
A Dangerous Engagement
Lindsay · Completed · 101.2k Words
Introduction
I haven't seen Angelo Bianchi in a long time. When my father is suddenly killed, Angelo returns to settle his affairs. Twice my age and legally my father's adopted son, Angelo only sees me as his innocent responsibility. The mafia boss insists I marry for my safety and the empire's stability, and Angelo takes charge of selecting my future husband.
But I want Angelo to marry me.
With my father's murderer still at large and danger closing in, Angelo faces a tough decision—marry me himself or let the mafia choose my husband. For him, it's a difficult choice. But for me, it's simple.
Angelo promised to protect me. But I need more than just his protection…
Chapter 1
Rosalia
Sitting in the shower with hot water pouring down, I hug my knees and feel nothing but numbness. Despite the thick steam fogging up the glass, I can't stop shaking.
Pink droplets, tinted with my father's blood, drip onto the tiles. The memory of finding him in his study, lifeless on the floor, plays repeatedly in my mind like a relentless horror film.
Today was supposed to be perfect. This morning, my father was at the breakfast table with his usual newspaper, waiting for me. Don Vincezio Santoro—feared or respected by everyone in Chicago—was simply my father to me. He put down his paper to hug me, his scent of aftershave and pipe tobacco familiar as ever. This morning was special; it was my eighteenth birthday.
It's hard to remember how beautiful the morning started. The day was sunny and perfect, with the manicured lawn and climbing roses that have been a part of my daily life. I was excited to see what my father had planned, what surprises he had in store for me.
Right now, my father's advisor, Enzo, is downstairs handling everything after my father's death. He was the only person I could think to call, the only one I knew my father trusted completely, except for Angelo. But Angelo has been gone for three years, and I knew better than to call him. He had distanced himself from us for reasons my father never explained, and any mention of him was shut down. Still, I thought about him while I sat on the floor of my father's study, and Enzo found a maid to help me upstairs and clean up. I knew Angelo would want to know, even though my mind was foggy with grief.
All I can think about is finding my father on the floor of his study, his blood dark against the hardwood, the fire in the fireplace still burning cheerfully. My world had just shattered.
My hands are still bloody, so I clench them into fists, pressing them against my eyes until I see stars. I don’t want to see the dead body in my mind anymore. I want to remember my father as he was this morning, at the breakfast table. I want to see his smile, waiting for me to notice the pastry and iced coffee he had set out for me. I want to see him lighting a candle in the middle of the cinnamon roll, the flame flickering over the icing and butter.
"I wasn’t sure when you would come down, mi vida. So I left the candle unlit. But now—"
I bite my lip hard enough to taste blood. He’d lit the candle, singing me happy birthday off-key, as he did every year. “Your mother would have sung it more beautifully. Like the angel she is now. Make a wish, cara ragazza.”
I made the same wish I make every year: for the coming year to be as happy as the last. It had always come true. This morning, I had no reason to think it wouldn’t.
"What am I supposed to do?" I whisper to the empty shower, my heart aching. The shower smells like sweat and iron, my own flushed skin, and blood filling the air instead of the sweet scent of shower gel and shampoo. I want to disappear, to make all of this disappear.
I feel like I have no one to turn to. My father trusted Enzo, but I’m not sure I do. I have no friends to call on, no one to comfort me. My father tried to introduce me to other mafia daughters, to help me make friends, but I could never relate to them. They all hated their fathers—men who saw them as currency, raised them for marriage.
My father was my friend and confidante. He was kind, honest, fair, and intelligent. He made sure I didn’t feel the loss of my mother too deeply. He never refused to answer my questions or made me feel like my only future was a marriage he would arrange.
He had planned a perfect day for me—spa appointments, a day of luxury and pampering, and gifts waiting at home. The note he left me is now something I’ll cherish forever. This morning, it was just a birthday note. Now it’s the last note I’ll ever have from him. I remember it by heart, even now, even with everything tormenting me.
To my dear daughter,
Even though you are all grown up, you will always be my little treasure, just as you have been since the day you were born. I look forward to many more years of seeing you grow into the talented, intelligent, and beautiful woman you are becoming.
