Chapter 5

• Aria’s POV
• “Oh, Princess,” he said with a dark chuckle, “you are so naïve. You didn’t figure it out in five years—my job was to kill you.”
• I stared at him in disbelief, my heart pounding harder with every word he spoke.
• “Your cousin had paid partly,” he continued, voice smooth and cruel. “I had no idea that she had scattered aphrodisiac gas in the room. The task I received was to kill the woman in the room. But later... You kissed me and I was addicted to the gas. Everything fell into chaos..” He laughed, like the memory amused him.
• “That’s not true!” I yelled, shaking my head in denial. My voice cracked from the force of it. “You’re lying! Elena would not do that!”
• “Yes, it is,” he said coolly. “This is Valen City. You can’t trust anyone.” He looked me dead in the eyes.
• I stood there frozen. My body felt cold and hot all at once. Everything made sense now. Elena wasn’t trying to help me. She never was. She was trying to get rid of me—erase me—so she could have Dominic Russo all to herself.
• So it was true. They were married. They had an heir together. She took everything that was meant to be mine.
• I remembered when Dominic had looked me in the eyes and promised that I was his only bride. That no one else would ever stand beside him.
• And then… he married her.
• “Don’t feel sad now,” Alessandro said casually. “It’s done already. Good news is—you could hire me to kill her if you like. My services are quite cheap. Just four thousand pounds. Deduct it from the debt of ten million pounds. ” He smiled, clearly joking.
• I hated that I was even considering it. The image of Elena’s smug face burned in my head, and my stomach twisted in betrayal. But I had to stick to my promise.
• No Mafia business while I’m here in Valen City.
• “Don’t be silly,” I snapped. “Forget about it. Let’s just stick to our agreement. You will send the money in installments until it is complete. Deal?”
• He chuckled darkly. “Fine. It’s a deal then.”
• “And you swear you’ll keep to your word,” I warned, pointing a finger at him. “Because if you don’t, I will kill you myself.”
• He smirked, completely unfazed. “You know I have quite a reputation in this city. I’m the Widowmaker. You might find out I’m difficult to kill.”
• I rolled my eyes. He was impossible.
• We exchanged contact information, and I handed him my bank account details.
• “I don’t even know your name,” I muttered as I was about to leave.
• He smiled like he’d been waiting for me to ask. “Alessandro… Alessandro Vitale. But you should probably keep that to yourself.”
• I rolled my eyes at him. “Have a good day, Mr. Vitale.”
• Alessandro’s POV
• I watched her leave, a smile on my face. Seeing her again was a pleasant surprise. I could have paid her the money she requested once but then I might never get another opportunity to see her.
• I don’t know why I felt the urge to get to know her better.
• Just then my phone rang. I took the call. “Hello…”
• A familiar voice came through from the other end. “Hello Mr. Lorenzo De Luca, the Sicilian Cartel has complied with your demand. Their Don is willing to work under your leadership in exchange for your protection.” He announced over the phone.
• I hummed. “Good, tell them that the Don of Dons accept their submission, and under my leadership, their cartel will be invincible, because the most powerful man in the country says so.” I replied in a deep authoritative voice.
• While I lived a pretentious life as a mere mercenary, I was secretly Lorenzo De Luca… the Don of Dons, the most powerful Mafia lord in the country!