The Don's Ballerina

The Don's Ballerina

helpinghandsva868 · Ongoing · 87.4k Words

377
Hot
377
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Ayanna was just a ballerina struggling to maintain her Principessa Danzante position at Prima Motion Dance Company.
On an unruly night, she's rescued by a brooding man whose eyes are filled with nightmares and dark fantasies.

Massimo had always thought that he would never see the ballerina that he always dreamt about.
Fate seems to be on his side when he saves his mysterious ballerina from a cruel man.
Now he has found his ballerina and he's not letting her go even though that decision might lead to a big war between two rival mafia families.

Will Ayanna and Massimo's love story survive the odds? Will she be his doom or salvation?

Find out by reading The Don's Ballerina.

Author's note: The Don's Ballerina is a BWWM dark mafia romance and like a retelling of The Beauty and Beast story.

Chapter 1

Ayanna

A sharp pain shot up the arch of her right foot.

An almost debilitating pain that any doctor would probably be concerned about, that should probably concern her.

But she couldn't stop now. Not when all eyes were on her. 

She winced through it and pushed herself to keep going. Swinging her left leg to the side in sync with her arm, she spun in fast circles maintaining her momentum.

The dance studio zipped by as if she was not the one moving. The room moved around her at a dizzying blur, round and round again.

Her chest clenched in pain, the pain intensified till she was gritting her teeth with each push off her right heel.

Soon it’s not just the room looking like a dizzy blur because she was executing fouettés. But she couldn't hold on anymore as a rush of dizziness crashed into her head. 

Her foot gave out and she dropped to the floor with a harsh thud. The other dancers in the studio gasped. Then came their scandalized mutters of gossip.

Shaking as she blinked through the haze of pain, she had an idea of what they were saying. Cruel words that she had heard before and was used to as the outcast among the dancers.

"Told you she wasn’t good enough."

"She doesn’t deserve that lead role."

"We all know why she was chosen."

She'd have loved nothing more than to tell them to shut up, but in the moment, she was much more concerned about her ankle. If the damage was serious enough, it could cost her the lead in the show, and then she would kiss being Principessa Danzante goodbye.

Damp with sweat and half dizzy,  she scrambled to sit up and undo the ties of her pointed shoe. She didn't notice that Yuri, the director of the show, who also happens to be the manager of the dance company, had come to scold her. 

It was not until she heard her name that she realized that he was standing over her. 

“What have I told you a thousand times before, Ayana?” His ruddy face twisted in a scowl. 

He notched his hands at his slender waist making her feel lower with the way he towered over her.  

“If this is too much for you, I can choose someone that will be able to keep up. Not all dancers are befitting of Principessa. It is the title role.”

She gulped down air and profusely shook her head. “I can handle it. I can be Principessa Danzante. I’ve told you, I’m good.”

She rushed to stand up, determined to prove herself. But her injury had other ideas, another bolt of pain spiked through her right ankle and sent  her sinking to the ground as quickly as she had tried getting up.

Yuri rolled his eyes, muttered curses words under his breath. 

“Pitiful, Ayanna. You said you could handle this.” He scoffed looking down at her.

“I can… it’s…” She wheezed, trying to push herself up on shaking arms. 

“It’s just a small sprain, Yuri. I… I just need a moment…” Her ankle was on fire, and she was in massive pain. 

“There’s no more time for just a moment. You!” He rounded on Adrian, my dance partner. 

“What are you doing, standing around like an oaf? Pick her up, help her home! She needs to rest that ankle if there’s any hope for next week.”

“Oh, no. Don’t send me home early. I can do stretches.” Ayanna pleaded. Going home meant failure, her fellow ballerinas would laugh at her. 

“If you’re to remain my Principessa, you’ll go back to your dorm and rest that fucking ankle.” Yuri scowled, not listening to her. 

There was no arguing with Yuri when his thick Russian voice took on a growly inflection and his dark blue eyes flashed in warning.

She shut down any other protests, her mouth turned down in dismay.

Adrian, being the well-meaning if not brainless jock type that he was, did as he was told, no questions asked. 