Love,
Your father
I rest my head against the shower tiles, trying to remember that night. It was the last perfect night with my father. I replay it in my mind—putting on the lavender dress he gave me, putting on the earrings, going to the car waiting for me at eight p.m. sharp. I got into the cool, leather-scented car, and he was there, leaning over to kiss my cheek and smiling. It was a special night, one of many we thought we'd still have.
"Did you like your birthday presents?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Thank you. They're perfect, especially the earrings." I touched them, hanging from my ears, and his smile grew but with a hint of sadness.
"Those were your mother's. I got a new box and had them wrapped, but they were hers. I have more of her jewelry, but those will wait until you're married."
"Oh." The gift meant even more now. "I'm so glad I have them." I touched the earrings again, not wanting to take them off. His mention of marriage made me nervous, as he rarely talked about it, and I wondered if he'd start looking for a match for me. "I'll wear them every chance I get."
The ride to the restaurant was quiet—my father seemed lost in thought. As the car stopped, he shook himself out of it and got out, the driver opening my door. He'd brought us to a fancy sushi restaurant in the city that I loved. We were shown to a private booth, and he smiled as the waitress brought chilled lychee sake and water.
"You shouldn't technically be drinking this," he said, pouring sake into small cups, "but what's the point of being one of the three most powerful men in Chicago if my only daughter can't have a drink on her eighteenth birthday? Plus, we have a driver." He winked, clinking his glass against mine, and we both took a sip.
I'd had some alcohol before—mostly wine during holidays—but this was different. It was sweet but burned my throat a little, and I coughed, making him chuckle.
"Not too much," he warned, though he let me refill my cup. "Just a special treat for your birthday."
"How did your meetings go?" I asked as the waitress brought appetizers. His smile faltered for a moment, almost imperceptibly.
"They were fine," he said quickly. "But tonight isn't about business, mi vida. This is your night. And I want to talk about your future."
That anxiety grips my stomach again, and I take another small sip of sake, picking up the jade chopsticks by my plate. "What do you mean?" I ask nervously. "Is this about me getting married?"
My father laughs. "No, Rosalia. I'm not marrying you off at eighteen. I want to talk about whether you'd like to go to college. We can enroll you for this fall—you can study whatever you want. It's up to you. I can hire another private tutor to teach you at home, but I thought you might enjoy going to campus to learn. You'll have security with you and still live at home, of course, but—"
"I would love that." The idea is both nerve-wracking and exciting, and my heart leaps at the thought. "Maybe I could study literature?" The possibilities thrill me, and I look at my father, waiting to see his reaction.
"You don't have to decide tonight," he says, chuckling. "Just think about it, and we'll discuss it later." His expression turns more serious, and he sits back, looking at me. "You will have to get married eventually," he says quietly. "But there's plenty of time for that. We don't need to talk about it just yet."
Not just yet is good enough for me, for now. The rest of the dinner is relaxing and fun, with us talking about lighter things—summer plans, a possible vacation, my father admitting he works too much. We eat too much food and still share dessert, and on the way home, I can see he's tired. It must have been a long day with all his meetings. Once we're home, he gives me a smile.
"I'm going to bed early," he says. "Good night, mi vida."
"Good night." I stand on tiptoes to give him a hug and another kiss on the cheek, then go upstairs. I'm tired too, relaxed from the day at the spa and full of sake and sushi. I get ready for bed, washing my face and slipping into my favorite pajamas before getting into bed and reaching for a book.
I read for about an hour before I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I switch off the light and am almost asleep when I hear a sudden noise downstairs, something like a cry of pain, followed by a heavy thud.
I sit up, unsure if I was dreaming. The cry could have been an animal outside—a cat or a bird. But the sound—
I thought it was just a dream. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, even as I lay back down. I shouldn't have felt afraid in my own house, but as I got up and walked across the bedroom and into the hall, all I remember feeling was a cold knot of fear in my stomach. Something felt wrong as soon as I started down the stairs.
