HIS REVENGE BRIDE

The bullet misses my head by inches as I feel swoosh above me and wood splinters explode across my back. "Aria Monroe!" The voice booms through the library. "Come out now!" My father gave me a gun this morning, I had asked him why but he refused to tell me, oh God what has he done this time Now, crouched behind an overturned table while others ran out and my best friend Mara sobbing beside me, I realize he knew they were coming. "Move!" I grab Mara's arm and drag her toward the back exit and we run Behind us, boots thunder and the men chase after us wearing thick boots and covering masks so I wouldn't see their faces. We burst through the emergency exit with a crowd of men and women screaming and Mara stumbles down the stairs ahead of me, her sweat already ruining her makeup I do know this is probably my father's debt catching up and somehow, I'm the victim. We hit the ground floor where we shove the exit door open and we spill into the parking lot where students are running everywhere, chaos spreading like wildfire. "Run!" I screamed at Mara, and she didn't need to be told twice as we sprinted across the parking lot. Behind us, more gunfire erupts, bullets pinging off cars. Terror floods through me as we reach my car, the thought of getting caught while using the keys to open it. I fumble for keys with shaking hands, drop them, grab them again and stick them in. "Get in!" I throw myself into the driver's seat and Mara dives into the passenger's side. I jammed the key into the ignition and the floor is The rear window explodes as we move out of the parking lot, and it feels like an action movie when we burst onto the main road. My hands won't stop shaking on the wheel. "Aria, what the hell was that? Why were they shooting ?" "I don't know." "You had a gun in your bag, they were after you aria" "My dad," My voice cracks. "My dad gave it to me this morning." I screech to a stop in front of my house It's a modest two-story in a middle-class neighborhood with peeling paint and overgrown lawn. Mara finds her way to a friend's house as I walk inside. The house I grew up in, back when Mom was alive and Dad wasn't drowning in debt. I step inside slowly "Dad?" I hear low murmurs from the living room and I move toward the source and freeze in the doorway. My father is there, sitting in his armchair. But he's not alone. The living room is full of men, heavily muscled men holding big guns, positioned around the room like statues. And in the center of it all, sitting on our worn couch like he owns it, with his arm on the arm rest is a man I've never seen before. Devastatingly handsome in a way that I cannot ignore, bringing out the romance novel reader in me despite the terror flooding my veins. He stands when I ener "Miss Monroe." His voice is smooth, cultured but Deep "I've been waiting." My father looks ups face is pale, eyes wild with The same fear I saw this morning. "Aria... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” "Dad, what's going on? Who are these people?" The man in the suit steps forward. "My name is Dominic Vercetti. And we have a lot to discuss." Vercetti. I know that name whispered in news reports about organized crime, about a tech billionaire with rumored mafia ties, about a man who makes people disappear. "The men at your school," Dominic continues, his voice calm as if discussing the weather. "They were from the Calvetti family, and they want you dead because of your father's... indiscretions." I look at Dad. "What did you do?" He won't meet my eyes. "I owed them money, a lot of money and ... I had to pay it back somehow." "So he sold information," Dominic says. "About my operations to my enemies." The room tilts. "You know him—you're mafia." "Not really, he just knows things," Dominic's eyes never leave mine. "Your father's debts are extensive, Miss Monroe, and his betrayal cost me dearly." "Then take it up with him!" My voice cracks. "I didn't do anything!" "No. But you're leveraged, your father is dispensable to the Calvetti family, which makes you a target." "Why would you help me?" His smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Because I'm offering you a deal." "What kind of deal?" I asked, wondering how much we would need to pay as interest. "Your father's debts are extensive. But I'm willing to clear them. In exchange, you'll come with me tonight so you'll be protected. " My blood runs cold. "Come with you where? What happened to my father?" I asked. "He'll stay and convince the Calvetti’s that he's still with them and give them the wrong intel so I can take them out. I don't care how he does that." "You're insane," I whisper. "I'm practical." He steps even closer. "You have two options, Miss Monroe. Come with me, marry me, and live under my protection. Or don't, and I'll let the Calvettis have what they want." "No." I back towards the door. "No, absolutely not. I'm not marrying a stranger I barely know because my father screwed up!" "Aria, please," My father stands, reaching for me. "Don't touch me!" I whirled at him. "You did this! You brought these people into our lives!" "I know, I know, but you have to listen—" "No!" I turned back to Dominic. "There has to be another way. Money, I'll get money somehow—" "There is no other way." His voice is final. "The Calvettis want blood, and it's either yours, your father's, or mine, and he can't have mine, so it's yours or your father's. Call it what you want," he nodded to his men. Two of them move toward me, and they grab my arms and I try to fight, screaming and biting, but they're too strong. Dominic watches with that same calm expression. "Take her to the car, pack her things." "No! You can't just kidnap me!" "I'm not kidnapping you, Miss Monroe, I'm saving your life." He turns to one of his men. "Make sure she's comfortable and gag her. I don't need the neighbors calling the police." My father just stands there, useless, crying. "Dad! Dad, do something!" But he doesn't. H I hear voices as they shove me toward a black SUV "You sure about this, boss? Marrying her breaks every rule. The families won't accept it." Dominic's response is cold. "I don't need their acceptance. I need her father to suffer and he will, watching me own the one thing he loves." This isn't protection, this is pure revenge. They throw me into the SUV and someone ties my hands with zip ties, another presses a cloth gag into my mouth despite my struggles. Dominic slides into the seat beside me, perfectly composed. "Let's go," he orders. The convoy pulls out and I'm trapped between Dominic and another guard, hands bound, tears streaming down my face. Our driver jerks the wheel. "Ambush!" someone shouts as bullets slam into the SUV from all sides. Dominic's hand shoots out, pressing my head down as he draws a gun from inside his jacket. "Calvettis," he snarls. The SUV behind us explodes. The shockwave rocks our vehicle. "Get her to the safe house!" Dominic barks into his phone. "Now!" We peel away from the ambush, tires screaming but behind us, the firefight continues, flashes of gunshot fire in the darkness. I cover my ears as they ring Dominic still has his hand on my head, keeping me down, protecting me even as he fires out the window with his other hand. Finally, after what feels like hours but is probably minutes, the gunfire fades. We arrive somewhere I can't see through the tinted windows. Hands pull me out and e're at some kind of compound They drag me inside, up stairs, into a room. Someone cuts the zip ties and removes the gag. I collapse onto the floor, gasping. Dominic enters, "You'll stay here until the wedding." I look up at him, voice hoarse. "Wedding? What wedding" "The wedding is tomorrow and I've already filed the paperwork. It will be legal, binding, and very public." "You can't force me to marry you!" "The Calvettis came for you tonight because word got out that I'm protecting you, once you're my wife, you're untouchable and under our mafia law harming you means war with me and every mafia family will know that if I save you, I bring down the Calvetti's" "Why me? If this is about my father, just pay the damn debt and let me go!" "Your father betrayed me. His information got my brother killed so now, I'm going to make you mine and he'll spend the rest of his miserable life knowing he handed you to me he'll find a way to make things right or else you'll pay for it. He'll sleep knowing he sold his daughter to the man who will own her completely This isn't about protection, this is about making my fathe r his weapon and he's using me to force it Dominic turns toward the door, then pauses and looks back over his shoulder. "Welcome to your new life, Aria. You belong to me now." And I realize my life as I knew it is over.