The Mafia King's bride

The Mafia King's bride

Karishma parveen · Ongoing · 120.0k Words

537
Hot
543
Views
3
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Lydia Merchant was never meant to be part of Arthur Durrin Romero’s world. She was only a daughter. A girl with simple dreams and a quiet future until one signature from her own father sealed her fate in blood and betrayal. Traded like currency, Lydia became payment for a debt she never owed.
Her life ended the moment she stepped into a black wedding dress.
Arthur Romero is the heir to a brutal empire ruthless, obscenely wealthy, and feared by the underworld. He doesn't believe in love or kindness. Affection is a weakness he refuses to indulge. What Arthur values is control. When he claims Lydia as his bride, it isn’t desire that drives him it’s power. A message to the world that the Romero's never forget a debt and never forgive betrayal.
Lydia is meant to be nothing more than a pawn.
But Arthur doesn’t expect the fire in her eyes or the way she refuses to break even as her world collapses. Trapped inside his estate, surrounded by his enemies Lydia refuses to be the obedient wife he expects. She won’t give him her heart. She won’t surrender.
Yet desire has a mind of its own.
Every glance between them becomes a battle. Their fights are brutal, fueled by shattered trust and accidental touches that leave them both wanting more. The closer Arthur gets, the more his cold restraint slips. He wants Lydia in ways he never wanted anyone.
Lydia hates how much she notices him. The hunger in his gaze. The way he never touches her, yet makes her ache all the same.
This marriage was never built on love, only debt and revenge.
Now, as secrets unravel and enemies rise, Lydia and Arthur must decide: will they destroy each other first… or burn the world together?

Chapter 1

The blissful morning sun was spilling through the white curtains. Casting a very beautiful golden light across the terra cotta of the farmhouse. A beautiful and decades worth.

It was the kind of morning that Lydia felt more alive in. Lydia slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Her hair messy and all over the place. Scratching her head Lydia heard someone walk up the stairs. She knew who it was. A smile fell on her and her brown eyes glowing.

"Can I come in Lydia?" Marthia, one of the housekeepers asked.

"Come in, Marthia." Lydia muttered as the door open and a young lady walked in with freshly done laundry.

"You look like a mess this morning." Marthia muttered, walking around the room and Lydia chuckled.

"I had a great sleep. Mostly because I had a great dinner. I am still so tireddddd." She moaned messing with her hair. Slowly getting up making her way towards the bathroom.

"Get ready soon. Breakfast is ready." Marthia said, walking out.

Lydia glanced at her mirror. Her face so much like her late mother. She had the same eyes, same curls, uncontrollable and a same smile. Letting out a large breath she muttered.

"Let's just start this day."

Within no time, Lydia walked down the stairs of the old house. It was quiet, too quiet.

"Noona." Lydia called out. Barefoot in the hallway. There was a great scent of lavender and bread everywhere as she walked to the kitchen. And there Lydia found her grandmother. With tea in front of her, and her grandmother give a small smile.

She looked troubled.

"Buongiorno, Lydia."

"Morning. What happened? Is everything okay? Were is Papa?" Lydia asked, looking around.

"He left early." Noona said, her smile feeding.

"Early? He didn't tell me anything. We always go to the shop together and we were supposed to check the new land." She said, confused. her Noona hesitated.

"I don't know Lydia. I haven't heard from him since the morning. He said he had to meet someone." Noona explained. Something was feeling off for Lydia.

Her Nonna never met her eyes. But confused Lydia though about it.

There were a lot of distributors here in the village. But Lydia couldn't help but think that there was only one person her father went to talk to, Arthur Romero. A very powerful man, very dangerous.

He had recently come to this village to take care of his father's business. His name made a lot of people fear him, even her own father. And since the Romero men came to this village, things had become strange.

"I will check the shop. I'm sure he's there." Lydia said, grabbing the car keys.

"Maybe you should stay at home Lydia. Give your father sometime." Her Nonna said, worry in her voice.

"Nonna, I need to go look for him. He mind need me." She said. As always stubborn, never listened to anyone but only her heart. But her Nonna stared at her longer as she left. A small tear leaving her eyes.

The drive into Montepulciano stretched a little longer than necessary. The window was lowered and wind teased her curses. Something was off, she could feel it in her stomach.

Within no time Lydia was right in front of "Emilia wines". Named after her mother. The shutters were closed and the doors locked. Immediately Lydia got out and knocked on the door.

"Papa.." She called, but nothing.

However, from behind her, she could hear whispers. Lydia turned to see shopkeepers across looking at her direction. A woman whispering.

"Have you seen my Papa today? Did he say where he is going" She screamed at them.

