Loving The Mafia Boss
His Unwanted Wife, The Hidden Genius
I flew back to New York on my twenty-fifth birthday, carrying vintage gold cufflinks I spent weeks finding for my billionaire husband, Declan. But when I walked into our townhouse, I found him throwing a massive victory party with Sloane, a glamorous socialite, standing by his side as the proud hostess. "Don't cause a scene. Go upstairs." Declan coldly dismissed me in front of his guests. Even Poppy, the rookie player whose shattered ankle I had painstakingly rebuilt, rolled her eyes and ignored me to suck up to Sloane. Hiding in the shadows, I heard the maids gossiping that everyone thought Sloane was the future Mrs. Hartford. To make matters worse, I discovered Sloane had stolen my anonymous, groundbreaking medical algorithm and was planning to present it as her own. First my husband, then the girl I mentored like family, and now the scientific foundation I had built with my own hands. Declan even texted me to cancel our birthday breakfast without a single apology, treating me like an annoying afterthought. My tears vanished, replaced by a freezing clarity. I signed the divorce papers, leaving them on his desk with zero demands for his money. Then I packed my bags, booked a one-way ticket to Boston, and prepared to destroy them on the global stage.
Chapter 1
Aurelia Vance POV:
I had been married to Declan Hartford for three years.
Today was my twenty-fifth birthday, and I had flown back from Boston in secret, hoping for one quiet evening with my husband.
I'd spent a week carefully picking out a pair of gold cufflinks as a gift for my husband.
But the laughter spilling from the front door told me I was already too late: the woman who had taken my place at his side was already inside.
The heavy oak door swung open before I reached the porch. Three young players from the New York Titans, Declan's NHL franchise, stumbled out with crystal tumblers of scotch, laughing loudly. They barely glanced at me as they passed.
I stepped into the grand foyer. The heat hit me instantly,expensive champagne, roasted tenderloin, cigar smoke.
Dozens of people filled the double parlor: executives, scouts, wives in designer dresses.
In the center stood Declan, tall and broad in a bespoke charcoal suit. Beside him, laughing into his ear, was Sloane Whitfield, her backless silver dress catching the chandelier light. Her hand rested on his forearm like she belonged there.
Before I could take another breath, a blur of blonde hair darted past my elbow.
"Sloane!" Poppy Delacroix cried, throwing her arms around Sloane's slender waist. "You were completely right about the catering! This is literally the best victory party the team has ever had!"
Poppy is fourteen, a junior elite forward prospect.
I scouted her two years ago from a crumbling youth league, back when she was at her lowest.
Her parents had once shown me great kindness, and I knew they had already passed away, leaving her all alone in the world.
Declan and I adopted her together.
I rebuilt her shattered ankle with a custom rehabilitation plan.
I had always loved and cared for her as both a mother and a sister.
Now, she did not even glance in my direction.
Declan turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd until his eyes locked onto mine. The easy grin on his sharp jaw vanished instantly. His brows drew together in a hard, irritated line.
He excused himself from Sloane, cutting through the throng of players with long, impatient strides.
"Aurelia," Declan said, stopping two feet in front of me. His voice carried zero warmth. "What are you doing here?"
My throat felt like sandpaper.
"I took the four o'clock flight from Boston," I whispered, clutching the strap of my bag until my knuckles turned white. "It is my birthday, Declan. I thought we could—"
"We are celebrating the division win," he cut in, his tone sharp enough to draw blood. "The board is here. The sponsors are here. Sloane spent four consecutive days coordinating this event so the organization could project stability."
He did not look at me. His gaze slid past my shoulder to the bar, like I was a waitress who had wandered into the wrong room.
"Don't cause a scene," he added quietly. "Go upstairs."
A soft, mocking murmur rippled through a cluster of players' wives standing near the grand staircase. Two women with platinum blowouts exchanged knowing glances over their flutes of Dom Pérignon.
"I didn't know," I said, my voice barely audible over the swelling music. "I am sorry."
I turned toward the staircase, my legs trembling beneath my wool trousers.
Near the landing, Poppy was adjusting her designer jacket in the hallway mirror.
