Showing results for "Valentino" in Contemporary

My whole life was mapped out, designed for me, before I was even a twinkle in my old man’s eye. I am the heir to the Valentino throne. A kingdom built with blood and dirty money. But one I’ll rule all the same. My father was the youngest Don to ever be crowned king. However, with any luck, the controlling bastard will drop soon, allowing me to beat his record by a few years.

Work, sleep, and sometimes eat. Rinse and repeat. That’s been my life for the past two years. One struggle after another. Fighting to keep my sister alive. Fighting to maintain the strength to not give up. I had everything under control. I had a routine. Order. Until a certain Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome turned my world on its axis. He’s relentless. No matter how much I shut him down, he keeps showing up.

Romeo: fictional, someone who can fall in love with his whole heart, without a shred of doubt. The thing about fictional characters is just that; they’re not real. That kind of love doesn’t exist outside of the pages of books. At least, that’s what I thought… Until I saw her. And it was like getting shot, like taking a led bullet straight to the heart. It hurt, burned deep in my soul. She isn’t the Juliet to my Romeo. Because she doesn’t simply come from an opposing house.

I stopped by the abandoned warehouse to check out some suspicious activity that had been reported recently. I thought we had a homeless person or a very stupid thief, but nothing could have prepared me for her. Katya, AKA, the mafia princess of our sworn enemies.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t the happily ever after I was promised. He was meant to be here. He was meant to be sitting on this throne. Not me. I’m not equipped for this. I’m not fit to rule over anything. He says I’m a queen. He even gave me the keys to the castle, but what’s a queen without her king? Still a queen apparently. There’s nowhere to hide. There’s nowhere to run. This is my kingdom. His kingdom. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it’s still standing when he returns. Because believing he won’t come back isn’t an option.

Have you ever loved someone so much it physically hurts? That’s how much I love my best friend, Matteo Valentino. It’s also the reason I’ve done everything I can to make sure he’s firmly rooted in the friend zone. I’d rather keep him at a distance than ruin what we have by giving into the attraction constantly sparking between us. That is until I wake up next to him with no recollection of how I ended up in his bed.

Everything we’ve built is crashing down around me. I’m consumed by the darkness, my blood boiling with the need for revenge. My wife is the only light in my life; she’s the very reason I keep on fighting. They’re coming after me. And worse yet, they’re coming after her. But let them come.... I’m waiting. We’re waiting. To send them all back to the hell they crawled out of. I just hope the city’s prepared. Because New York’s never seen a war like this one.

Luca Would you risk it all—your career, your dream, your life—to save a stranger? I would. I did. Except, in saving her, I destroyed any chance at living out the future I was destined for. They say what I did was reckless. What they don’t know is that I’d do it all again if it meant meeting her. My bellezza.