The Devil's Bargain.

The Devil's Bargain.

azeta

5.0
Comment(s)
4
View
75
Chapters

When Sophia Reyes' younger brother crosses the most dangerous mafia family in Naples, she has no choice but to face Enzo Carbone, the ruthless heir to the Carbone empire. In exchange for her brother's life, Sophia strikes a dangerous deal: she'll pose as Enzo's fiancée to help him protect his family's fragile grip on power. Enzo is used to getting what he wants through charm or force but Sophia is unlike anyone he's ever met. Her fiery defiance and unshakable determination threaten to unravel his carefully constructed world. She's a pawn in his game, but the more he draws her into his darkness, the harder it becomes to let her go. As their arrangement spirals into something deeper, an old enemy resurfaces. Marcella Vargas, the cunning leader of a rival cartel, will stop at nothing to see Enzo and his empire burn and she knows exactly how to use Sophia to bring him to his knees. Caught between loyalty and love, deception and truth, Enzo and Sophia must decide how far they're willing to go to protect the people they care about. But in a world ruled by violence and betrayal, can love truly survive or will their bargain cost them everything? Some deals are made in blood. Others are sealed with a kiss.

The Devil's Bargain. Chapter 1 1

The faint scent of linseed oil and turpentine clung to Sophia's fingertips as she adjusted her scarf, stepping out into the chill of a Neapolitan evening. The streetlights cast a golden hue over the narrow alleyways, their glow dancing off cobblestones slick from a passing rain. Her canvas bag bumped against her hip, laden with brushes, tubes of paint, and the meager earnings from the day's sales.

Home wasn't far. A modest apartment with peeling wallpaper and a perpetually leaky faucet, but it was hers-and Mateo's. She quickened her pace, mindful of the way shadows stretched and twisted at this hour, her mother's warnings about the dangers of Naples echoing in her mind.

Turning a corner, she froze.

Two men stood near the entrance to her building, their tailored suits incongruous in her working-class neighborhood. They didn't belong here, their sharp gazes sweeping the street with practiced indifference. One lit a cigarette, the glow briefly illuminating his chiseled features and the telltale bulge of a holstered weapon beneath his jacket.

Sophia's heart sank. She knew their kind-Enzo Carbone's kind.

For weeks, whispers of the Carbone family had spread like wildfire. Loans unpaid, favors called in, disappearances that weren't investigated. She clenched her fists, her brother's reckless face flashing in her mind. Mateo had promised her he was done with his schemes. He had sworn he wouldn't gamble again.

But promises didn't mean much when men like these came knocking.

Sophia hesitated, weighing her options. If she walked away, they'd find her tomorrow. Or worse, they'd go straight to Mateo. Swallowing her fear, she approached.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was steady, despite the storm raging in her chest.

The man with the cigarette turned, his dark eyes raking over her with a dispassionate calculation that made her skin crawl. "Sophia Reyes?"

"Who's asking?"

A low chuckle escaped his lips, though there was no humor in it. "Luca Santoro. Mr. Carbone sent us."

Sophia's stomach twisted. Enzo Carbone wasn't just any man. He was the devil of Naples, the heir to an empire built on blood and betrayal. If he'd sent his men, it wasn't to exchange pleasantries.

"I don't have any business with him," she said, forcing steel into her voice.

"Your brother does," Luca replied, flicking ash onto the ground. "And by extension, so do you."

Her heart thudded in her ears. "Mateo's not here."

"We know," the other man said, speaking for the first time. His voice was cold, clipped. "That's why you're coming with us."

Sophia took a step back. "I'm not going anywhere."

Luca raised a brow, as if amused by her defiance. "Look, lady, we're trying to do this the polite way. You can walk, or we can carry you. Your choice."

Her gaze darted to the door of her building, just a few feet away. If she screamed, someone might hear. But would anyone help? The neighborhood wasn't exactly known for its heroics.

Before she could decide, Luca stepped forward, gripping her arm with surprising gentleness for a man of his size. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."

The other man opened the door to a sleek black car idling at the curb. Its tinted windows gleamed under the streetlights, a silent promise that whatever happened next would be far from ordinary.

Sophia's mind raced. Mateo had gotten himself into trouble before, but this felt different. Bigger. She didn't know what awaited her on the other side of that car door, but one thing was certain: refusing wasn't an option.

"All right," she said, her voice tight. "I'll go."

Luca smiled faintly, as though he'd won some unspoken game. He released her arm and gestured toward the car.