"No cara. Anthony just said he had business to take care of." The women said.

It was very cryptic and her father was never cryptic. Something was wrong.

"Vine yard." Lydia whispered getting back into the car. She immediately drove right into the property. People going about their work, nothing seemed out of ordinary.

"Papa" She screamed rushing into the stone house, quickly running into the kitchen and then living room and finally, his office. Small hint of his scent was here, but he was gone.

Lines forming on her forehead, wondering if her father was alive or---- not. The outside world was normal but her inside world was cracking. Looking around the place trying to find some thing, there Lydia saw a letter on the desk.

Cream paper and her name written on it. With shaking hand she opened it, feeling strange in her gut.

"My dear, Lydia.

If you are reading this, I have already failed you and for that, I am sorry.

I thought I could fix it all. Thought I could protect you from my mistakes but I cannot.

I am ashamed, not because I'm afraid of dying but because I know what this will cost you. And I gave them the only thing left of value. Your mother will never forgive me and neither will I forgive myself.

They will come Lydia and they will come for you. And they won't stop until they find you. But I need you to be strong and survive this.

Someday, I hope you forgive me Lydia. I never wanted this life for you, I only wanted you to be safe.

Ti Voglio Bene, Papa.

"Huh." Lydia gasped, the paper slipping from her.

"Papa." She whispered. Her eyes blurring and burning.

What has he done? Who is coming after her?

She stumbled out of the house. Her legs badly shaking. She had to get back to her grandmother, maybe she knew something, maybe she had a plan.

Getting the car out of the property, she didn't notice there was a black SUV following her from the gates of her property. She drove with a purpose, thinking only of her father when her eyes landed on a second SUV driving behind her.

This made her gut feel a certain way. Both identical, both shadowing her. She looked in the mirror and stomach dropped, panic exploding as a 4th and 5th car came from the side. Her gut screamed at her to just drive and she went faster, only to see them gain in on her, with speed.

"What the hell?" She muttered, making a large turn through the olive trees. She was reckless but she didn't care. The cars behind, their engines were screaming.

Lydia turned around completely to see the cars were rushing to her, too close and she was scared. And she turned around, going a bit faster. She could see her village getting closer, when suddenly a SUV came from right in front of her and she didn't see it.

It came faster and blocked her.

"Ahhh.." Lydia screamed, her eyes closed as she slammed on the break. The world spun on her and so did her car. Suddenly the car wheel came out and the car slipped out of control.

Now flipping all around. It was once, twice. The glass everywhere and metal screaming. She was getting hit and bruised everywhere. Lydia thought this was it. She wouldn't ever get to see her father, her Noona, or her mother's grave.

The world was ending for her.

...

And suddenly the car stopped, everything went quiet. Lydia didn't know when that happened, but the car landed upside down and smoke everywhere. Lydia tried moving, but the smoke made it impossible for her to see.

The driver's side door creaked open and a hand reached for her.

"NO... DON'T TOUCH ME." Lydia screamed, kicking hard, hitting the man right on his face, while another man pulled her by the leg. Lydia was fighting back, but it was of no use. Because she felt a needle sting right to her neck and she knew it was over.

And everything went black.


The sack over her head made it impossible for Lydia to tell exactly where she was. Time was stretching into something very ugly and shapeless and even her hands were bound behind her.

The worst of all, she was already in pain because of the accident. Lydia had hit her hand to the steering wheel. She felt as if she was in this SUV for hours, even day.

The men around her silent, professional and merciless.

"Is Mr. Arthur Romero inside?" One guard asked and suddenly Lydia's stomach fell. Not this man, not this monster.

There were multiple stories she had heard about Arthur Romero. How his silence was much difficult. Powerful and killed people without leaving the trace. He was a different sort of monster.

His family, each and every one had blood in their hands. He came from a family with the deadliest crimes in Europe. And now, she was being delivered to him, like a payment.

Just like her father had said to her in the letter.

The car suddenly stopped and the head sack pulled from her head roughly. She adjusted her eyes multiple times and there she saw, this big estate. Acres and acres of land.

A stone wall and iron gates. And there stood a mansion made completely out of marble. They were orange and white trees around. This was all too perfect and still it made her feel out of place.

One guard pushed her forward. She stumbled but refused to cry out, even though she was in pain. Lydia wouldn't give them that kind of satisfaction.

She walked into one of the towers, as the mass of door opened. The corridor stretching forever and a smell of cold stone came through.

This felt like power.

Everything was polished, but everything looked empty. The men took her towards a different corridor and stop right outside double doors. One guards knocked.

"Come in." A different voice came, very low, very deep and harsh. Something shifted in her stomach.