I remember checking the master suite first. My father hadn't gone to bed yet—the king-sized bed was neatly made, his slippers at the edge, the room quiet and dark.
I thought about going back to bed. But something inside me told me to go downstairs and not to turn on any lights. The lower part of the house was dark, except for my father's study, where the door was slightly open, letting out a warm, yellow light.
I told myself it was nothing. Maybe a book had fallen or he had stubbed his toe. I imagined walking in to see him by the fireplace with a glass of port and a cigar.
When I pushed the door open, I did see him by the fireplace. But he wasn’t in his favorite leather chair, holding a glass of wine, or smoking a cigar. He was—
Sitting in the shower, I rub my hands over my face, hard enough to hurt, watching the last of the blood wash off and go down the drain. I want to erase the memory of finding my father face down on the hardwood floor, his hand reaching for something, the table next to him overturned with a broken glass, wine mixing with the blood on the floor. I want to forget my own scream, the way I collapsed to the floor, and the smell of blood that I’ll always recognize now.
I don't know what happens next. But I know my life as I knew it—the life of Don Vincezio Santoro's beloved daughter—is over.
Who I'm meant to be now, I have no idea.
Last Chapters
#35 Chapter 35
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#34 Chapter 34
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#33 Chapter 33
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#32 Chapter 32
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#31 Chapter 31
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#30 Chapter 30
Last Updated: 1/25/2026#29 Chapter 29
Last Updated: 1/26/2026#28 Chapter 28
Last Updated: 1/25/2026#27 Chapter 27
Last Updated: 1/25/2026#26 Chapter 26
Last Updated: 1/27/2026
You Might Like 😍
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.
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
"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.
How Not To Fall For A Dragon
Which is why it was more than a little confusing when a letter arrived with my name already printed on a schedule, a dorm waiting, and classes picked out as if someone knew me better than I knew myself. Everyone knows the Academy, it’s where witches sharpen their spells, shifters master their forms, and every kind of magical creature learns to control their gifts.
Everyone except me.
I don’t even know what I am. No shifting, no magic tricks, nothing. Just a girl surrounded by people who can fly, conjure fire, or heal with a touch. So I sit through classes pretending I belong, and I listen hard for any clue that might tell me what’s hidden in my blood.
The only person more curious than me is Blake Nyvas, tall, golden-eyed, and very much a Dragon. People whisper that he’s dangerous, warn me to keep my distance. But Blake seems determined to solve the mystery of me, and somehow I trust him more than anyone else.
Maybe it’s reckless. Maybe it’s dangerous.
But when everyone else looks at me like I don’t belong, Blake looks at me like I’m a riddle worth solving.
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
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?
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 can’t 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.
Falling For The Biker: The Vice President's Girl
His eyes darken, flicking to my mouth.
"It's wrong. Your brother would slit my throat for just standing this close. But tell me, little bird" his breath ghosts my skin, "are you trembling because you hate me… or because you've wanted this just as much as I have?"
Wren thought she'd buried the chaos of New Orleans for good—the clubs, the blood-soaked loyalties, the men who lived and died by their kuttes. Seattle gave her everything she ever wanted: freedom, love, a future.
But one betrayal shatters it all.
Dragged home by tragedy, Wren finds herself under the watchful eye of Ezra Jax—the Raven Reapers MC's vice president and her brother's best friend. He's infuriating, dangerous, and far too tempting for a man she should never touch.
And the deeper Wren is pulled back into his world, the more she realizes nothing about her past—or about Ezra—is what she believed.
In the chaos of gang wars, mounting debts, and old betrayals, he becomes the one constant. The more she fights him, the harder she falls. And the more he pushes her away, the more lethal his pull becomes.
Because in this world, love isn't sweet.
It's brutal. Bloody.
And it's bound to break them both.
When loyalty is everything and love can cost your life, will Wren risk her heart on the one man she was never meant to love?
A pack of their own
The mafia princess return
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 doesn’t know about the child she’s 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?
Let Them Kneel
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 Human Among Wolves
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.












