The Exhausted Waitress Could Barely Stand—Then the Mafia Boss Changed Her Life

Three weeks later, the rain was still falling in Seattle, but my world had completely transformed.

I was no longer wearing a grease-stained uniform or limping on a swollen ankle. I was wearing a custom-tailored emerald silk gown, walking down the grand staircase of the Castellano penthouse without the need for crutches.

Emma was thriving. She spent her days playing in the expansive sunroom, utterly spoiled by Dante and the other guards, who treated the tiny three-year-old like absolute royalty. She hadn't wheezed once since Luca secured her medication.

Tonight was the annual Castellano Charity Gala, a highly publicized event meant to maintain the syndicate’s legitimate, philanthropic front.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Luca was waiting for me.

He wore a classic, immaculate black tuxedo that made him look dangerously handsome. When he saw me, his dark eyes darkened with a raw, possessive hunger that made my pulse race.

“You look breathtaking, mia regina,” Luca murmured, taking my hand and pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. My queen.

“I feel like I’m playing dress-up,” I admitted nervously, smoothing the silk skirt. “Are you sure your associates will accept me? I was serving them coffee a month ago.”

“They will accept you because I command it,” Luca stated, wrapping his arm securely around my waist and pulling me flush against his side. “And because any man who disrespects the woman on my arm will find himself swimming in the Puget Sound by morning.”

I laughed softly, shaking my head. The violent threats that once terrified me had strangely become comforting declarations of his absolute devotion.

The gala was a glittering, chaotic masterpiece. Politicians, businessmen, and mafia capos mingled under crystal chandeliers. As I walked through the ballroom on Luca’s arm, I felt the heavy, calculating stares of the elite.

But I didn't shrink back. I held my head high.

I wasn't the exhausted, broken victim anymore. I was standing beside the most feared man in Seattle, and I knew with absolute certainty that he would burn the city to the ground before he let anyone hurt me.