face hardened instantly, the softness vanishing. "They've waited three generations for this alliance. They can wait three more minutes."

  Baron's lip curled slightly before he nodded, backing out of the doorway.

  "Remember who you are today," my father said, turning back to me. "You're not just a bride. You're an Alejandro."

  With that, he offered his arm. I took it, feeling the solid strength that had protected me my entire life. The last walk I would take is with Simone Alejandro.

  After today, I would be Simone Russo...still powerful, but different.

  The cathedral's massive doors swung open, revealing hundreds of faces turned expectantly toward me. The criminal elite of Europe filled the pews....capos, underbosses, allied families, and halfhearted parties who had come to witness the historic union.

  Millions of jewelry sparkle beneath the stained glass light. Almost as many firearms slept beneath designer suits.

  At the altar waited Rafael, handsome in his bespoke tuxedo, a victorious smile playing on his lips as he watched me approach on my father's arm.

  His family flanked his side...the Russo patriarch, his brothers, and their top men.

  Our side mirrored theirs, my uncles Baron and Hector, our capos, the men who'd watched me grow up while simultaneously carrying out my father's most brutal orders.

  This union would end bloodshed. My sacrifice...if you could call marrying a handsome, wealthy man a sacrifice...would save lives.

  I repeated this to myself as my father and I processed down the aisle, my cathedral-length train trailing behind like a silken river.

  Rafael's eyes never left mine, his smile growing as I approached. Was there something else in his expression? Triumph, yes, but something more calculating? I dismissed the thought.

  Pre-wedding nerves. Nothing more.

  The orchestra reached a crescendo as we arrived at the altar steps. My father paused, turning toward me for the traditional blessing.

  He lifted my veil, leaned forward, and kissed my forehead...a gesture so rare I nearly gasped.

  "Be strong," he whispered, "no matter what happens."

  Before I could question his strange choice of words, he placed my hand in Rafael's waiting palm. My fiancé's fingers closed around mine, warm but somehow wrong.

  I pushed the feeling aside. This was my duty. My destiny.

  The ancient Italian priest began the ceremony, his Latin phrases echoing through the vaulted ceiling. Rafael's thumb stroked across my knuckles in what should have been a comforting move but felt possessive instead.

  "Dearly beloved..." the priest began in accented English.

  I quickly looked over the crowd and saw where our security teams were positioned.

  My eye caught a tall figure standing at the very back of the cathedral...a man I didn't recognize. Broad-shouldered, with dark hair and unusual golden eyes that somehow caught the light even from that distance.

  Something about him seemed familiar, yet I was sure we had never met. I would have remembered those eyes.

  He stared directly at me, expressionless, as if marking out my worth.

  "If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony..."

  A movement near the side doors caught my attention. Men in dark suits enter silently. Not ours. Not the Russos. My body tensed, years of training kicking in.

  "Rafael," I whispered, squeezing his hand in warning.

  He frowned, following my gaze. His hand tightened painfully around mine.

  The priest continued obliviously, "Let them speak now or forever hold their..."

  The first gunshot shattered the stained-glass window of Saint Michael, sending colored glass raining down on the screaming guests. Before I could process what was happening, my father shoved me roughly behind him.

  "Down!" he roared, reaching for the weapon he always carried.

  Too late.

  The second shot hit him square in the chest, blooming red against his white shirt.

  My father...the invincible Don Alejandro, looked surprised more than pained as he stumbled back against me. I caught him instinctively, the weight of him driving us both to our knees.

  "Papa!" The scream tore from my throat as chaos erupted.

  More gunshots. Screams. The wedding guests are diving for cover or drawing weapons. Through it all, my father's blood soaked into my white dress, turning ivory silk to crimson.

  "Simone," he gasped, clutching my hand with fading strength. "Trust no one. The ledger in my..."

  His words cut off as another pang of pain twisted his features. I looked up desperately, searching for help, for Rafael.

  My fiancé was gone. In the moment when my world collapsed, he had run.

  "Someone help!" I screamed, pressing my hand against the wound as my father had taught me years ago. Too much blood. Far too much.

  "Papa, stay with me!"

  His eyes...my eyes...focused on me one last time. "Forgive me for not seeing..." he whispered.

  Then nothing. The great Don Alejandro went lifeless in my arms, his final secrets dying with him.

  I don't know how long I knelt there, cradling him, my wedding dress transformed into a burial shroud. The gunfire had stopped. The cathedral had emptied of all but the dead and dying.

  And then footsteps. Counted. Slow. Purposeful.

  I looked up through tears and blood to see the golden-eyed stranger from the back of the church standing over me.

  Up close, he was even more imposing...at least six-foot-three, with shoulders that strained against his tailored jacket and features carved from stone.

