Into the Darkness

Into the Darkness

A.J Andrew’s · Ongoing · 121.9k Words

340
Hot
340
Views
102
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

After her mother's passing Arianna is thrust back into the world of her father, where her sister and family secrets await. Helping her sister with her wedding, Arianna meets a handsome stranger, a business partner of her father's. After a brief meeting with Detective Arianna uncovers family secrets, a mafia war, and horrible truths. Fearing for her life she turns to the only one she can trust and must work with him to bring her father down.

Chapter 1

Arianna POV

There are moments in life that don’t feel real you feel like you’ve slipped into a terrible dream and you rack your brain to wake up. You say to yourself no this isn’t real it doesn’t feel real wake up come on come on. Then it sinks in you’re awake and it’s real and you go cold. This has only happened to me twice when my mother ran with me in the middle of the night and the day she died.

She’d had a heart attack in the parking lot at the grocery store. She’d never shown any signs of heart disease but the tests didn’t lie. She’d dropped and no one could have brought her back.

When I got the call I felt the world blur and assumed I was in a vivid nightmare only to realize there wasn’t any other reality to escape too. She was all I had known for so long and now I was alone.

Sort of.

My father, an estranged ghost in the corners of my life, had swooped in out of nowhere. He took over and paid for everything the funeral, her arrangements, and the house even.

I was taken aback when I saw him at my doorstep. He grabbed me like we were close and this was our pain, something nothing like our reality. She’d taken me and left in the middle of the night but he told me he’d never blamed her and that he loved her enough to let her go. That he had missed me and didn’t want me to worry about a thing.

I didn’t want this man who was so much of a stranger in my home, let alone my life, but at the same instant, I did not want to be alone. He’d come in and made sure I’d felt safe and supported. All of the bustle and documents that come when someone dies were lifted off of me and I suddenly felt like a toddler again being told to trust and blindly follow. Holding his hand and walking along in total faith. With him came my sister who I gladly enveloped. She wept with the grief of not knowing our mother. When we’d left my mom took my sister but eventually Giulia wanted to stay with our father and I chose my mom. I always assumed it was out of guilt leaving him alone and they seemed confirmed when she came to me crying over our loss.

She looked over our pictures and her things and clothes. I will admit when looking at us Giulia was very much my father's daughter her luscious brown hair that had the softest waves to it and her eyes were honey on the inside and green rings on the outside she was a traditional Italian beauty whereas I took after my mothers darker looks almost black hair and rich amber eyes. Giulia was olive-skinned and on that, we were the same but I had freckles that covered me though I kept them under makeup.

“I remember her humming as she rocked us to sleep, every night,” she whispered staring at the picture my mother had on her bedside. She was pregnant with Giulia and I was at her side she was on our father's porch in a white dress her hair in the wind.

“She missed you greatly,” I brushed my sister's hair out of her face.

“I doubt that,” She whispered. My parents had signed a joint agreement of no contact. My mother couldn’t contact Giulia and my father couldn’t contact me and neither of them could speak to each other. So when he came in I felt like the floodgates had opened or ties had been cut. My once sealed-off corner of the world was now open to the masses.

Giulia and I were joined at the hip not leaving one and other. We went over everything we’d missed, first kisses, first dates, crushes, ballet recitals, driver’s licenses. We spent each night going over our lives with each other, doing our nails, braiding our hair, and drinking wine. She was only 20 but still, I didn’t mind.

It turns out my sister was seeing some guy in a company my father's company worked with. It felt a little arranged but I kept it to myself. She seemed happy. She was in college and though I wanted to tell her to keep the guys to a minimum until she got her degree I said nothing. She was my sister but I still felt like it wasn’t my place.

I told her about my job as an accountant she snorted and said I was definitely my father's daughter when it came to numbers. We stuck to them like glue but I never had the same rigidness he’d had I still enjoyed my freedom far too much to fall into the boring accountant category.

She giggled at me and I realized how large a six-year age gap could be she seemed like a 14-year-old schoolgirl every once in a while. People come out of things differently and that seemed to be obvious when it came to me and my sister.

I’d learned reality from my parent's divorce and my mother's death and my sister learned indifference to the world around her.

