𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐃 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐃 — 1st part of 𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒 series!

cross-posted on Wattpad under the name of @melancholija0 — be sure to follow me and check out my profile there!

USING AND COPYING MY WORK IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED — characters, storyline, and the type of story belong only to me

***DISCLAIMER*** — this is a mafia romance story🥵 — kinda abusive, toxic, and dark romance!

mafia romance

[dark] romance

grumpy x sunshine

forbidden love

she falls first, but he falls harder

forced proximity

secret identity—dark secret

slow burn romance

cliffhanger

⚠︎MAIN TRIGGER WARNINGS⚠︎

Alcohol & nicotine & drug usage & addiction

Death (not an MC)

Explicit sex scenes

Graphic/explicit violence

Grief and loss

Kidnapping

Mention of sexual assault/rape

Murder (not an MC)

Psychological & physical abuse

Stalking/harassment

Trauma

etc.

❝You defiled my daughter and desecrated the only hope I had❞

❝We must be together to hide the bitter truth, surrounding her name❞

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘴—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭

Your eyes are like lights, shining with emeralds, illuminating the path of my miserable life.

Strands of black hair are a nest of crows perched at the top of a tree.

That pearly smile, which isn’t caused by my, but oh, how I long for your lips to utter my name.

Your lips murmuring these words would sound like a melody, and all the people of the universe would chant your name in unison.

Imagine yourself

It’s midnight.

You are peacefully sleeping, counting your 9th dream in the middle of the Mediterranean archipelago of Europe when suddenly the second you seem to be falling asleep, you wake up to the sound of crackling in the room. It’s quiet, shivering, reminiscent of panicked human sounds.

In the dark, you see a pair of scared grey eyes.

They are looking right through you.

Shaking fingers pick you out of bed.

Breathing stagnates in the distance of the oppressive night.

You understand what’s going on.

“Get up, we have to go”

And you get up.

You leave this period you lived for just a year and fly on, believing that this is the last time.

Unfortunately, this is just another stop linking you to your final destination—it’s another year of running away from yourself.

Gabriella Fotos lived like this her whole life. Ever since she was a child over-protectively carried by her mother’s love, she never knew a different path.

She only believed that a forced change of residence would allow her to survive another year.

A girl’s life is turned upside down after a recent incident. Her mother decides to flee Europe and stay with her brother in the United States of America. Gabriella doesn’t object, on the contrary, she is happy to see her long-lost family members.

As soon as she arrives in New York, Gabriella finds herself at a crossroads. Thrown into a new life full of stormy surprises, she finally begins to understand her destiny. Gabriella isn’t allowed to choose, she must forget her principles and beliefs and surrender to her family’s wishes—Gabriella’s time is counted.

However, the reason for these changes is simple.

Leonardo D’Angelo, the leader of the New York underground criminal group Red Lions. A sadistic, cold, and arrogantman whose family is determined to win Gabriella another year of life.

A diabolical dea lsigned by the family forces Gabriella into a framework she doesn’t know. Cynical Leonard must save her without losing himself.

But will Gabriella be able to save herself by defying D’Angelo’s family boss?

Will a man forget his promise to himself?

Will the lovers be able to find their way into each other’s hearts by ravishing each other red?

And the most important question—what is the reason for Gabriella’s constant hiding?

❝Running doesn’t matter. I’ll hunt you down if I have to❞

☀︎𝙶𝙰𝙱𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝚃𝙾𝚂—𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎☀︎ | 21 | 5′2 | ♌︎

♕𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐃′𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎—𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲♕ | 28| 6′2 | ♑︎

***I take no credit for the images, displayed above—I only made edits of those***

First of all, thanks for clicking on the story! I've just joined Inkitt and decided it's my time to shineᥫ᭡

I’m looking forward to translating my story into English!

Yes, English is not my first language so be kind :) (I am trying my best out here)

All I’m asking is to give me some feedback - click a heart, write a comment or inclined reaction ;) or add this story to your reading list🧸.

IMPORTANT: this story is very long, some chapters exceed +4k words but I tried to divide these into equal parts. Sorry for any inconvenience, but the story will exceed its limits—there will be a lot of chapters, a lot of tension, very visible SLOW BURN, and a lot of smutty/criminal/good stuff ;)

Lastly, just to clarify the insanity of the character’s POV:

• Gabriella’s or Leonardo’s POV (pic will be shown in the beginning of the chapter)

• Unknown POV

Enjoy the story!

Kisses,

Melancholija (en. melancholia), but please, call me meliᥫ᭡

Don’t forget to click a heart, comment, and add this story to your reading list, sweeties!ᥫ᭡

Copyright © 2026 by melancholija0 | All rights reserved.