"Poppy," I said softly, pausing beside her. "How is your ankle feeling after Thursday's third period? Did you complete the isometric sequence I sent?"
Poppy rolled her eyes, sighing loudly as she pulled out her phone.
"Aurelia, please, not right now," she muttered without looking at me. "Sloane is introducing me to a marketing director from one of our partners. I don't have time for your spreadsheets."
The dismissive edge in her voice hit me harder than Declan's coldness. I had stayed up until three in the morning reviewing her biomechanical scans while she was recovering from surgery, and now I was just an annoyance in the way of her social ascent.
I walked up the rest of the stairs and entered the primary suite—the massive, sterile bedroom allocated to me under our prenuptial agreement.
I sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled out the velvet box. The gold cufflinks gleamed under the bedside lamp, cold and useless.
Downstairs, cheers erupted. The sound vibrated through the floorboards.
I walked to the French doors overlooking the rear garden. Down on the illuminated patio, Sloane was directing two servers by an ice sculpture. Declan stood beside her, his head bent down as he listened to her speak, his hand casually brushing the small of her back.
They looked like the couple the city expected them to be.
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket. I pulled it out, hoping against hope.
It was an email notification.
"Happy Birthday, Aurelia. Remember that true science requires patience and solitude. You are meant for greater arenas than New York boardrooms. -Dr. Edmund Sterling."
My mentor at Harvard was the only person in the world who had remembered.
I typed a brief "Thank you, Professor" and shut off the screen.
Hours passed. The bass eventually quieted, replaced by the occasional clatter of glassware and slamming car doors. My throat burned with thirst.
At two in the morning, I padded downstairs in my stocking feet to fetch a glass of water from the butler's pantry.
As I rounded the corner near the service hallway, the voices of two newly hired catering maids stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Miss Whitfield is stunning," the first girl whispered, scraping dessert plates into a bin. "Mr. Hartford's girlfriend carries herself like royalty."
"A girlfriend?" the other asked, pausing. "But isn't Mr. Hartford rumored to be married? Is it inappropriate to be this close with Whitfield?"
"Married?Where did that come from? Even if there was one, they must have split long ago. I've worked three events here this month, and Miss Whitfield is the only woman hosting by his side. Everyone knows she's the future Mrs. Hartford."
I shrank back into the cold shadow of the archway, my blood turning to ice.
In the home where I held a legal marriage certificate, my presence had already been wiped clean.
Loving The Mafia Boss
Warning ⚠️ "I'm not a child. I can fuck you like any woman you've been with," Alice said, her tongue snaking out to wet her lower lip. Tonight, she'd picked a dress with a very low neckline and she knew she looked seductive. But why this man wouldn't grab her and make love to her was what she coul
Loving the Mafia Lord
Tallulah's life comes crashing down when she is given off to Mateo Hernando, a ruthless Spanish Mafia lord in an arranged marriage which would secure a loan for her father. She goes to live with Mateo and things get rocky especially when she starts falling in love with him. What then happens when hi
Loving the Billionaire Mafia
Loving the Billionaire Mafia Hot Billionaire Series #2 Love, death, and mind games. That’s how their relationship started. He is an ex-mafia boss, she is an assassin. With their lives intertwined and he is her mission, can she carry out the job properly?
