MAFIA DESIRE

The man on the floor was begging.

"I swear, Alessandro, I didn't betray you-"

"Again," Alessandro Moretti said calmly.

"I swear Don, I didn't mean for me to betray you."

The man said again, hands shaking as he tried to form more words, eyes shaking like he was staring at the devil himself. The man standing before him might actually be more than the devil.

The room fell silent.

No one ever crosses him without facing the consequences.

No one steals from him.

No one!!

No one questioned him. No one ever did.

From the top floor of the building, the city lights glittered beyond the wall of reinforced glass. Cars crawled through the streets like glowing insects, their drivers unaware of who truly owned the roads they traveled.

Alessandro stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his perfectly tailored suit as dark as the night outside. Not a single wrinkle disturbed the fabric. Rings coating his long , slender fingers.

The same could not be said for the man kneeling behind him.

"I'm telling the truth," the man insisted, his voice shaking. "I would never-"

A single glance from Alessandro silenced him instantly.

Alessandro never needed to raise his voice. Authority clung to him like a shadow-quiet, suffocating, and impossible to escape.

He turned slightly, acknowledging the presence of his right-hand man.

Luca stood nearby with his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with practiced indifference.

"You were warned," Alessandro said at last, turning to face the traitor fully.

"Once."

A slow step forward.

"Twice."

The room seemed to shrink with every movement he made.

Fear thickened the air.

Moments later, the problem was handled.

Silence settled over the room again.

Alessandro returned to the glass wall, staring out at the restless city below. His jaw tightened slightly-not from anger, but from exhaustion.

Power demanded constant vigilance.

Mercy was a luxury he had stopped believing in long ago.

"Another issue," Luca said carefully.

Alessandro didn't turn. "Business?"

"No."

That got his attention.

Alessandro slowly faced him.

"There's a woman," Luca continued. His voice slightly lowered with fear "She witnessed the exchange at the docks last night."

Alessandro's reflection stared back at him from the glass.

Cold. Calculating.

"Witnesses don't stay witnesses," he replied flatly.

Luca hesitated.

"She's... different," he said. "No connections. Wrong place, wrong time."

For a moment, Alessandro said nothing.

Then he turned fully.

"Find her."

Luca studied him carefully. "And when we do?"

Alessandro's gaze drifted back to the glittering city below.

"Then we make sure," he said quietly, "she never speaks about what she saw."

And just like that, somewhere in the city, a woman who didn't even know his name had become his next problem.

And in Alessandro Moretti's world, problems rarely survived for long.

_________________________

****Author's Note 📝 🖤..

What do you think will happen to the woman?

Comment below 👀

Also, you do you all like Alessandro?

Do y'all think he's too heartless 🤧?.

Comment and write your answers or questions so that I know what you all think.

Elena had always trusted her instincts.

That night she wasn't supposed to be there. She had envisioned how her night was going to be. Get back from work, take a long , cool bath in her bath tub , with her favourite drink in hand, sipping while her body gets soaked.

That was how she would have loved to spend her night.

But she was against her better judgement, sitting at this small open space Chinese restaurant closed to the docks. Her online friend had told her to meet with him to see over this new Chinese dish that just recently got out. She she was , waiting with her phone in hand scrolling and a drink the other hand .

She was slowly losing her patient. She had been there for an hour now and there was still no sign of her online friend.

So she was now leaving , mood low as she started her journey to her black Bentley, after she had called her online friend numerous times which went unanswered and texts that went unread. Disappointed, she let her mind wandered as she walked on not realising she had walked into a different part.

She hadn't realised how quite that part was until it was too late.

Her instincts told her to run which she did. That part of the dock had been too quite . By the time she realized something was wrong, a voice was already pleading , shadows moving. Voices carried. Then a gunshot cracked the air.

She didn't think. She ran.

Now, sitting in her small apartment hours later, Elena replayed the moment over and over. The sharp suits. Her hands were still shaking even after she got home, she willed her to stay calm, that she was safe but she couldn't because she had seen something.

She barely slept that and by the time she opened her eyes it was morning. She knew she wouldn't be able to go to work that morning, she was still shaken by the incident at the dock , she needed to stay safe, to stay home and if no one comes looking for her for the next few days, then she could resume her life .

That was what she told her self but fate had a more cruel uet blissful plan for her.

On the third day, she had come back home after running some errands to buy some groceries for her home. She couldn't stop looking over her shoulders while she was out while tightly clutching the pepper spray she had purchased a day before. She tried relaxing when she got home, she was about moving into her kitchen when she heard a noise at her door.

A knock at the door made her heart stop. Her palms were slick with sweat , hands shaking and her breath caught in her throat. Every instinct screamed that she shouldn't open it, but curiosity-and fear-pushed her forward.

With her nerves screamingdanger, she moved toward the door . Few people knew where she leaved. Slowly, she reached for the nearest object she could use as a weapon.

