by Mara McQueen
THE FAVORITE
THE SYNDICATE’S REVENGE SERIES, BOOK 2, A DARK ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS MAFIA ROMANCE
Mara McQueen
Copyright © Mara McQueen
All right reserved.
No part of this book may be used
Or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, events, and incidents are a
product of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to an actual person,
living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Epilogue
Afterword
The Innocent
Chapter One
The Witness
Chapter One
Welcome to the twisted Underworld of THE FAVORITE, where loyalty demands blood and the code is unbreakable.
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When the Clans clash, which side will you choose? #SyndicateVSBrotherhood
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Don’t miss the Epilogue. You’ll like it.
The Favorite
He killed her fiancé on her wedding day.
Now she has to become his mafia bride.
Evana "Ava" Caputo always knew—and hated—that she'd have an arranged marriage. She just didn't know she'd actually been promised to the Brotherhood’s Prince, the most vicious Clan leader in the world.
But the Prince is hiding secrets which could not only destroy the Underworld, but break Ava's heart.
Raiden never wanted to get married, especially to the Syndicate's Second Daughter.
She hates Clan life. She hates him.
But passion sparks between them as soon as they meet, and Raiden vows to sacrifice his life—and others'—to shield Ava from the vicious Underworld that wants to harm her. But he can't protect her from a secret that could destroy them all—she isn't the only one he's made an oath to.
When the Clans clash, which side will you choose? #SyndicateVSBrotherhood
Delve into the twisted Underworld of The Favorite, book 2 in The Syndicate's Revenge, a Dark Enemies-To-Lovers Mafia Gothic Romance series. The novel can be read as a standalone, but the series has an overarching mystery plot. The novel has steamy scenes, mentions of violence, NO cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Cover art by amy4designs
Chapter One
AVA
Evana "Ava" Caputo couldn't stop crying.
She was wearing a wedding dress straight out of her fantasies, all creamy silk and buttery lace.
Her long bespoke veil was dripping in enough gems and beads to fill a jewelry shop.
She looked like the perfect mafia bride, walking down the aisle under the sharp gazes of over two-hundred guests.
But she couldn't stop crying.
These weren't happy tears, either. They were bitter and miserable and fell harder with each step she took toward the altar. Toward the man she hated more than anyone else in this world—her future husband, Darius, heir to the Serpent Clan.
He had more money than brains and wasn't capable of doing anything in his life other than drinking, snorting, and boasting about how many bank accounts his family had. And Ava was forced to marry him.
If she didn't, people would die.
If she told anyone she was being forced into this marriage, people would die.
If anybody found out she wasn't a blushing bride—especially her four cousins, the most dangerous people in her own mafia Clan, the Syndicate—people would die.
So Ava walked tall, in tune with the orchestra nestled in a corner of this lovely little garden, located on a secret island in the Mediterranean.
It had been decorated with soft cream flowers and rows upon rows of pastel tulle. White chairs flanked the altar. Real crystals hung from branches. A sweet, fresh scent enveloped every winding path.
It looked like a dream come to life. It was Ava's nightmare.
She held onto the bouquet for dear life. Dug her fingernails into her skin. Clenched every muscle in her face.
The tears still fell. At least her veil hid her stained cheeks.
Nobody could know she was crumbling inside.
"She looks beautiful," came a whisper from the rows of chairs.
"Well, the dress does," came another whisper.
Two-hundred guests. Two-hundred of the Underworld's fiercest, most ruthless assassins, gangsters, spies, and schemers were watching Ava throw her life away to save countless others, and none of them could tell.
She'd played her part of love-struck fool well. But if she didn't get a grip right now, everyone would find out and then…
Then there was only one option—an all-out Clan war. Ava would never put what was left of her family through that.
So she kept on walking and swallowing her sobs.
For the first time in her life, Ava wished she'd been trained as an assassin. That should have been her future, from the moment she came out of the womb, kicking and definitely screaming.
But on her sixth birthday, her father—the Syndicate's First Son and heir—had whisked Ava and her mother away, abandoning the Clan and hiding with them in the mountains.