Sophia climbed in, her pulse roaring in her ears. The interior smelled of leather and danger, and the silence was suffocating as the car pulled away from the curb.

The city blurred past, its lights and sounds fading as they drove deeper into unfamiliar territory. Sophia gripped the edge of her seat, every muscle in her body taut. She refused to let herself cry.

"Where are we going?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"To see Mr. Carbone," Luca replied, his tone matter-of-fact.

"And what does he want with me?"

Luca exchanged a glance with his companion, a silent conversation passing between them. Finally, he said, "That's for him to explain."

Sophia bit back a retort, her frustration bubbling beneath the surface. She was tired of being at the mercy of other people's decisions, of Mateo's mistakes.

The car slowed as they approached a sprawling villa perched on the edge of the city. Its stone façade loomed in the darkness, lit by warm sconces that did little to soften its imposing presence. The gates swung open, and they drove up a long driveway lined with cypress trees.

The car came to a stop. The door opened, and Luca motioned for her to step out.

Sophia hesitated, then squared her shoulders and climbed out. The cool night air bit at her skin as she followed the men toward the grand entrance.

The doors swung open, revealing a lavish interior of marble floors, gilded chandeliers, and an air of old-world decadence. A staircase swept upward, its banister gleaming under the soft glow of the lights.

"Wait here," Luca said, gesturing to a sitting area filled with antique furniture.

Sophia sat stiffly on the edge of a velvet sofa, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. The seconds stretched into minutes, each one heavier than the last.

Finally, footsteps echoed down the hallway. A figure emerged, his presence commanding the room before he even spoke.

Enzo Carbone.

He was everything the rumors said and more. Tall and broad-shouldered, he moved with the quiet confidence of a man used to having the world at his feet. His dark hair was slicked back, his sharp jawline accentuated by the faintest shadow of stubble. But it was his eyes that held her captive-piercing and predatory, like a wolf assessing its prey.

"Sophia Reyes," he said, his voice smooth as silk yet carrying an edge that sent a shiver down her spine. "I've been expecting you."

She forced herself to meet his gaze, refusing to shrink under his scrutiny. "I don't know what Mateo's done, but whatever it is, I'm here to fix it."

Enzo's lips curved into a faint smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. "Bold of you to assume you're in a position to fix anything."

Sophia's stomach churned, but she held her ground. "Then tell me why I'm here."

He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming as he loomed over her. "Your brother owes me a debt. A significant one. And I always collect."

Her throat tightened. "I don't have money-"

"Who said anything about money?" Enzo interrupted, his smile widening.

Sophia's blood ran cold. "What do you want?"

Enzo tilted his head, studying her like a puzzle he intended to solve. "We'll get to that. But first, let's talk about what you're willing to do to save your brother's life."

Continue Reading

Other books by azeta

More

You'll also like

The Mute Heiress's Fake Marriage Pact

The Mute Heiress's Fake Marriage Pact

Alma
5.0

I was finally brought back to the billionaire Vance estate after years in the grimy foster system, but the luxury Lincoln felt more like a funeral procession. My biological family didn't welcome me with open arms; they looked at me like a stain on a silk shirt. They thought I was a "defective" mute with cognitive delays, a spare part to be traded away. Within hours of my arrival, my father decided to sell me to Julian Thorne, a bitter, paralyzed heir, just to secure a corporate merger. My sister Tiffany treated me like trash, whispering for me to "go back to the gutter" before pouring red wine over my dress in front of Manhattan's elite. When a drunk cousin tried to lay hands on me at the engagement gala, my grandmother didn't protect me-she raised her silver-topped cane to strike my face for "embarrassing the family." They called me a sacrificial lamb, laughing as they signed the prenuptial agreement that stripped me of my freedom. They had no idea I was E-11, the underground hacker-artist the world was obsessed with, or that I had already breached their private servers. I found the hidden medical records-blood types A, A, and B-a biological impossibility that proved my "parents" were harboring a scandal that could ruin them. Why bring me back just to discard me again? And why was Julian Thorne, the man supposedly bound to a wheelchair, secretly running miles at dawn on his private estate? Standing in the middle of the ballroom, I didn't plead for mercy. I used a text-to-speech app to broadcast a cold, synthetic threat: "I have the records, Richard. Do you want me to explain genetics to the press, or should we leave quietly?" With the "paralyzed" billionaire as my unexpected accomplice, I walked out of the Vance house and into a much more dangerous game.

