Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
I never expected to hand him my own.
I’m Sienna Vale—an artist who reads people with a single brushstroke.
My latest Nico Moretti, Dallas’s reclusive “philanthropist.”
One look at him and every color on my palette turns to danger.
His mother wants a portrait.
Nico wants me.
The FBI wants dirt on his empire—using my studio as the perfect listening post.
Now I’m trapped between the man who ruins me with a glance and the agents who can ruin us both.
If I spy on Nico I could finally learn what really happened to my family.
If I don’t, I might lose the only man who’s ever seen the woman beneath my paint-stained armor.
Love was never part of the bargain.
Because in Nico Moretti’s world, every masterpiece is painted in secrets and sealed with surrender—and the last brush-stroke he wants is me.
*SEDUCED BY THE MAFIA DON is a dark, spicy mafia romance with an obsessive older hero, a fearless artist heroine, zero cheating, and a guaranteed HEA
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Sienna
The man of my dreams ruined my life. He was my lover, my universe, my everything. I promised myself I wouldn’t be naïve. I promised myself I would remember the hatred I should feel for him.
Yet his kisses dissolved my resolve. This exquisite gown erased my convictions. I fell victim to his beguiling smile and the assurance that he was different from the others. The life he offered: distant dreams coming true, a genuine opportunity for love. He claimed no resemblance to those who killed my mother.
I stumble down the corridor, breathless, the damning paper clutched in my trembling hand, my chest constricting as though my heart might burst.
Person of Interest: Nico Moretti. Fleeing the scene. Witness statement redacted.
But I refuse to let his betrayal go unpunished. Before, I entertained the fantasy that we might forge a relationship worthy of a fairytale. We’d defy the odds: a mafia kingpin and a woman who’d eternally despised the underworld. What preposterous delusion.
I straighten my spine, inhaling deeply, composing myself.
I won't waste precious moments on tears when vengeance waits. Blood is what I seek now. Red has always been my favorite color.
Tonight, the Don will bleed, or I will.
Chapter One
Nico
Weeks Before
Marriage and true love are concepts I'd prefer to avoid contemplating, but my mother is in a persistent mood. Gianna Moretti resembles a wolf unwilling to relinquish her prey. "I'd be delighted to see you find a companion."
The Cattle and Vine exudes sophistication without ostentation. Secluded booths, leather upholstery redolent of Fort Worth craftsmanship, floors gleaming like freshly spilled oil. Their steaks are perfection here. Dry-aged, sourced locally.
Towering windows line one wall, capturing just enough of the downtown skyline to establish where you are. Reunion Tower twinkles in the distance. Palpable tension permeates the atmosphere, unfortunately, with Viktor Barinov and his entourage occupying the restaurant's opposite side. He's already raised his glass repeatedly, he and his Bratva cohorts growing increasingly boisterous, like untamed bulls asserting dominance.
I sip my whiskey deliberately, still nursing my first glass, though I claim no virtue in this restraint.
"Did you hear what I said?”
"I heard," I respond. "But we should focus our attention on Adrian."
"Your new consigliere," Mother remarks with heavy sarcasm. "Fortuitously, Viktor and his thugs' presence this evening serves a purpose. We'll be able to observe Adrian's conduct around them."
Mother's elegant attire and plentiful jewelry project her status as the Moretti Family matriarch, widow to the fallen patriarch. In reality, she functions as my partner, possessing intellect as formidable as her rhetoric.
"He'll assume authority. Power invariably reveals one's basest nature."
She knows what I’m referring to. My father governed this Family and city like a failed regime, emulating Cartel-controlled territories. Luka, my elder brother and designated successor, while he perished in a car crash, followed the same methods. My leadership differs fundamentally.
"Don't deflect." Mother nudges me playfully. “I'll have to resort to enrolling you in speed dating."
"My schedule doesn’t allow for such indulgences."
"For a single evening? For a potential connection?"
For once, my cousin's arrival brings relief. Adrian is my uncle's offspring. Since my uncle's demise, Adrian has overseen several districts. Rumor has it he’s been dealing, maybe even nastier shit. Hence Mother's strategy to offer him the position as my second-in-command.
Let’s see who he really is. I harbor no desire to eliminate family, but if it prevents innocent overdoses or atrocities against women, merely attempting to exist peacefully...
He swaggers in, sporting a lustrous blue suit, slicked-back hair, and a gleaming silver watch. In his late twenties, younger than me, he emanates restless energy. Not that my energy appears diminished at thirty-nine.
"You're late," Mother says.
"Apologies, Aunty G." Adrian collapses into his seat and signals the waitstaff. He chuckles, gesturing toward the kitchen. "Apparently, someone else shares my punctuality issues."
A young woman walks in, hastily securing her apron. Momentary desire consumes me as she enters. I clench my fist beneath the table and regain my composure.