Because before Ava had even uttered her first words, her Clan had already decided that once she'd hit twenty, she'd marry the Brotherhood Prince. The boy who'd turned into a feared man they now called The Dragon.
She'd been destined to become the Brotherhood's Queen. Instead, she'd spent seventeen long years in a shack that didn't have running water most of the time.
Ava had hated her lonely life in the mountains. She hated Clan life even more.
Her pa
rents had wanted to give her a better future. Free from Clan life. Free from the Underworld. Free from a marriage alliance.
They had failed—and had paid for it with their lives.
Her mother had been an excellent driver and knew those mountain roads like the back of her elegant hand. That hadn’t been an accident. One day after her parents had been murdered, five Syndicate men showed up at her rickety door.
Ava had never met them until that day and wished she'd never had.
Between threatening to skin alive all her remaining relatives and burning the cabin down while she'd cried and screamed, they'd forced her back into the Syndicate Clan. To be married, to another heir this time.
Darius. Fucking coke-sniffing Darius who scowled each time Ava brought up the idea of finishing her Bachelor's degree. Who screwed everything that batted their eyelashes at him. Who ate like a pig and fought for sport.
Ava had big, awful plans for him. But first, she had to marry him.
Her parents had ruined their lives and died for nothing.
Ava was still forced into a marriage alliance.
She bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood and stepped onto the first stair leading toward the outdoor altar.
She passed her cousin and maid-of-honor, Emiliana "Ella" Caputo, the sharpest woman in the Underworld.
If Ella found out Ava was dying inside, she'd kill Darius and everyone in sight. Ava couldn't risk that.
So she smiled until her cheeks hurt, like she'd been doing for the last twelve months, hoping her red lipstick shone through the veil.
Ella smiled back, but she frowned.
Shit.
The plan couldn't fall apart now.
Ava grinned wider and rolled her shoulders back. She stepped in front of Darius, who looked high and bored. He probably wasn't even seeing her straight.
Ava wanted to gouge his cloudy, reddened eyes out. With her nails, so she'd feel the life draining out of him.
The music died down.
The nasally priest began to speak.
Ava died a little more inside.
She was trapped.
Darius grabbed her hands with his beefy, sweaty palms. He held on too tightly and his gaudy golden rings dug into her skin. His touch felt wrong. He was wrong.
Maybe she would have been better off married to the feared Brotherhood Crown Prince. Nobody could be worse than Darius.
Ava wanted to yank her arms back. Slap him. Run away. Roar until this entire hidden island shook with her rage.
Instead, she stood there, a smile frozen on her tear-soaked face.
The perfect little bride.
Bile rose up her throat as the priest began talking about happiness and unity and coming together.
Ava didn't want to do this. God, she didn't want to do this.
Her parents had sacrificed everything to keep this from happening.
A sob wracked her body. Darius' grip tightened on her hands, eyes narrowing.
Ava gulped down air, trying to find some semblance of calm.
It was fine. After the ceremony, she could pretend she'd been just so damn happy. Wedding jitters. All her dreams coming true.
Nobody needed to know her soul was shriveling.
Keep it together. Think about your family.
Keep. It. Together.
But she heard Ella shifting behind her. Coming closer.
No, no, no, no—
"I'm sure we're all so excited to see the happy couple in wedded bliss," Ella began, her calm voice as sharp as needles. All eyes swiveled to her, but nobody said a word. When the First Daughter of the Syndicate talked, people listened. "But I need a quick word with Ava—"
Gasps erupted all around them. The guests turned toward the other end of the aisle.
Ella whipped her head toward the back of the garden. Her beautiful face contorted with fear. "Oh my God. He found us."
Ella wasn't afraid of anything. What the hell was going on?
Ava yanked her hands away from Darius and stood up on her toes to get a clear view.
She froze.
Dozens upon dozens of black suits were gathering at the end of the aisle, looking as frightening as the rumors warned.
The Brotherhood. The most fearsome mafia Clan in the world had crashed Ava's wedding—and they'd brought enough weapons to shoot and slice through every single guest.
Everyone around her—all these vicious people nobody even dared whisper about—tensed.
