Rising From Ashes: The Vengeful Mafia Bride

I worshipped the mafia Don for ten years, believing my devotion could tame his cold heart.

But as my organs failed in a freezing underground clinic, a text message illuminated my phone.

"Camilla needs a blood transfusion for the baby. You are the only match. Bleed for her, or I will slaughter your father."

I stared at the screen from the man I loved, my heart shattering.

To protect his civilian mistress, Gabriel had caged me and authorized a medical procedure that permanently stripped me of my ability to bear children.

Camilla had faked miscarriages to frame me, playing the innocent victim while secretly poisoning my name.

Now, she was actually pregnant, and Gabriel was willing to drain my dying body to save her.

Because of my blind love, my Capo father went to war for me, which cost him his territory, his men, and ultimately his life.

I died in that clinic, completely drained and discarded like trash.

Until my last breath, I didn't understand.

Why did my decade of absolute loyalty mean nothing? Why did I let my family's legacy burn for a man who only saw me as a blood bag?

When I gasped and opened my eyes, the fatal cold was gone.

I was standing in the center of the Syndicate's grand hall, holding the ceremonial silver dagger that would bind me to him all over again.

I was twenty again.

This time, I looked at the dagger, smiled, and prepared to hand him a bride who would tear his empire apart from the inside out.

Chapter 1

Liana POV

As the last of the poison worked its way through my failing organs in that subterranean clinic, a text message illuminated the cracked screen of my telephone. It was from the mafia Don I had worshipped for ten years: "Camilla needs a blood transfusion for the baby. You are the only match. Bleed for her, or I will slaughter your father."

But when I gasped and opened my eyes, the fatal cold was gone, and I was standing in the center of the Syndicate's grand hall, holding the silver dagger that would bind me to that same man all over again.

The air, heavy with the scent of frankincense and old currency, filled my lungs.

I blinked against the harsh glare of the chandeliers.

The stomach that had just been spasming from organ failure now churned with a warm, acidic fluid. I dug my nails into my palms, the sting of flesh yielding to the pressure a sensation of impossible clarity.

I was alive.

I looked down at the ceremonial silver dagger resting in my palm. The Marriage Drawing Ceremony. I was twenty again.

I lifted my head and looked across the polished marble floor.

Gabriel Rossi stood there.

He was the undisputed Boss of the Cosa Nostra. He was the man who had orchestrated the Valentine's Day massacre, wiping out two entire rival factions before his twenty-fifth birthday to claim his father's seat.

His dark suit was stretched taut across his broad shoulders, and his jaw was locked in that familiar, arrogant line. He did not radiate energy; he consumed it, pulling the attention of every Made Man in the room into the silent gravity of his stillness.

In my past life, I was a foolish girl who thought my devotion could tame him. I had let him cage me, break me, and authorize the procedure that had stripped me of my ability to ever bear children, all because I believed his coldness was a wall I was destined to tear down.

I was wrong. He was not a monster; he was simply a man who enjoyed the meticulous process of taking things apart.

I turned my gaze to the right.

Sienna stood a few feet away. She was the daughter of a powerful Consigliere, and in my past life, she had been my bitter rival.

We had fought over Gabriel like starving dogs over a scrap of meat. But right before I died in that clinic, she had been the only one holding my hand.

Sienna was staring at me, her breathing suspended. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the same visceral shock, the same sudden, sickening clarity that I felt.

She remembered. We both remembered the hell we had just woken up from.

I looked down at the dagger again. This blade symbolized my selection as the Don's arranged bride.

I walked over to Sienna.

I held the dagger out to her and pressed the cold silver handle directly into her palm.

"The title of Mafia Queen suits the Consigliere's daughter much better than me," I said. My voice was steady; there was no tremor in it.

A collective gasp echoed through the grand hall. Gabriel's mother, the Dowager, stepped forward from the shadows of the altar. Her face was pale with shock.

"What is the meaning of this, Liana?" the Dowager demanded. "You and Sienna have torn this city apart fighting for my son's favor. You drew the marked blade. You are the chosen bride."

I looked the older woman right in the eyes.

"I lack the ruthless constitution required for the world Gabriel occupies," I said calmly. "I cannot survive it. Sienna has the strength to stand beside a Don. I recommend her."

From across the hall, a harsh, mocking laugh sounded. Gabriel stepped forward. His dark eyes locked onto mine, filled with an absolute, untroubled disdain.