The doors opened and a guard pushed her in and shut the doors behind her. There she was, alone in the room with HIM.

Arthur Romero. Standing by the window, facing his garden. Dressed in all black. Some kind of sharpness radiating around him, something unmovable.

Slowly, the large man turned around and her breath was caught. He was tall, devastating, his eye sharp. He had no expression but still intimidating.

He was scaring her. There was silence and darkness around him.

"You must be Lydia Merchant." He said with a very low voice and she swallowed hard. His eyes dark, hate in them.

"Why did you bring me here? And where is my father?" She asked. Arthur said nothing.

He moved away from the window, walking towards her, slow and deliberate. Lydia though, she straightened her spine.

He was taller, bigger. Five times bigger than her and she felt so small.

"You're wasting your time. You brought me here to threaten me and use my father. But I will not let that happen. You cannot..."

"You talk too much." He said, shutting her up.

"I do not tolerate noises in my house. I like my peace." He said, viciously harsh. She was stunned.

"Where is my father?" She asked, losing her mind.

"You already know about your father's debt?" he asked and she stayed very quiet. Her eyes blinked a little.

Lydia had already remember the millions of blood money that her father had taken. But he promised her that he would return it back. But she couldn't help but believe it was too late.

"Where is my father?"

"I think the letter was very convincing. He left you here, with me. As he promised." He said like it was nothing and it worked to make her feel as if she was nothing.

"Your father just gave you to me, gave you away." He said, stepping closer and she stepped back. Wanting to breathe. But there was some kind of suffocation as he was stepping closer.

"Why didn't your men just kill me?" She asked.

"You should wish I had." He said, only making her flinch. But she didn't look away. Her eyes going red, she stopped herself from crying.

"You brought me here to torment me?"

"No." He said almost immediately, in his thick voice and another step closer.

"I brought you here for an offer."

"An offer?" She said confused. Lines forming on her forehead. He was practically looking down at her, breathing on her as her breath got heavy and eyes wide open.

"I brought your here to marry me Lydia. That's my bargain." He said being loud and clear and she froze.

"Marry you?" She asked, stunned. Her heart dropped.

"Your father offered us collateral and I accepted his offer. And now." He whispered, looking her dead in her eyes.

"You belong to me." He muttered, sinister.

"You think this makes any of it legal. You think I will say yes to you?" She asked, tearing up.

"You do not need to say anything." He said, lowering his voice. Their faces almost close to each other. She started to shake her head with a bitter laugh.

"You are insane." She whispered, and there was a smirk on him.

"You think I'll wear a dress, walk down to you like I am your little doll?" She asked.

He smirked.

"I do not need a doll. I need a partner who is obedient to me. I need my wife close to me." His voice whispered in a sinister way.

Her stomach dropped almost immediately. She was shaking.

"This--this is not right." She whispered as he cornered her. No space in between them. His presence alone felt like a hand on her throat.

"I could have taken your father's head. But having his family here, his daughter that he gave away, seems right to me." His whispers harsh on her.

"You are not doing this for the money, are you?. You're doing this because you can, because you are a monster and hurting people make this feel bigger and better." She said screaming at him. And for the first time something slipped in Arthur.

"Well... I am a monster and now you will know more about this monster. And your father is still with me. Killing him will not be hard." He said, immediately bringing her all the pain and anger and fear.

And she slapped him hard on his face.

She teared up, he did not move, he did not blink. But the doors open behind her.

"Take her to her room, get her ready. The weddings in a few hours." He said.

"I will never be yours." She screamed at him, her hand burning but he said nothing. His men rushed in, pulling her away from there. While she was screaming her lungs out.

Arthur slowly turned around, walking back to his desk, picking up file with her father's name on it, and where he was kept.

"I will never be yours" Where her words but Arthur was a man that loved a challenge. Immediately his eyes landed on a photograph with Lydia and her entire family. She was smiling, happy in her life.

Something in him shifted, he didn't understand what it was, but immediately Arthur pushed the photo away, going back to his work. This wedding

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

2.1k Views · Ongoing · Emma Mountford
Saints and Sinners- She was the light to my dark.
The saint to my sinner. with her innocent eyes and devilish curves.
A Madonna that was meant to be admired but never touched.
Until someone took that innocence from her.
She left.
The darkness in my heart was finally complete.
I avenged her, I killed for her, but she never came back.
Until I saw her again. An angel dancing around a pole for money.
She didn’t know I owned that club. She didn’t know I was watching.
This time I won’t let her escape.
I will make her back into the girl I knew.
Whether she likes it or not.
2/ Judge and Jury- I can’t stop watching her.

