
Trapped Between Enemies
Esliee I. Wisdon š¶ Ā· Ongoing Ā· 113.3k Words
Introduction
They turned her into a weapon.
At the age of fifteen, Marinaās mother was murdered alongside the most powerful Don in the Sicilian mafia, before the wedding could even happen.
Now, almost six years later, just weeks before her 21st birthday, sheās ready to run.
From the rules.
From the blood.
From the Romano Famigliaāthe only home sheās ever really known, and the cage sheās always wanted to escape.
But her āstepbrothersā have other plans.
Cesare, cold and calculating, the mafiaās right hand and loyal only to the throne.
And Matteo, the youngest, wild-eyed with a manic smile and a taste for blood.
They give her one job: seduce the enemy, earn his trust, and uncover what heās hiding.
Her target? Enzo Bianchi, the second son of their enemy famiglia ā a man as dangerous as he is captivating.
One deal.
One month.
One enemy to seduce.
But in the criminal underworld, playing with hearts always comes with a price.
And Marina is about to learn the hardest truth of all:
Freedom was never part of the plan.
Not when two demons guard the way out.
Ad Finem Fidelis.
Loyal until the end, even if she never had a choice.
Chapter 1
ā Marina Arellano ā
I stare at the mahogany door, my heavy breathing betraying the chaos bubbling inside me.
Since my path crossed with the most infamous mafia in Sicily, Iāve been called into this room only a few times, and not once for anything good.
The first time was when I was fifteen years old, when my mother died along with Don Angelo Romano.
Itās been almost six years, and I still remember it as if it were yesterday.
If I close my eyes, I can still see Momās smile when she told me that Angelo had proposed. It was strange, of course. What kind of man in expensive suits would put such a costly diamond ring on the finger of a troupe dancer he had met just a few weeks earlier?
But of course, I couldnāt say anything. The gifts shone too brightly. They dazzled everyone, let alone a woman who had once lost everything because of love.
Many were jealousāthatās what she said when they tried to explain that there was something suspicious about that gentleman with the easy smile that didnāt reach his eyes, the heavy Spanish accent, and the men who followed him like shadows.
I didnāt understand, even after I arrived in Italy. I couldnāt understand the language or why there were so many bodyguards. I didnāt understand the looks of disdain. I didnāt understand when, just one month later, I had to bury my mother beside the man she would still swear to love forever.
A car accident.
So simple.
So stupid.
Stupid, like the second time I was called into this room, months later, when I was unfairly punished. And right after I turned nineteen, when they called me here to say Iād finally begin my training.
But the worst reason of all was exactly five months ago⦠when they announced that my initiation into the mafia would take place the night after my twenty-first birthday.
Now, theyāre calling me again, with just one month left before the deadline.
My hands are sweaty. I can even feel a drop of sweat trickling down my bare back.
Itās okay, Marina⦠just one more monthājust one more month.
And then, Iāll never have to deal with the Romano family again.
With a shallow breath, I wipe my hands on the sides of my red dress and turn the handle. The door opens with the same effortless ease that always surprises me, despite how massive and heavy it looks.
The first thing I notice is the blend of two familiar colognes and the strong smell of cigar smoke. One scent is woody, old, dry, with a hint of something slightly sweet. Subtle, like aftershave, yet still thick in the air, captivating. The other is bolder, sharper, warmer, and spicier. Pepper? Or ginger? Or both.
Then, more intensely, I feel the eyes⦠the weight of those brown eyes that never fail to send a chill down my spine.
āCome in, Marina.ā Cesareās order makes me straighten up even more.
I take just two steps inside, and slowly turn around, very slowly, pulling my long hair to the front, letting them see my tanned, bare back as I close the door⦠Just for a moment, before the black waves fall back into place and hide my skin again, right where a damn tattoo will be soon if I canāt escape in time.
Slowly, I face them again, two of the five Romano, sitting at the long table, made of wood even darker and thicker than the door.
Matteo, the youngest, is sitting in his usual spot, third on the right. His eyes, a bit darker than the othersā, stare at me like they could skin me alive. His head is tilted slightly back in that lazy, arrogant way, giving me a clear view of the dark skull-and-thorns tattoo on his throat. His black shirt, half unbuttoned, reveals glimpses of ink proudly spelling his surname across his chest.
ROMANO.
He doesnāt say a word, just watches me step closer, like a predator eyeing its prey. A dangerous beast that sets all my senses on high alert, nerves exposed in a way that goes far beyond fearādeep into something like fury in my veins. Something that makes me stare him down with open defiance.
But once again, that deep voice speaks, pulling my attention back: āMarina.ā
My head turns slowly toward the man sitting at the head of the table, a seat that should belong to the Don, but is currently being occupied by the second-in-command.
Cesare Romano.
The second son. La Pantera.
The most dangerous man Iāve ever known.
āDid you finish your training?ā he asks, his back relaxed against the leather chair, fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
His eyes, lighter than his brothersā, a honey-brown with golden edges, are just as deadly. Not wild like Matteoās. Not sharp, raging, and unhinged, like the eyes that earned the youngest his reputation for madness and bloodlust.