Loving Queen Mafia
Warning!!!! 18+ HOW do you feel when you are asked to kill the only man you have come to this wicked world to love????? Notoriously known all over the mafia world as Queen Mafia, for she was mafia herself. Orphaned, abandoned, broken, used, picked up from the streets by Lord Lucario, boss of The
The Mafia Boss' Obsession
There's no room for love and romance in Terrence's life. Being the youngest mafia boss in London all he cares about is his position and responsibilities in the organization and screwing women for fun, but a strange woman appears in his life and makes him go crazily obsessed about her. Little did he
Seducing The Mafia Boss
[ Warning: It has violence, killings and 18+ erotica theme] Getting into an intimate relationship was not my choice, but when I saw him, I lost myself. Bella Diór was a carefree, young, beautiful, impatient, and playgirl who couldn't open her heart to any man. As the only daughter of Choelob Cha
Loving the Ruthless Mafia King
Stuck with a drunken dad, Sera is faced with life and forced to become the breadwinner. However, despite the already struggling life, things changed when her father old acquaintance, a cold ruthless mafia king seeks her hand. With hidden secrets, double life and a scarred past, Sera has no idea what
THE IRRESISTABLE MAFIA BOSS
Warning- This rated R, sexually explicit and gun and knife violence, reader's discretion is advised It all started when he was 19 and she was 17, teenagers in love who bared their souls without judgement from one another. Innocently, they thrived purely on love, but unknown to them, their families
Taming The Mafia Boss
Tory Zane found herself caught up with most dangerous Mafia Don in LA she was just his child's nanny and never plans to fall for him but then Destiny brought them together and the Ruthless man became a man with a heart. But...... when everything sees to be falling in place betwee
The Mafia Boss Bride
"ENZO RICCARDO" The name that could make even a grown man wet himself.. The name only uttered in hushed whispers. Some call him the devil himself, the manipulator, the cold-blooded savage man. The king of the underworld I have caught the attention of this monster. It's too late,I didn't even
The Mafia Boss Submissive
I've always done as my father commanded-until he sells me to a family in Sicily and I become the property of Sullivan Stone. * I wanted her the moment I saw her-feisty, sly, and meant to be broken. He's everything I always want to stay away from: cold, ruthless, and dangerously intent on having wh
Marrying The Mafia Boss
"Stop running around! I'm exhausted chasing after you, Quiy!" I scolded my child. Seriously, he's so hyperactive. It's like he's a worm sprinkled with salt. He's only three years old, but I feel like I won't even make it to his college years because right now, I already feel like giving up. I wante
Marrying the mafia boss
Like almost every dramatic romance novel, Bella’s story begins with a bad grandfather, a treacherous sister, and a stupid boyfriend. At the age of twenty, she became a victim of their grand scheme and became the laughing stock of the country. A piece of news about her boyfriend’s reuni
MARRIED TO THE MAFIA BOSS
WARNING !! THIS BOOK CONTAINS 80% STEAMY SCENES ..READ IF YOU ARE IN FOR A RIDE. After a one-night stand with the Mafia god, Ace, Aubrey finds out she is married to him and has no memories of the wedding. She then finds out her ex-fiancée who had cheated on her with her best friend was a drug syndi
Entwined With The Mafia Boss
"Real men don't fall in love. Love is for the weak and foolish, and I, Don Alessandro, will never raise a fool as a son." Kai Alessandro learned those words the hard way. Groomed by his father to be the mafia leader, Kai's life is built on power, fear, and control. Love? That's a weakness he can't a
The Mafia Boss Forbidden Bride
Elisa Mancini wakes up in the hospital without any relocation of her life. While she is still trying to get a grip of herself, she is told that she would be getting married in a week's time. To a mafia boss. A cruel mafia boss. A mafia boss who despises her. Ever since Stephano Bellucci became th
TRAPPED WITH THE MAFIA BOSS
DARK DESIRES TRAPPED WITH THE MAFIA BOSS SYNOPSIS •°•°• His fingers continue down, trailing softly along my shoulders and down my arms feel electrifying even though it's so light. "I feel guilty"He grumbled, His eyes trailed down my chest. "For what?"I stuttered, trying not to look at
Married To The Mafia Boss
You may kiss the bride," the priest announced and my body shuddered in resistance as the words I told him two days ago rang in my ears. I won't even spit on your face let alone marry you, Liam Knight. His eyes were shining in triumph, clearly stating that once again he won. He smirked cruelly, t
Collateral For The Mafia Boss
What would you do if your life was no longer your own? Sofia Russo's world turns upside down when her father's debt brings Dante Morelli, a calm, powerful mafia boss, into her life. Instead of demanding money, Dante offers a contract: one year under his control, living in his house, following his ru
Nanny For The Mafia Boss
Mafia boss Alessandro Rossi retrieves his heir from his runaway wife. He employs the young Victoria to care for his son. After spending one drunken night together, she is pregnant for him. Their lives are entwined now and they end up in a loveless marriage. She finds comfort in the arms of anoth