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
4.5

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

The Scars She Hid From The World

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE
4.5

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
4.5

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Sibeal Sallese
5.0

I lay paralyzed on stiff white sheets, a prisoner in my own skin, listening to the rain lash against the window like nails on a coffin. My father, Elmore Franco, didn't even look at my face as he checked his clipboard. He just listened to the steady, monotonous beep of the heart monitor-the only thing proving I was still alive. Without a hint of remorse, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed the Do Not Resuscitate order. My stepmother, Ophelia, stepped out from behind him, wearing my favorite pearl necklace and smelling of cloying perfume. She leaned close to my ear to whisper the truth that turned my blood to ice. "It was the tea, darling. Just like your mother. A slow, tasteless poison." She chuckled as she revealed that my fiancé, Bryce, had a two-year-old son with my sister, Daniela. My inheritance had been funding their secret life for years, and now that the money was secure, I was an inconvenience they were finally scrubbing away. As my father yanked the power cord from the wall, the beeping died, and the darkness swallowed me whole. I was being murdered by my own flesh and blood, used as a bank account until I was no longer needed. I died in that sterile room, drowning in the realization that every person I ever loved was a monster who had been waiting for me to take my last breath. Then, I gasped. I woke up in a luxury hotel suite surrounded by silk sheets, five years in the past-the very morning of my wedding. Next to me lay Basile Delgado, the "Wolf of Wall Street" and my family's most dangerous enemy. In my first life, I ran from this room in a panic and lost everything. This time, I looked at the man who would eventually destroy my father's empire and decided to join him. "I'm not leaving, Basile. Marry me. Right now. Today."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
The Devil's Bargain. The Devil's Bargain. azeta Mafia
“When Sophia Reyes' younger brother crosses the most dangerous mafia family in Naples, she has no choice but to face Enzo Carbone, the ruthless heir to the Carbone empire. In exchange for her brother's life, Sophia strikes a dangerous deal: she'll pose as Enzo's fiancée to help him protect his family's fragile grip on power. Enzo is used to getting what he wants through charm or force but Sophia is unlike anyone he's ever met. Her fiery defiance and unshakable determination threaten to unravel his carefully constructed world. She's a pawn in his game, but the more he draws her into his darkness, the harder it becomes to let her go. As their arrangement spirals into something deeper, an old enemy resurfaces. Marcella Vargas, the cunning leader of a rival cartel, will stop at nothing to see Enzo and his empire burn and she knows exactly how to use Sophia to bring him to his knees. Caught between loyalty and love, deception and truth, Enzo and Sophia must decide how far they're willing to go to protect the people they care about. But in a world ruled by violence and betrayal, can love truly survive or will their bargain cost them everything? Some deals are made in blood. Others are sealed with a kiss.”
1

Chapter 1 1

19/01/2025

2

Chapter 2 2

19/01/2025

3

Chapter 3 3

19/01/2025

4

Chapter 4 4

19/01/2025

5

Chapter 5 5

19/01/2025

6

Chapter 6 6

19/01/2025

7

Chapter 7 7

19/01/2025

8

Chapter 8 8

19/01/2025

9

Chapter 9 9

19/01/2025

10

Chapter 10 10

19/01/2025

11

Chapter 11 11

19/01/2025

12

Chapter 12 12

19/01/2025

13

Chapter 13 13

19/01/2025

14

Chapter 14 15

19/01/2025

15

Chapter 15 15

19/01/2025

16

Chapter 16 16

19/01/2025

17

Chapter 17 17

19/01/2025

18

Chapter 18 18

19/01/2025

19

Chapter 19 19

19/01/2025

20

Chapter 20 21

19/01/2025

21

Chapter 21 21

07/03/2025

22

Chapter 22 22

07/03/2025

23

Chapter 23 23

07/03/2025

24

Chapter 24 24

07/03/2025

25

Chapter 25 25

07/03/2025

26

Chapter 26 26

07/03/2025

27

Chapter 27 27

07/03/2025

28

Chapter 28 28

07/03/2025

29

Chapter 29 29

07/03/2025

30

Chapter 30 30

07/03/2025

31

Chapter 31 31

08/03/2025

32

Chapter 32 32

08/03/2025

33

Chapter 33 33

08/03/2025

34

Chapter 34 34

08/03/2025

35

Chapter 35 35

08/03/2025

36

Chapter 36 36

08/03/2025

37

Chapter 37 37

08/03/2025

38

Chapter 38 38

08/03/2025

39

Chapter 39 39

08/03/2025

40

Chapter 40 40

08/03/2025