Cesareās are cold, calculating, and ruthless. Thereās emotional distance, yet an almost obsessive focus. He watches and studies, not like a man preparing for an exciting hunt, but like someone who knows that no matter how much the prey runs, fights, or screams, it will never escape.
āYes.ā I find my voice somehow, but it comes out hoarse and uncertain. I swallow hard and lift my chin a little higher, like thatāll make me look less weak. āFour months ago.ā
Why did they call me here? Did someone say something again?
It really could be for anything; another lie cooked up by that bitch Chiara, or some complaint that Zio Arturo whispered in Cesareās ear. None of that would be new.
But what really twists my stomach, what makes my chest go cold, is that, for the first time, I truly have something to feel guilty about⦠Something to fearāmy seeking for freedom.
My betrayal.
But Cesare looks at me, calm, composed, cold. And that slightly eases my nerves. If he knew about my escape plan, he wouldnāt be so calm. Iād likely already be dragged to the Cripta del Dolore, a place that, as the name indicates, is literally a crypt built for pain.
When he finally speaks, though, my heart skips a beat: āGood. I called you here because I have a job for you.ā
My brows knit together slightly, unable to hide my confusion. Thereās still a month until my birthday, and a month until the initiation. Iām not part of famiglia yet.
What the hell does he mean, a job?
Matteo glances away, snortingāa low sound, but sharp enough to reach me. I glance at him just in time to see the blatant annoyance on his face. He doesnāt bother hiding it. He doesnāt look at me, but I can feel the air thickening with the barely-contained madness radiating from him.
Cesare, on the other hand, doesnāt care in the slightest. His attention stays fixed on me as if nothing in the world could distract him, and thatās definitely not a good sign.
āWhat job?ā I ask, realizing too late that heās probably relishing my anxiety.
He leans back. At some point, he had leaned forward, and I wonder if it was on purpose, to intimidate me even more. But now, heās back in that usual straight-backed, elegant, commanding posture. Like this, with his sharply cut features and that controlled expression, he looks older than just thirty.
āI want you to seduce Enzo Bianchi and win his trust.ā
I nearly choke.
That name, slipping from Cesareās lips with carefully measured disdain, sends an instant chill down my spine.
My eyes widen slightly, and every single muscle in my body tenses.
Cesare wants me to seduce a Bianchi.
And not just any Bianchi⦠Enzo.
The second-born, and most likely, heir of the Fratellanza.
And the sworn enemies of the Romanos.
Last Chapters
#87 LXXXVII. Bitter warning taste
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#86 LXXXVI. ENZO BIANCHI (POV)
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#85 LXXXV. ENZO BIANCHI (POV)
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#84 LXXXIV. MATTEO ROMANO (POV)
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#83 LXXXIII. MATTEO ROMANO (POV)
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#82 LXXXII. MATTEO ROMANO (POV)
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#81 LXXXI. Unravels me
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#80 LXXX. Dismissed?
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#79 LXXIX. āYouāre interesting.ā
Last Updated: 4/5/2026#78 LXXVIII. Signora Serraās orders
Last Updated: 4/5/2026
You Might Like š
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? Noāwait⦠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 chestācinnamon 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 turnsāand 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
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.Ā
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
My stomach twisted, but he wasnāt 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 ā 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.
āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā
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.
The Lycan Princeās Puppy
āSoon enough, youāll be begging for me. And when you doāIāll use you as I see fit, and then Iāll reject you.ā
ā
When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two thingsāhonor her motherās legacy by becoming a skilled healer for her pack and get through the academy without anyone calling her a freak for her strange eye condition.
Things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that Kylan, the arrogant heir to the Lycan throne who has made her life miserable from the moment they met, is her mate.
Kylan, known for his cold personality and cruel ways, is far from thrilled. He refuses to accept Violet as his mate, yet he doesnāt want to reject her either. Instead, he sees her as his puppy, and is determined to make her life even more of a living hell.
As if dealing with Kylanās torment isnāt enough, Violet begins to uncover secrets about her past that change everything she thought she knew. Where does she truly come from? What is the secret behind her eyes? And has her whole life been a lie?
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she canāt drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to loveā¦
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true loveā¦
A temperamental romance novel.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"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 doesnāt know about the child sheās 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?
Invisible To Her Bully
From Substitute To Queen
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 usefulāobedient, 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 neighborāLycan 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 queenāher revenge has just begun!
Alpha Twins' Mate's broken Human
A Lesson in Magic
Claimed by the Alpha's Love
Four years ago, Fiona's meticulously planned conspiracy turned me from an ordinary omega into a prisoner carrying the weight of a murder charge.
Four years later, I return to a world that has changed beyond recognition.
My best friend Fiona, who is also my stepsister, has become the perfect daughter in my mother's eyes. And my ex-boyfriend, Ethan, is about to hold a high-profile mating ceremony with her.
The love, family bonds, and reputation that I once cherished have all been taken by Fiona.
Just when I had reached my breaking point, questioning the very purpose of my existence, the legendary Alpha Lucas of Moonhaven suddenly appeared in my life.
He is powerful and enigmatic, a figure that all werewolves hold in awe.
Yet, he shows an extraordinary persistence and tenderness towards me.
Is Lucas's appearance a gift from fate, or the start of another conspiracy?