I’m not even sure I want to.

Taylor Lawson, blonde, beautiful, and totally oblivious to how much dangers she’s in.

She’s also the one juror in my upcoming murder trial that hasn’t been bought.

The one who can put me behind bars for a very long time.

I know I should execute her.
After all that’s what I do.

I am the Judge.
I eliminate threats to The Family.
And Taylor is a threat.
But I don’t want to kill her.
Possessing her, making her love me seems like a much better plan for this particular Juror.

3/ Rags and Ritches-
Alpha VS Omega' Twin VS Twin (A Dark Werewolf Romance)

Alpha VS Omega' Twin VS Twin (A Dark Werewolf Romance)

1.1k Views · Ongoing · June Calva
Callum Brennan was born to lead London's most powerful werewolf pack. Then his twin brother framed him for murder.
Stripped of everything, Callum is thrown into the Rookeries, where packless wolves go to die. But he survives. He builds a pack from the broken and the damned. He falls in love with Valentina, a dhampir hunted by the same vampire Parliament that destroyed his life.
In a city ruled by immortal aristocrats and controlled by ancient dragons, Callum learns the hardest truth: individual virtue cannot defeat systemic evil. But small victories matter. And some fights are worth losing everything
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

910.8k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.5m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
Dear readers, this novel is coming to an end soon. I highly recommend another fantastic story of the same genre:


I’d appreciate all your support, thank you so much!
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."
The CEO's Unspoken Love

The CEO's Unspoken Love

269k Views · Completed · Lily Bronte
"You want my forgiveness?" he asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous timbre.

Before I could answer, he moved closer, suddenly looming over me, his face inches from mine. I felt my breath caught, my lips parting in surprise.

"Then this is the price for speaking ill of me to others," he murmured, nipping my lower lip before claiming my mouth in a real kiss. It began as punishment but quickly transformed into something else entirely as I responded, my initial rigidity melting into compliance, then active participation.

My breathing accelerated, small sounds escaping my throat as he explored my body. His touches were both punishment and pleasure, drawing shudders from me that I thought he felt reverberating through his own body.

My nightgown had ridden up, his hands discovering more of mine with each caress. We were both lost in sensation, rational thought receding with each passing second...

Three years ago, to fulfill the wish of his grandmother, I was forced to marry Derek Wells, the second son of the family that had adopted me for ten years. He didn't love me, but I had secretly loved him all along.

Now, the three-year contractual marriage is about to end, but I feel that some kind of sentiment has developed between Derek and me that neither of us is willing to admit. I'm not sure if my feelings are right, but I know that we can't resist each other physically...
The Game of Claiming

The Game of Claiming

12.7k Views · Completed · Billie Patsy
When Lila Moreno stepped into the Romano mansion, she didn’t expect to be caught in the middle of a silent war. The four infamous Romano brothers rule the city’s underworld with blood and money—yet the moment they see her, their power turns personal.
A drunken bet becomes their private game: win the maid.
The rules?
Don’t let the others know you’re falling for her.
And never, ever let her leave.
But each brother plays differently—
The eldest buys her obedience.
The second steals her breath.
The third corners her in the dark.
The youngest ruins anyone who touches her.
Lila isn’t sure if she’s a player in their game… or the prize they’ll destroy each other to claim
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.3m 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
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.
Game of Destiny

Game of Destiny

1.2m Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Amie's wolf hasn't shown herself. But who cares? She has a good pack, best friends and a family who loves her. Everyone, including the Alpha, is telling her she is perfect just the way she is. That is until she finds her mate and he rejects her. Heartbroken Amie flees from everything and start over. No more werewolves, no more packs.

When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.

Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.

When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2m 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.
To protect what’s mine

To protect what’s mine

533.1k Views · Completed · Winter Rowe
Amalie is more special than she ever thought possible. Why would the twenty-two-year-old think any different after she has been told she’s nothing for her whole life by her family? Adoptive mother of a three-year-old, Ama has been locked up by her family for the past seven years. But everything changes when her old friends, the Alpha twins, Markus and Calyx, take over the Moonstone pack. Finding out that the twins are her mates, she is a white wolf, and has a connection to the Moon Goddess, is just icing on the cake of her life is a huge mess. Ama just wants a normal life with her mates and protecting her pup, but life rarely gives us what we want. She is thrust into world that she no longer remembers and has forgotten her. Amalie is charged with protecting those closest to her. But she has her own past to overcome as she heals and attempts to move forward. Will she come out alive or lose herself along the way? After all, someone has to be pulling the strings, why not pull her along for the ride?
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

411k Views · Completed · Lily
"White wolf! Kill that monster!"
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.