
Fall for the Mafia's Deception
Aurora Starling · Ongoing · 100.8k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
Mia POV
"You should marry a foreigner who needs a green card. I can help you with that."
"What?"
"You heard me."
My mom had been in the hospital for years. It had been pure luck that the hospital found a kidney donor match recently, but we were in so much debt that getting another loan was almost impossible. I knew my best friend, Katie, was worried about us, but marrying someone who needed a green card for profit? Was she insane?
"Katie, that's-"
"What are your options?" Katie asked, leaning on the counter "The grant?"
"She's not eligible," I choked out.
"And... even if you started work tomorrow and took every shift available?" I grimaced at the thought. I didn't want to admit it, but I didn't have to. "You'd end up dead from stress in a month, and it still wouldn't be enough."
I nodded pitifully. I bit my lip. "I'm still waiting to hear back about the loan."
She lifted a shoulder. My phone buzzed, and hope filled me. I reached for it, and she placed her hand on mine.
"Before you look at... whatever that is. How are you going to pay back this loan? And all the others?"
I pulled the phone toward me. "I'll figure it out."
She rolled her eyes. "Mila, get real--"
"I am--"
"You'll be filing bankruptcy in a week, homeless soon after, and your mom will still need recovery."
"There are other ways---more legal ways, and as I said, I'll figure it out."
Katie scoffed. "At the rate you're going, you're going to end up in a bed right beside her."
I shuddered at the thought. "I... It won't come to that."
"Know any wealthy men? Got a rich uncle you can whack and get an inheritance from?"
I pulled my hand free. "You'll see. My application was stronger than a lot of people who get approved all the time."
Katie gave me a pitying look. I opened the email, and my blood ran cold.
Your loan application has been rejected.
I set my phone down, blinking back tears of frustration. I didn't even read the rest of the message. I knew what it would say. Then, I got another message from my landlord saying that my rent was going to go up when I renewed.
Mom wasn't going to make it without a new kidney. We were already drowning in debt between my student loans and all of Mom's medical bills. The time to say yes to the donor was running out.
I looked back at Katie, unsure of what to say.
"It's not the greatest path to being debt-free, but it's a path. Probably a lot faster than any other path you have."
I hesitated. Marrying someone to get them a green card was illegal. I could hear my mom telling me not to even think about it.
Crime is a slippery slope, my mom told me countless times growing up, but so was financial ruin and renal failure.
Crime was inevitable, especially in a mafia city, but her death and the suffering we'd already been enduring didn't have to be, and it didn't have to get worse either.
I was sure I would probably go to jail if I got caught, but if I didn't get caught, Mom would be okay.
I bit my lip. "Send me the information as soon as you can."
Katie whipped out her phone, dialed, and waited.
"Babe," Katie said, her voice turning flirty. "You know that favor you owe me... No, not that favor. The other one. Mm-hm. I need to cash it in... for Mia. As quick as you can."
Wait… Katie was clearly calling her new boyfriend, Ivan. She had been secretive about him.
"Thanks, babe!" She hung up and smiled at me.
“Was that Ivan? What does he do? This feels a little too convenient..."
“I was about to tell you… but you can't get mad about it."
"... and what's that?"
“Ivan is the underboss of a bratva."
"What?!"
Albert POV
"Your father is in your office, boss."
I stopped, glancing at the underling beside the door. He gave me a thin smile.
"Anyone else?"
"The underboss."
Ivan and my father in my office together? I pushed the door open to my office and scanned the room. Ivan was standing off to the side with a look on his face that said Dimitri, my father, was going to piss me off today, probably more than usual.
I didn't even glance in my father's direction. It would just play into his hand. I walked across the room and took a seat at my desk, not bothering to acknowledge him. If he was going to play power games, he was going to have to learn to lose.
I smirked at the thought. It would be good practice for the future.
"I had expected you to give in by now."
"I didn't realize that was the kind of successor you were aiming for."
Ivan's lips twitched into a little smile. Dimitri stood, finishing his drink and turning to me. He pulled a handful of photos from his jacket pocket and dropped them on the table in front of me.
"Here are your options," Dimitri said, his eyes cold. "If you'd like to continue this way, that's fine, but do not blame me for choosing the one that suits my tastes best."
I laced my fingers together, not even bothering to glance at the photos. It had been years of him trying to get me to marry the air-headed daughter of one of his old allies or subordinates. Years of him slowly trying to pin me down to this life he'd forced upon me. I'd resisted at every turn, but for some reason, my marriage was the hill he wanted to die on.