After the funeral had passed I told my father I needed time and space and that it wasn’t that I was ungrateful for all that he’d done but merely that I had just been through a lot and he was surprisingly reasonable to my request. I’d expected him to push back and insist that now that he had me, he wouldn’t give me up without a fight. Instead, I was sent back to my house with a hug and a kiss.

Guilia and I talked every day now and I called my father when I could he was thoughtful and listened and we seemed much more similar than I’d ever realized. The one thing we bickered about was him insisting I was wasting my mind being someone’s employee and that I had the ingenuity to run my own business, not somebody else’s.

“What am I going to do?” I’d ask him. If I didn’t have a talent to sell or a product people wanted, I had no services they required. I know he probably wanted me to come and take care of his businesses and eventually he’d ask but at the moment I was fine with our separate worlds.

After a while, I came over to see them at my old house. The mini-mansion that had grown in my absence was now full-fledged.

“I threw myself into work after your mother left,” my father had shrugged when he saw my agape mouth hanging in the wind. A new wing had been added, the foyer redone, a tennis court put in, and a movie theater to boot.

I went out back and found the cherry tree our mother had requested our father put in. She would read stories to us under it and we’d look up at the cotton candy flower petals as they fell. Seeing it helped my ache for her, to ask her how I was supposed to move on now when we’d built our lives around each other.

We ate and we talked about our lives and our days and it felt like a real family. I thought to myself that I shouldn’t keep them at arm's length just because I was comfortable. I should allow myself some semblance of a home and family in this new chapter of my life.

After a while, it became the new comfortable I’d go to work and text Gulia and she’d tell me about whatever sweet thing her boyfriend Marco had told her that day. I’d call my dad once a week and he’d remind me I was wasted at the small town company I accounted for but told me to enjoy my life. Then once or twice a month I’d make the hour drive for dinner and a movie.

Then Guilia called me.

“HE PROPOSED!!!” She squealed over the phone. “He proposed, he proposed, he proposed!”

I’d set down my glass of red in utter shock. My 20-year-old sister was engaged. The urge to tell my sister she was too naive to get married was swallowed instantly.

“Wow, Gules that’s fantastic!” I had managed.

“Oh! He took me out to dinner and we went for a boat ride and then he got down on one knee and HE PROPOSED!” She screamed into the phone again.

“Sounds magical,” I sighed rubbing my forehead and fighting with myself to not ruin her moment.

“You don’t sound happy, aren’t you happy for me?” She almost whimpered.

“Well yeah yeah of course. It’s just you’re so young Gules and I just don’t want you to make any mistakes,”

“We’ve been dating for a year and a half that’s more than most 20-year-old girls can even fathom. I love him. Don’t worry about me,” she insisted.

“Okay, okay. Protective big sister mode turned off,” I shook off the doubt and was happy for her like she wanted.

“Good! Besides you need to help me plan the engagement party pronto!” She ordered.

“I do?” I was surprised she wanted my help considering she found me a shut-in at best.

“Of course you are the maid of honor,” she giggled over the line. I’ll admit I was overjoyed to know my sister and I had gotten close enough she wanted me to be a bridesmaid and so I gladly agreed.

“Oh Guilia of course I’ll come over tomorrow,” I smiled broadly.

“That’s more like it!” She cheered.

“Well you go enjoy being engaged with your fiancé, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told her and she agreed giving me a bubbly I love you before hanging up.

After a weekend of color palettes, China samples, appetizer platter prices, and a wine list I selected we had the engagement party planned. Somewhere in the haze I was introduced to Marco he was 25 and looked like he could kill me with his pinky.

I smirked to myself seeing the gorilla man next to my tiny little sister. Guilia loved my idea of a black tie affair with a dress code of dark colors so she’d stand out.

So that’s why I was standing here watching my little sister bounce on the top of her toes as she talked giddily with two of her friends. I had chosen a draped backless black dress with lace cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline.

“Stunner,” Guilia had called me when I walked in earlier.

“Like her mom,” my dad had kissed me on the cheek with a tight expression.

I’d spent most of the night sitting back and watching everybody, who seemed to know everybody but me, laugh, talk, and joke with one another. I as the outlier took my rightful place at the table in the back.

Then I felt a warm brush of air walk up to me.