Ava? She sighed in relief. The wedding had been stopped. For now.
A dark figure stepped in front of the Brotherhood assassins, cool, calm, and confident from the tip of his long black hair, down to the edge of his mighty sword.
He radiated power with each steady step, every cold grin he sent toward the petrified crowd.
And he was coming straight toward Ava.
She sucked in a breath. She'd never met him, but she knew who this was—the Brotherhood Prince. The Dragon. The most feared Clan leader in all the Underworld. The man she was supposed to marry all along.
"Ava," Ella whispered, grasping her shoulder tightly. "Listen carefully. Turn around right now and run toward the shore. Get on the first boat you see and leave. You do not look back, no matter what you hear. Do you understand?"
Ava understood—but she wasn't abandoning her cousins to save her own hide.
She stood still, watching the Prince prowl closer. A funeral silence fell over the garden as he laughed low in his throat.
"What a lovely little gathering we have here," he said, black, ruthless gaze scanning the garden. Behind him, his Brothers and Sisters tightened their hold on their weapons. Knives, guns, assault rifles. They'd come to wreak havoc. "Our invitations must have gotten lost on the way. We won't hold it against you, though. After all, we arrived just in time."
Vinnie "The Fist", a mountain of a man from the Syndicate Clan, lunged from his seat just as the Prince passed him.
The Prince reacted so fast, Ava didn't see him move. One second he was walking, the next, he had his sword against Vinnie's thick throat. One deep breath and he'd be dead.
"None of that." The Prince tsked darkly. "I know you Syndicate people are brash, but if I have to cut some manners into you, I will."
Vinnie clenched his jaw, hands fisting at his sides. The tip of Prince's sword dug into his skin; a trickle of blood flowed down Vinnie's neck, staining his white collar.
"I'd hate to see your wife crying over your grave. I hear she's pregnant. Wouldn't want to risk her losing the baby because of grief, now would we?" the Prince said in perfectly polite viciousness. "Sit down."
And Vinnie—feared, burly, enormous Vinnie, who'd once fought fifteen armed men with his bare hands and only paid for it with a broken rib—sat down.
"So you Syndicate lot can be tamed." The Prince turned, continuing his steady path toward the altar. The priest shook so hard, his golden hat fell with a clank.
"I didn't come here to cause trouble," the Prince went on. His cruel eyes slashed to Ava's and didn't let go. He trapped her with that one glance, making her heart beat out of control. "I came to claim what's mine."
Ella jolted out of her shock and stepped in front of Ava with the confidence that so many people feared. "I'd rethink that plan if I were you."
"Step out of the way, Caputo, this isn't your fight," the Prince said calmly, even as the Brotherhood assassins began to stir menacingly. "It would be a shame for the entire Underworld to lose a mind like yours."
"When it comes to my family, everything's my fight."
Ava could've hugged the breath out of Ella right now—but she'd settle for getting her out of harm's way.
She was not letting anyone, especially her cousins, get harmed because of her.
Ava stepped forward. She'd face this so-called Dragon head-on.
She didn't get far.
Darius' meaty hands coiled around her neck, dragging her back. Before Ava could head-butt him, the cold barrel of a gun pressed into her right
temple.
"One more step and she dies," Darius slurred, his breath reeking of booze. He shook behind Ava; a few more seconds and he'd probably wet himself.
Her future husband, ladies and gentlemen. Hiding behind her puffy skirt, threatening to kill her so he could save his own skin.
"You son of a bitch. Nobody was allowed to bring a weapon today," Ella hissed, eyes shooting daggers at Darius.
But her mighty glare was nothing compared to the shadows crowding the Prince's gaze. His face turned angular and predatory, radiating cold fury. It chilled Ava to the bone.
The entire garden froze as Darius dug the barrel of his gun harder into Ava's head. His other hand tightened around her neck.
Poor, stupid Darius. Now he'd angered the Brotherhood Prince and Ava's cousins. He wasn't walking out of this garden alive, was he?
But Ava wanted to be the first to make him bleed.
Chapter Two
AVA
Slowly, to make sure Darius didn't notice, Ava's right fingers slid up, digging into the top of her corset.
