Defiant Princess

Our senior year in college was supposed to go out with a bang, and it did, just not the way we'd expected.

Liliana Brambilla
If I could freeze time, I would.

The university my Mafia sisters and I attend is the one place I can get away and feel some sense of freedom—and escape from my father's control and soon-to-be-announced, unwanted arranged marriage. If I could run away from my future, I would, and I'm not the only one.

Sofia La Rosa
I've loved Enzo Vitale all my life.

At one point, he was mine, and I was his. It was an allusion we were blissfully wrapped in. That bubble shattered even before I graduated from high school. The secrets scattered through our past were now like forgotten landmines ready to explode. He still considers me his, and in my heart, I will always be. For his sake, I need to keep him at arm's length. Otherwise, I run the risk of losing him for good.

Emiliana Vitale
He's the only man whose touch I crave.

I fell in love with Stefano Rossi before my life imploded, and I was taken from those I love. But our love is forbidden by his ruthless father and discouraged by my family. What they don't understand is we're both broken, and only together are we whole.

Marissa Rossi
My life is not my own, but neither are my siblings.

For the moment, I'm free, despite the noose around my neck in the form of an arranged marriage that will happen in a few weeks. That'll be then, not right now. I still have time, even if it's limited, to paint to my heart's content and party all night long. I know the clock is ticking, so I'll take every advantage of this small window—my last few weeks as a college student rooming with my best girlfriends—and live my life to the fullest.

We were born Mafia princesses, but we might as well be prisoners. As our college years draw to a close, we each have a fate we're trying to escape. The question is, who will conquer the destiny laid before us or merely survive—and who will not?

* This novella sets the stage for the Mafia Elite series.