He slipped a toned arm around her back and hoisted her up so that I was propped against his athletic frame. None of the weight was on herright ankle. Most of it was on him.

Used to being held in his arms, she was more concerned with Yuri's instructions.

“Does this mean you don’t want me at dinner Friday?”

Yuri's face darkened even more. 

“You better be there on Friday. As presentable as ever, Ayanna. You have been reserved. You know I do not disappoint our fans.”

She wished he did.

Adrian helped her hobble the rest of the way out of the dance studio. The gossip didn't let up, the other dancers in the show watched her go with raised eyebrows, folded arms, and muttered conversation.

She didn't expect anything else, she had never gotten along with most of these girls.

What little friendliness existed between them vanished the second she was chosen as Principessa in Yuri’s show.

A long string of assumptions have unraveled just why…

“You okay?” Adrian asked as they swayed in their seats on the subway. 

She hadn't said a word since they left the dance studio. Her mood was soured, her thoughts varied between frustration and annoyance that she had shown such weakness in the middle of rehearsal.  And dread that she was still expected to show up on Friday for the dinner party. 

She cast Adrian a wry smile.

“Yeah, it could always be worse I guess.”

“You’ve still got your part,” he said.

“He’s given ’em away for less.”

Adrian’s attempts to cheer her up failed. They fell into another moment of silence as she turned her attention to the rest of the beat-up subway car.

The other passengers looked as weathered and exhausted as she was sure she did, with their shabby winter coats and bags under their eyes.

No one in Dresden was really comfortable. Ninety-nine percent of the population lived hand to mouth.

The other one percent remained an illusion to most of them, unseen and unreachable, behind gates that divided their part of the city and theirs.

She would have never fallen into the trap that she had with the Prima Motion Dance Company had she any other choice. She certainly wouldn’t have signed her life away like she did when she was only just a child.

Friday wouldn’t be a mandatory engagement.

But it can always be worse. She had realized that after years locked into her contract with Yuri and the company.

Her body shuddered at the thought. Some of the other dancers were better actors than she was. As it turned out, she was only good at performing on stage. In real life, during face-to-face situations with their “fans,” she was Yuri’s worst nightmare.

Adrian helped her up the five flights of stairs to her dormitory. The building itself belonged to the Prima Motion Dance Company and served as the mandatory housing for its dancers. Another means for them to be under the company's thumb at all times. 

She glanced up at the security camera for every flight that they climbed, and then again once they reached the fifth-floor landing. The blinking red light seemingly followed them all the way to her door.

She thanked Adrian for his help before limping inside my dorm and tossed her keys into the empty bowl by the door.

It’s been years since any real repairs have been made. The heat didn't work when it should during winter months and it was not uncommon for water to leak through the ceiling. Any complaints made to Yuri and the company have gone ignored.

The five-hundred square foot space wasn't much, but it was hers.

She flopped face down onto the bed and let out a groan thinking more about today.

If she were stronger, she would have fought through the pain and kept practicing.

She used to be better, faster and more fluid.

She used to dance circles around every person in that studio.

That was before her ankle injury during Lupi Nella Notte. Before her dad fell into trouble and nothing ever remained the same. 

She sighed as her eyes closed in exhaustion. Shutting out the noise, she focused on resting and left the worrisome thoughts behind.

She fell into slumber remembering the good times before all the bad things happened.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

On Christmas Eve, I aborted the CEO's child

On Christmas Eve, I aborted the CEO's child

8.3k Views · Completed · Olivia
This was the most miserable Christmas I had ever experienced.
On Christmas Eve night, my husband brought his mistress home and demanded that I, his pregnant wife, leave with nothing.
On this day, I lost my husband and also lost the child in my womb...
When I Disappeared, He Regretted It

When I Disappeared, He Regretted It

233.7k Views · Completed · Coralie Sullivan
I thought I was the happiest woman in the world... until I clicked on that video.

The moment the screen lit up, my entire world came crashing down.

The woman on the bed was Calista - that girl who grew up with us since we were kids. And that hand caressing her skin was wearing the wedding ring I had personally put on Matteo's finger.

"I've missed you so much..."
"You drive me crazy, baby..."