Another knock. Firmer this time.

Peering through the little hole, she saw two men standing at her door pouch. When she opened the door, the men stood there-well-dressed, expressionless.

"Elena Rossi?" one asked.

She swallowed. "Who's asking?"

"We need you to come with us."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, forcing steel into her voice.

The man smiled, but there was no warmth in it.

"It's not a request."

Before she could close the door, she was pushed aside and the men grabbed her arm each.

An hour later, Elena stood in the most decorated and beautiful glass-walled room she had ever seen. And in the middle stood a man.

Alessandro turned as she entered.

Their eyes met-and something shifted.

She shifted nervously but wasn't afraid the way he expected. Nervous, yes. Furious, definitely. But she met his gaze head-on, chin lifted, defiant.

Interesting.

"You brought me here," Elena said, breaking the silence. "Either you plan to kill me, or you plan to explain."

A corner of Alessandro's mouth twitched-almost a smile.

"You have courage," he said. "That can be dangerous."

She crossed her arms. "So can underestimating people."

For the first time in years, Alessandro Moretti felt something unexpected.

Curiosity.

Elena decided two things immediately.

First: this man was dangerous-not because he was loud or cruel, but because he didn't need to be.

Second: fear was exactly what he expected from her. So she refused to give it.

The room was immaculate, every object placed with deliberate intention. No clutter. No warmth. Elena stood in the center, shoulders squared, heart pounding harder than she would ever let show. Alessandro studied her in silence. He didn't sit. Neither did she.

That alone felt like a victory.

He's trying to read me, she thought. Trying to see where I'll crack.

"I told you already," Elena said, breaking the quiet before it could suffocate her. "I didn't see faces. I didn't hear names. I don't even know what I walked into."

"Yet you ran," Alessandro replied calmly.

"Anyone with a pulse would've."

His gaze sharpened-not angry, not amused. Focused. Like she was a puzzle placed in front of him without instructions.

"Most people freeze," he said. "Or scream."

"And most people don't grow up learning when to disappear," she shot back before she could stop herself.

Something flickered behind his eyes-recognition, perhaps. Respect, maybe. Alessandro took a step closer-not invading her space, but close enough that she felt it like gravity.

"You understand survival," he said. "That makes you unpredictable."

Elena swallowed, voice steady. "Then why am I here?"

He considered her carefully, as if honesty were a calculated risk.

"Because you know something you shouldn't," he said. "And because killing you would create more problems than it solves."

Her stomach tightened. So death was on the table.

"And the alternative?" she asked.

A pause. Deliberate.

"You stay where I can see you."

Elena laughed once-sharp, disbelieving. "You mean under your control."

Alessandro didn't deny it.

"No," she said firmly. "I won't be owned, watched, or caged because of your mess."

"Careful," he warned quietly.

"No," she repeated, meeting his gaze head-on.

"You be careful. Because if you think I'll quietly disappear, you've already misjudged me."

Silence fell again-but this time, it was charged.

Alessandro exhaled slowly, a sound no one else ever heard from him.

"You don't know who I am," he said.

"I know enough," Elena replied. "You're used to people obeying you. I don't."

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then-unexpectedly-he smiled. Not kind. Not cruel. Curious.

"Very well," Alessandro said. "Then we do this differently."

She frowned. "Differently how?"

He turned toward the glass wall, signaling the end of the confrontation.

"You'll stay under my protection," he said. "You'll have freedom-with reason. And in return, you'll stay alive."

"And if I say no?"

He looked back at her, expression unreadable. "You won't."

Elena hated that part of her believed him.

As she was escorted from the room and towards an awaiting car, her thoughts raced. She wasn't a prisoner-not officially. But she wasn't free either.

And the most unsettling truth? She hadn't felt powerless in that room. She had felt... seen.

Behind the glass, Alessandro watched her leave. Luca appeared beside him.

"She's trouble," Luca said.

Alessandro's eyes followed Elena until the doors closed.

"Yes," he said quietly. "That's what makes her dangerous."

And for the first time in years, the game ahead didn't feel boring.

______/_____________

Now back in her apartment, she took in the groceries that were left untouched in her kitchen counter. She knew her life had changed from this point on, she wouldn't really be free . She thought of running away, but decided against, he would find her and only God knows what would become of her then.

Her mind wandered to the men she knew were watching her. Yes!!

They had made an agreement, he would let her go, but she would stay within his reach.

That night, Elena's phone buzzed. A message she didn't recognize lit the screen:

"You will always be on my watch , don't do anything stupid."

________________

*****Author's Note 📝 ❤️......

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!.

Yes our male lead and female lead has met and it's your typical romance meeting 🙄 😒. Their meeting is full of tension and danger.

Please comment and write your thoughts about this chapter and tell me is anything is wrong or if you enjoy it.

With love ❤️ 😍 💖 ❣️ 💕