"It does not matter which one of you puts on the white dress," Gabriel said, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through the silent hall. "My bride is irrelevant. My true loyalty, and my heart, belong entirely to Camilla."

He said her name with a sickening amount of reverence. Camilla. A civilian-a woman with no Syndicate blood, who hid her venom behind a mask of pure innocence.

The Dowager's face turned red with fury.

"Enough," she snapped. "This alliance is not about love. It is about power. The mafia wedding will take place in exactly three days to secure the Western territories. Gabriel, you will marry whoever holds that dagger."

The Dowager turned and walked out of the hall, her guards following closely behind.

The ceremony was over.

Sienna and I walked out of the estate together. The cold night air hit my face, clearing the last remnants of the incense from my mind.

We did not speak. We did not need to. The shared trauma of our past life bound us tighter than blood ever could.

We reached the busy street corner outside the estate gates as a sleek black car pulled up to the curb.

Gabriel stepped out, reaching into the passenger side to help a woman onto the sidewalk.

Camilla.

She wore a simple floral dress, appearing small and delicate beside Gabriel's towering frame.

Gabriel wrapped his arm around her waist. He looked right at Sienna, who was still holding the silver dagger.

"Understand this right now," Gabriel said, his tone a direct threat. "Camilla will live with me in my fortified penthouse after the wedding. You will be a wife in name only. If you ever disrespect her, I will end you."

He was blatantly breaking Omertà, spitting on the Family traditions right in the middle of the street.

Sienna's grip tightened on the dagger, her knuckles turning white.

"You bring a civilian whore into the Don's house, and you expect the Commission to bow to her?" Sienna asked, her voice pure ice. "I will use my father's entire network to ensure she is permanently exiled from this city before I even put on the veil."

Gabriel took a single, deliberate step forward, his body eclipsing the gaslight from the streetlamp behind him and plunging Sienna into shadow.

"You will not touch her," he growled. "She is carrying my heir."

The words hit the air like a physical blow.

In my past life, Camilla had faked miscarriages to frame me. Now, she was already pregnant before the wedding even happened.

Sienna let out a laugh, a cold, hollow note that was swallowed by the night air.

"Let's go, Liana," Sienna said, turning her back on the Don. "We have a wedding to plan."

We started walking away.

"Wait!" Camilla cried out.

I heard her footsteps rushing up behind us.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Camilla running toward Sienna. She reached out, her fingers grabbing at Sienna's coat.

"Please, Sienna, you have to understand," Camilla pleaded, her voice loud enough for Gabriel and his guards to hear.

Then, Camilla did exactly what she always did-she staged the scene.

She twisted her ankle on the flat pavement and threw her weight backward, a calculated maneuver designed to end with her landing hard on the concrete, framing Sienna for the push.

Sienna looked at me, our eyes meeting for a fraction of a second.

"Did she use this exact same trick to ruin you in our past life?" Sienna asked me, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"Yes," I replied.

Sienna did not reach out to catch her. She did not try to defend herself.

Sienna simply took one step to the left, removing herself entirely from the path of the fall.

Camilla lost her balance. With nothing to grab onto, her momentum carried her backward, right off the edge of the curb and into the busy street.

The screech of heavy tires drowned out Camilla's scream as an armored SUV slammed its brakes, its massive bumper grazing her side. The violent swerve and sudden impact sent her tumbling hard across the rough asphalt, scraping her limbs and threatening the life growing inside her.

"Camilla!" Gabriel roared.

He sprinted past us, falling to his knees on the bloody street and gathering Camilla's limp, bleeding body into his arms.

Gabriel looked up at Sienna, his eyes containing a frantic, unhinged light.

"You pushed her!" Gabriel screamed. "You ruthless bitch! You are stripped of your candidacy. You will never be my wife."

His gaze, hot and furious, swung to me.

"Liana," Gabriel commanded, his voice shaking with pure rage. "You will be my bride in three days. If you refuse, I will send my men to burn your Capo father's estate to the ground."

The Syndicate ambulance arrived, its sirens wailing. Gabriel carried Camilla into the back, not taking his eyes off me until the doors slammed shut.

The street grew quiet again.

I looked at Sienna.

"Do you still desire the crown?" I asked her.

Sienna did not answer. A faint metallic rasp sounded from the pocket of her tweed coat as she withdrew a black flip phone.

"I have one last hit to make," she said.

She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear.

"Dad," Sienna said, her voice flattening into a monotone devoid of all warmth. "It's time to set the trap."