Those sweet words I knew so well completely destroyed me.

Everyone said we were the perfect couple, but who knew this marriage was built on nothing but lies?

Since he's so good at acting, I guess it's time I gave him a show of my own. I'm going to make sure everyone sees what this "perfect husband" really is...
He Never Loved Me, Until I Left

He Never Loved Me, Until I Left

33.9k Views · Completed · Joy Brown
In order to rush to comfort his assistant whose apartment was leaking, Richard signed his name hastily without even glancing at the documents on the table.
I put away the divorce agreement with a wry smile.
When he and my son completely disappeared, he finally panicked.
Three months later .
He knelt down on the streets of Chicago in despair, begging me to remarry him.
My six-year-old son looked coldly at his biological father and said, "Get lost, you bad uncle! You don't deserve to be my dad!"
He Thought I'd Never Leave

He Thought I'd Never Leave

42.4k Views · Completed · Juniper Marlow
Thirteen years. That's how long I loved Reid Holloway.
When he said he was being bullied, I believed him. When he kissed me on that rooftop, I thought he felt the same. When he asked me to transfer schools with him, I said yes without hesitation.
Then I heard him bragging to his friends: "She'd save her first time for me. Hell, she'd still be thinking of me on her wedding night."
The bullying was staged. The kiss meant nothing. He just wanted me gone—so his new girl could feel more comfortable.
He thought I'd beg. He thought I'd cry. He thought I'd never actually leave.
I left the country.
And ran straight into his stepbrother.
Bury Me in His Regret

Bury Me in His Regret

20.7k Views · Completed · Joy Brown
My husband, Zachary, chose to save his sister-in-law right in front of the kidnappers.

The kidnapper pressed the gun to my temple and asked, "Choose your wife or your sister-in-law?"

Zachary didn't hesitate. "Let Valerie go," he said.

He actually chose to save his sister-in-law! In that moment, even the baby in my belly seemed to stop kicking.

Later, they locked me in the basement. Drugs to delay labor were pumped into my veins over and over. Zachary wanted to save the "firstborn son" status for his sister-in-law's child.

When warm blood finally soaked through my skirt, I dialed the number I knew by heart with shaking hands.

"Zachary," I whispered into the phone, "our child... can't wait any longer."
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.3m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
[Dear readers, if you loved this book, be sure to read my new recommended read: Cheating Husband, Vengeful Me.]
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

1.1m Views · Ongoing · Becky j
"Mate is here!"
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

1.5m Views · Completed · 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
The Human Among  Wolves

The Human Among Wolves

632.2k Views · Ongoing · ZWrites
"You actually thought I cared about you?" His smirk was sharp, almost cruel.
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
Accardi

Accardi

855.2k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Surrendering to Destiny

Surrendering to Destiny

707.7k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
Catherine is not only a rogue half-breed, she is also the result of mate-bond infidelity, was abandoned as a baby and, to top it off, she can only shift during the full moon. When Catherine left the only pack she'd ever known in order to escape the new alpha, the last thing she expected was to find her mate... let alone for him to be the mouth-watering, heavily tattooed, lead warrior of the most feared lycan pack on the continent.

Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.

From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.

Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
Shattered Girl

Shattered Girl

848k Views · Completed · Brandi Rae
Jake's fingers danced across my nipples, squeezing gently and making me groan in pleasure. He lifted my shirt and stared at my hardened nipples through my bra. I tensed, and Jake sat up and moved back on the bed, giving me some space.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was that too much?” I could see the worry in his eyes as I took a deep breath.

“I just didn’t want you to see all my scars,” I whispered, feeling ashamed of my marked body.


Emmy Nichols is used to surviving. She survived her abusive father for years until he beat her so severely, she ended up in the hospital, and her father was finally arrested. Now, Emmy is thrown into a life she never expected. Now she has a mother

who doesn't want her, a politically motivated stepfather with ties to the Irish mob, four older stepbrothers, and their best friend who swear to love and protect her. Then, one night, everything shatters, and Emmy feels her only option is to run.

When her stepbrothers and their best friend finally find her, will they pick up the pieces and convince Emmy that they will keep her safe and their love will hold them together?