Love Me Always

Copyright © 2023 by Samantha Jayne All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Paperback: 978-1-7392902-0-7 eBook: 978-1-7392902-1-4 Artist - @zuzu.original Editor – @heartfullofreads Cover– paperback - @hayaindesigns Cover – ebook - @silvergracebooks Proofreading & Formatting - Cruel Ink Editing + Design Please note that there are themes that may be difficult to read. Those themes consist of the following: Assault, blood, car accident, death, kidnapping/abduction, torture, violence, criminal activities, organised crime, sexually explicit scenes, food (force feeding). To everyone who vowed never to need a prince… only to fall in love with one in disguise. Human – Christina Perri Queen – Loren Gray Kings & Queens – Ava Max I Fell in Love with the Devil – Avril Lavigne Into Your Arms – Witt Lowry feat. Ava Max 100 Ways – Austin Hull Call Out My Name – The Weeknd Lights Down Low – Maejor feat. Waka Flocka Flame Under the Influence – Chris Brown Middle of the Night – Elley Duhé The Death of Peace of Mind – Bad Omens The Truth Untold (English Piano Version) – Emma Heesters Hunger – Ross Copperman I Wanna be Your Slave – Måneskin Can’t Help Falling in Love with You – Travis Atreo I Get to Love You – Ruelle Met Him Last Night – Demi Lovato feat. Ariana Grande If You Love Her – Forest Blakk My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark – Fall Out Boy Last Call – Jamie Miller All For You – Dean Lewis The High – Bryce Savage Where’s My Love – SYML Follow You – Bring Me The Horizon Lights Down Low – MAX From the Ground Up – Travis Atreo CONTENTS 1. Anastacia 2. Lorenzo 3. Anastacia 4. Lorenzo 5. Anastacia 6. Lorenzo 7. Anastacia 8. Lorenzo 9. Anastacia 10. Lorenzo 11. Anastacia 12. Lorenzo 13. Anastacia 14. Lorenzo 15. Anastacia 16. Lorenzo 17. Anastacia 18. Lorenzo 19. Anastacia 20. Lorenzo 21. Anastacia 22. Lorenzo 23. Anastacia 24. Lorenzo 25. Anastacia 26. Lorenzo 27. Anastacia 28. Lorenzo 29. Anastacia 30. Lorenzo 31. Anastacia 32. Lorenzo Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Today was the day. A day I'd hoped would never arrive. Unfortunately, that was not my decision to make. It was in the hands of my father, and he’d already made it many years ago. My heart beat as loudly as my feet along the uneven pavement as the rain pelted on my flesh. Running used to be my saviour and escape, but it didn't seem that way today. Today, I was drowning. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I were powerless, as if I had no control, and no matter how much I wanted to grasp it with both hands and never let go, I couldn’t. Growing up, I’d vowed to never fall in love, that I would never give my heart to anybody, whether to someone in the mafia or another. There's nothing wrong with marriage, per se; many mafia families find it a realistic option. I never considered it a possibility when I was younger. That was until I became eighteen. It was a typical birthday, and my parents went all out as they always did, but there was concern and anguish behind their smiles. Miles, my elder brother, had the identical look on his face. A few seconds later, I understood the reason as my entire universe came crashing down around me. The news from my father slammed into me like a tonne of bricks: I was to be married at twenty-one. I'd been engaged to the heir of the Sicilian Mafia since before I was born. Lorenzo Ricci. It was finally time, after three years of keeping my distance, making myself inaccessible and scarce. Tonight, I was supposed to meet my fiancé. He was a man I'd only ever heard of in passing. Men quivered at simply hearing his name—a name that had shook the Mafia world since he was sixteen years old. He was set to become Don once his father stepped down after the wedding, but his father wanted to make sure he had me as his son’s wife before allowing Lorenzo to take over. Our fathers had become allies the day they were born; their fathers were already established allies, so it only seemed logical to continue the Bratva-Sicilian Mafia connection. When the boys were born, the alliance was naturally passed on to them. I often wondered what my role was in all of this. It was what my father wanted for me. My father was the Pakhan of the Bratva. Hated by many. Respected by more. I was his second and final child, and his dream of having a girl had finally come true. He had groomed and readied Miles to take his position as Pakhan. However, despite being my father's son, he still had to earn it, work for it, and earn the same love and respect that my father had earned over the years. My father had trained me too. He, my grandfather, and my brother took turns whenever they had the opportunity, around about the same time Lorenzo's name became well-known. It didn't concern me that Lorenzo was seven years my senior. It wouldn't change our fathers’ plans. I refused to be a trophy wife, or become submissive. That'd been what he anticipated or perhaps desired, but I wasn’t going to give him the joy of adding another notch on his bedpost. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to marry Lorenzo and bring our families together for the rest of our lives. Our fathers promised that our offspring would strengthen the tie between us all. Before I had even drawn my first breath, my life was no longer mine; my fate had been determined, and