Page 477 of Hate Mates

“I hope you slept well last night.” Tightening her legs around my waist, I lift her off the counter still buried inside her. “Because you won’t be getting any sleep tonight.”

The full book is releasing in 2026. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates and to receive a FREE stand-alone angsty romance novel. Claim your copy ofTell It to My Hearthere or type this link into your browser: https://bit.ly/TITMHCWA

About the Author

Connect with Siobhán Davis™ by visiting their website: https://siobhandavis.com/

A Light in the Dark by Via Mari

Chapter One

MASSIMO ROSELLI

The topless blonde with long black false lashes gives me a wink as I slide into the chair next to my father. “Scotch,” I tell her as she reaches my side. It’s not like Lyndsey doesn’t have all of our drinks memorized. She just knows her tips will double the longer she lets them see her skin.

Still, she scribbles in her little notepad while my brothers and our lieutenants hungrily eye the perky goods. “I’ll be right back with your drink,” she says before sauntering off atop her five-inch fuck-me heels as most of the men watch her ass sway all the way back to the bar.

My father sets his glass down and swivels it, a gesture that he’s waited long enough and we’re about to learn why we’ve been given barely a thirty-minute notice to get our asses down to the club.

Antoine Roselli, head of the Roselli crime family, and known for swift and decisive action against our adversaries, places his heavy bottomed glass down on the table with a thud. His dark eyes meet mine from the head of the table. “One of our shipments was hijacked from the docks. They got all the trucks.”

My brothers’ eyes all go wide. “Who the fuck would dare?” Leandro asks.

My father’s rage can be felt in waves across the table. “The sons of bitches waited until all five trucks were loaded from the docks and hijacked every fucking one of them mid-route out of the city.” He almost grits out the next sentence. “They knew where each of those trucks were going and exactly how to disable them.”

No one could have known those routes outside of the men given orders by none other than those sitting around this table. Maybe they didn’t tell someone personally, but each and every one of them knows they’re fully responsible for the men who sit below them in the family, no matter what.

His eyes meet mine, and as next in line as head of this family, I don’t need to be told that the weight of the retaliation will be on my shoulders. His eyes say it all before his mouth says a word. “Ten fucking men, all dead, millions of dollars’ worth of product, and it’s all fucking gone.”

We heard the rumbling about the Cassones wanting more, approaching some of our suppliers in back rooms and alleys when they should have been happy with what they had. Now, they have started a war I’ll have to ensure they don’t win.

The regret burnishes in his eyes, but more than that, they shine with a steely rage and determination to make it right. “This week, we mourn the loss of our dead. Next week, we’ll use our enemies’ eldest daughter to make them pay.”

Chapter Two

SOPHIA CASSONE

My older sister turns slightly on a pair of gorgeous heels so she can admire the swath of white lace flowing onto the floor in the full-length mirror. My heart swells seeing her so pretty and so happy. “Very soon you are going to be the most gorgeous bride anyone has ever seen. I wish Mamma could see you today. She would be so very proud.”

Anna runs a hand down her belly. “If only Papa feels the same when he finds out his oldest daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. His culture, he will be devastated.”

I put a finger to my lips. “If you are pregnant. You’re not sure, besides, no one but you can tell. No one will be the wiser.”

Anna smiles, her eyes shining with hope.

I hug her to me without crushing her beautiful gown. “Stop worrying. Now, repeat after me. I am marrying the man I love; we are going to be happy together, and we may be bringing new life into the world. You should be the happiest woman in the world right now.”

Anna laughs and stems the flow of tears with a gentle finger placed right below her perfectly made up smoky dark eyes. She draws in a breath. “I’ll feel a whole lot better once the weddingis over, the families are merged, and Papa can stop worrying and let Barcelo and his family take over. Papa is getting too old to worry about legacies. He deserves some peace at his age.”

Now is not the time to hash out our differences about arranged marriages and our father making deals with the lives of those in the family to ensure future gains of territories. She knows exactly how I feel about that. I gesture to her trailing train. “Hurry and put that tiny-waisted dress away before you get it dirty, or outgrow it before my very eyes,” I tease.

Anna’s eyes widen. “Go,” she orders, “so I can put it away before Barcelo gets here, and can you please wear something other than those jeans? I swear there are more holes than material to hold them together.”

I laugh, closing the bedroom door behind me, making my way down the hall to my own room thinking about the complexities of life as daughters of a notorious crime lord. Especially one with no sons, and how arranged marriages many times become the solution, the way out for so many things. It is the culture I was born into and one my ancestors would not want me to deny, but still.

I brush out my long dark hair in the mirror, pushing wispy layers away from my face before dotting my lips with a red tinted stain. Sorry Anna, this is as dressed up as I'm getting for dinner. I do slip my bare feet into a pair of Italian leather flats since her fiancé is invited, but only for her because aside from Anna, I couldn’t care less what people think.

My brow furrows at the sound of loud voices coming from downstairs. Surely the lieutenants are not going at it again. So much tension around here now that everyone knows the Cassone family and the Gallini family will be uniting.

---