“You know it’s disrespectful to outdo the new bride at her own party,” a rich deep voice hit my ears before I turned and saw the man it belonged to.

Most men assert themselves to talk to a woman they like because they have to but he didn’t he was subtle because he could be. A gorgeous pair of green eyes greeted me in an all-black suit. He had some well-kept stubble around his face and his hair was rich chocolate.

I found my voice by the grace of god and managed an “I think I’ll be just fine,” though it did not have the air of unbothered I’d have liked.

“I beg to differ, you look like a painting, she looks like a prom Queen,” he set his drink down beside mine and leaned in.

“And you think insulting my sister will make me like you?” I was instantly put off by his attack on my baby sister.

He chuckled a deep rumbling laugh and a tingle went up my spine. “I didn't mean to offend but every man has his desires,”

A blush washed over my face from the tone of his voice. “I desire my sister to be the center of attention tonight,” I grabbed my glass and walked away from him passing him as another laugh escaped him, I hid the shiver it gave me and pinched my lips together to his the smile I had.

“Oh good you two have met!” Guilia ran up to me as I attempted my escape.

“What?” I looked at my sister with wary curiosity.

“This is Marcos's cousin Giovanni he’s the best man,” she looked between us and I knew her enough to know she was plotting.

“It’s good to meet you,” he stuck out his hand like the snake to Eve holding the apple. “Call me Gio,”

“Arianna,” I told him shaking his hand and by the time I’d let go I knew I was already dammed.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Biker's Fate

The Biker's Fate

887.3k Views · Completed · Piper Davenport
"You are absolutely my fucking woman, Dani. Got me?"
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

The Prison Project

456.9k Views · Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

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

From Substitute To Queen

629.5k Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

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!
His Mission

His Mission

352.9k Views · Completed · Sakz Hussain
Meet Emily Wentworth. Since the death of her father, she's been living a home life full of abuse. It's remained a secret for years until she meets the town's bad boy, Jake Melvin. It doesn't take long for him to figure out her secret.

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

Badass in Disguise

329.9k Views · Completed · Sherry
"Everyone out," I commanded through gritted teeth. "Now."
"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.
Accardi

Accardi

200.7k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Mated by Contract to the Alpha

Mated by Contract to the Alpha

245.6k Views · Completed · CalebWhite
My perfect life shattered in a single heartbeat.
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.
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

179.1k Views · Completed · Jessica C. Dolan
Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé.
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

419.8k 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
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

218.1k Views · Ongoing · Riley Above Story
On the day Evelyn thought Liam would propose, he shocked her by getting down on one knee—for her stepsister, Samantha. As if that betrayal wasn’t enough, Evelyn learned the cruel truth: her parents had already decided to sell one daughter’s future to a dangerous man: the infamous War God Alpha Alexander, who was rumored to be scarred and crippled after a recent accident. And the bride could’t be their precious daughter Samantha. However, when the "ugly and crippled" Alpha revealed his true self—an impossibly handsome billionaire with no trace of injury—Samantha had a change of heart. She was ready to dump Liam and take Evelyn's place as the family daughter who should marry Alexander.
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
THE ALPHA'S NANNY.

THE ALPHA'S NANNY.

210.3k Views · Ongoing · Fireheart.
‘She’s my daughter’s nanny. And my mate.’

Lori Wyatt, a shy, broken twenty two year old with a dark past is given the deal of a lifetime when she is asked to be the nanny of a newborn who lost her mother at childbirth. Lori accepts, eager to get away from her past.

Gabriel Caine is the Alpha of the revered Moon fang pack and the CEO of Caine Inc. A drunken one night stand leads to the birth of his daughter and he finds her a nanny following the death of her mother. When he meets Lori, he finds out that she is his mate and vows to protect her from his enemies.

The two of them cannot stop the instant attraction between them. Lori, who believes she is unworthy of love, cannot explain why the powerful billionaire is after her and Gabriel who is totally smitten with her is unsure of how to be totally honest with Lori about him being a werewolf.

Fate has brought them together and now together they must fight for their love, amidst the conflicts between packs and secrets that Lori’s past holds.

Will their love survive?
My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate

My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate

611.7k Views · Completed · Veejay
"No... You can't do this to me..." I almost squeezed the words through my teeth, my voice trembling.
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."