I'd like to crucify him myself, but the problem was that Dimitri, while no longer the boss, had enough friends in the right places that my name would end up on a marriage certificate with or without my signature, and I didn't have the time to fight for a divorce. Underground politics would only throw a wrench in my plans, and I was so close to having everything go the way I wanted.
Too close to let him ruin it now. Too close to let my anger take over either.
Dimitri turned to the door. "The wedding will be held within a week. This is a decision, not a negotiation."
He left then, leaving his used glass on the edge of my desk. Ivan's phone rang as I tried to tell myself why it was a bad idea to off my father, at least for right now.
How interesting that he'd chosen a week as a deadline. For a moment, I wondered if he'd been tipped off somehow of what I planned. It just meant I needed to move faster.
"Marriage, hm?" Ivan said.
I looked up. I knew Ivan was dating, but were they already planning to get married?
"Got it. Alright." He hung up with a sigh.
"When's the date?"
He flushed. "Not ours. She's... calling in a favor for a friend. A green card exchange."
"So?"
He winced. "Her friend's not really made for the type of guys on my usual list, so it's going to take some time."
I blinked. Like lightning, it hit me: even Dimitri's friends in legal places couldn't override an already-existing marriage certificate.
"Is she affiliated?"
He frowned. "Not that I know of. Sick mom. Drowning in debt. She just graduated nursing school."
On the right side of the law, a nurse, probably not interested in putting up too much of a fight: she was perfect.
"Arrange it."
"You have someone?"
"Me, but let her think I just need a green card."
Last Chapters
#70 Chapter 70
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#69 Chapter 69
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#68 Chapter 68
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#67 Chapter 67
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#66 Chapter 66
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#65 Chapter 65
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#64 Chapter 64
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#63 Chapter 63
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#62 Chapter 62
Last Updated: 10/29/2025#61 Chapter 61
Last Updated: 10/29/2025
You Might Like 😍
The Biker's Fate
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
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 love…
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 love…
A temperamental romance novel.
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 useful—obedient, 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 neighbor—Lycan 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 queen—her revenge has just begun!
The Lycan Prince’s Puppy
“Soon enough, you’ll be begging for me. And when you do—I’ll use you as I see fit, and then I’ll reject you.”
—
When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two things—honor her mother’s 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 doesn’t 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 Kylan’s torment isn’t 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?
The mafia princess return
His Mission
Emily is suddenly thrown from one world of danger and uncertainty into another. The two teens ride the rollercoaster of love, unbelievable betrayal and heartache.
Badass in Disguise
"Jade, I need to check your—" the nurse began.
"OUT!" I snarled with enough force that both women backed toward the door.
Once feared by Shadow Organization that drugged me to replicate my abilities into a more controllable version, I had escaped my restraints and detonated their entire facility, ready to die alongside my captors.
Instead, I woke up in a school infirmary with women arguing around me, their voices piercing my skull. My outburst froze them in shock—clearly they hadn't expected such a reaction. One woman threatened as she left, "We'll discuss this attitude when you get home."
The bitter truth? I've been reborn into the body of an overweight, weak, and supposedly dim-witted high school girl. Her life is filled with bullies and tormentors who've made her existence miserable.
But they have no idea who they're dealing with now.
I didn't survive as the world's deadliest assassin by allowing anyone to push me around. And I certainly won't start now.
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 armor, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of a border pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to stay; of cake, iron, and daylight negotiations. 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.
A pack of their own
Mated by Contract to the Alpha
William—my devastatingly handsome, wealthy werewolf fiancé destined to become Delta—was supposed to be mine forever. After five years together, I was ready to walk down the aisle and claim my happily ever after.
Instead, I found him with her. And their son.
Betrayed, jobless, and drowning in my father's medical bills, I hit rock bottom harder than I ever imagined possible. Just when I thought I'd lost everything, salvation came in the form of the most dangerous man I'd ever encountered.
Damien Sterling—future Alpha of the Silver Moon Shadow Pack and ruthless CEO of Sterling Group—slid a contract across his desk with predatory grace.
“Sign this, little doe, and I'll give you everything your heart desires. Wealth. Power. Revenge. But understand this—the moment you put pen to paper, you become mine. Body, soul, and everything in between.”
I should have run. Instead, I signed my name and sealed my fate.
Now I belong to the Alpha. And he's about to show me just how wild love can be.
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
“Burn those who burned me!”
Burn those who burned me is an anthology book circulated on truth; justice; and REVENGE!
Story #1 The Ballad of Rabena Price.
Story #2 The rebirth of Clara Granger
Story #3 The violin of Graceland Teague
Story #4 The list for Josie Taylor
Story #5 COMING SOON!