  Not handsome in the conventional way Rafael was, but magnetic. Dangerous.

  Behind him stood at least a dozen armed men, all watching me with cold detachment.

  "Who are you?" I managed, my voice raw. "Did you do this?"

  The stranger knelt, balancing on the balls of his feet to bring us eye-to-eye. His gaze swept over my father's body without emotion before returning to my face.

  He reached out, his large hand cupping my tear-stained cheek with surprising gentleness.

  "Hello, love," he said, his voice deep and accented with something Northern European. "I finally found you."

  Before I could react, he nodded to his men. Two stepped forward, pulling my father's body from my arms despite my protests.

  The stranger...whoever he was...lifted me effortlessly, uncaring of the blood soaking us both.

  "Take the bride," he ordered, carrying me toward the doors as I struggled weakly against him. "And find whoever's responsible for this mess. Don Alejandro deserved better than a coward's bullet."

  The last thing I saw as he carried me from the cathedral was my father's body, the once-powerful Don now just another casualty in Sicily's endless wars.

  I didn't know then that I was looking at my past and being carried into my future...both soaked in Alejandro's blood.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Confined To The Alluring CEO

Confined To The Alluring CEO

2.4k Views · Ongoing · Ava John
Penelope is heartbroken when she gets to know that her fiance is going to get married to her step-sister Mireya who is already carrying his child.

As she tries to pick up the broken pieces of her heart and move on she is forced to make a life-changing decision in order to save her grandpa's life from the clutches of her wicked stepmother.

Tyrell Achilles is the man whom Penelope has to marry. He is rumoured to be a crippled, hot-tempered, cruel man with a damaged face and the son of the Achilles family which was once the wealthiest family in the country until they went bankrupt.

After the wedding, Penelope realised everything was not what it looked like, but one thing was sure, she was going to use this opportunity to make every single person who betrayed her pay.

She was going to ruin them till the very end but to achieve her goal, she must be able to thread through the traps and conspiracy unscathed.

When she is on the verge of giving up, a hand is stretched out to her, and it is none other than that of her alluring husband Tyrell Achilles and he says these words to her gazing into her eyes. "I never thought this would happen but I'm in love with you, Pennie."

Will she give love a chance or keep fighting the feelings she has for her enigmatic yet alluring husband?
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2.1m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

4.5k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
The Last Tribrid: Hunted & Hollow

The Last Tribrid: Hunted & Hollow

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Dancingpen
Hera is dead.
That’s what the blood in the woods says.
That’s what Astrid saw with her own eyes.
And that’s what should have ended it.
But it didn’t.
Because her death wasn’t the beginning of justice.
It was the beginning of the hunt.
As grief fractures their world, Astrid and her friends are forced to confront a terrifying truth—someone isn’t just killing.
They’re choosing.
Marking.
Watching.
And now, the circle is closing.
What started as a single investigation quickly unravels into something far more dangerous, pulling them into a web of ancient forces that have been waiting… watching… and are no longer willing to stay buried.
Enemies rise from places they never thought to look.
Allies become something else entirely.
And survival begins to demand impossible choices.
Because some lives can only be saved by sacrificing others.
As power awakens inside Astrid—wild, unstable, and willing to burn everything in its path—she’s pushed to the edge of what she can control… and what she’s willing to lose.
Even if it costs her everything.
Even if it costs them.
Because this time, they aren’t just being hunted.
They’ve already been marked.

(this is a continuation of 'the last tribrid')
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.8m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

17k 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."
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

3.9k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.7m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
After One Night with the Alpha

After One Night with the Alpha

511.8k 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
Falling For The Playboy Billionaire

Falling For The Playboy Billionaire

925 Views · Ongoing · Ava John
A collision of two worlds brought them together. Two single parents, with different personalities and distinct parenting styles.
Henderson Bain a playboy billionaire cares about nothing else aside from his daughter, Itzel who is a spoilt brat all thanks to her father.
Lena Cohen is hunted by her past but despite that, she is an amazing mother to Trent, a sweet well well-behaved boy but life wasn't rosy for them.
Henderson Bain is having a hard time searching for a nanny for Itzel until shows up though qualified, Henderson refuses to offer her the job because of their first encounter but seeing how Lena and Itzel get along, he decides to employ her.
Lena and Henderson were two worlds apart but one thing they never saw coming was them falling for each other.
Will they finally let go of their past, and give love a chance? Or try to suppress their feelings for each other? And what if their past comes knocking at their doors once again?
Let Them Kneel

Let Them Kneel

237.6k Views · Ongoing · My Fantasy Stories
Kaelani spent her life believing she was wolfless.
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.

But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.

Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.

When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.

For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.

Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.

But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.

And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.

Especially him.

She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.

Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
The Princess's Revenge

The Princess's Revenge

58.8k 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?