CLAIMED BY THE MAFIA KINGS 1st of the Mafia Queen Series

Lyra's POV

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

It wasn't just paranoia. It was a certainty, a weight pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. The air in my room felt thick, charged with something unseen, something dangerous. My skin prickled as if invisible fingers were tracing over me, a reminder that I wasn't alone,not really.

Leo's presence still lingered, thick and suffocating, even though he'd left hours ago.

I could still feel him. The heat of his breath against my skin, the possessive grip of his hands, the way his voice had dropped to a dangerous whisper as he told me I was his. A statement, a claim, a promise wrapped in warning. And I had let him say it. I had let myself believe, even for a second, that maybe it wasn't just desire in his eyes, that maybe there was something more, something real.

But it wasn't just Leo anymore.

Adrian was a shadow in the background, always watching. Always waiting.

His presence was different from Leo's-quieter, but no less consuming. Leo was a fire, burning hot, pulling me in with the promise of destruction and passion. Adrian was ice, slow and calculating, a presence that seeped into my bones before I even realized he was there. He didn't need to touch me to make me feel his control. He had already embedded himself in my mind, in my past, in every broken piece of me that I had tried to leave behind.

And I was trapped between them.

Caught in a web of power and control, one that was tightening around me with every passing day. No matter which direction I turned, there was no escape. Leo wanted to own me, to claim me in a way that made my heart race with both fear and something far more dangerous: desire. Adrian, on the other hand, had already marked me in ways I couldn't erase, ways that made my soul ache with a longing I didn't want to admit.

The worst part?

I couldn't trust either of them.

A shiver ran through me, and I wrapped my arms around myself, as if that could stop the feeling of being slowly suffocated.

I paced my room, trying to shake the growing unease twisting in my gut.

Leo's touch had set fire to my skin, but it wasn't just desire.

It was fear.

Fear of what he was capable of.

Fear of what he might do next.

Fear that I was losing more than just control-I was losing myself.

I exhaled sharply, trying to clear my mind, but the tension in my body wouldn't fade. There were too many unanswered questions, too many secrets buried beneath the surface.

Leo and Adrian both acted like I belonged to them.

Like I was some prize to be claimed.

But why?

Why was I at the center of this?

The cryptic warnings. The unspoken history between them. Adrian's obsession. Leo's possessiveness.

None of it made sense.

But something Adrian had said refused to leave my mind.

"Your family made sure you stayed out of it, kept you in the dark."

"You were always meant to be part of this."

A sharp chill crept down my spine.

What if... this wasn't just about them?

What if it was about me?

My family.

I froze mid-step, my stomach twisting.

I had spent years avoiding my father's past, convincing myself that his business, his connections, had nothing to do with me.

That whatever shady deals he'd made had died with him.

But what if I'd been wrong?

What if this had been coming for me all along?

The thought made my breath hitch, my throat suddenly tight.

I needed answers.

I turned abruptly, grabbing my phone off the bedside table.

There was only one person who might know the truth.

Someone I had sworn never to contact again.

My father's lawyer.

The man who had handled all our family affairs after my father's death.

I hadn't spoken to him in years-had done everything in my power to distance myself from that life.

But now?

Now I had no choice.

My fingers hovered over the screen, hesitation creeping in.

What if I don't like the answers?

But the thing was: I already knew I wouldn't.

With a sharp breath, I pressed dial.

The ringing felt like it went on forever.

Then, finally...

"Ms. Carson?"

The voice on the other end was smooth, composed,but I could hear the hesitation beneath it.

Like he already knew why I was calling.

I swallowed hard. "I need information."

There was a beat of silence. "About?"

"My father."

Another pause.

I could hear his breathing, could almost picture him sitting at his desk, weighing his options.

He didn't want to tell me.

"Ms. Carson, it would be best if-"

"I'm not asking," I cut him off. "I need to know. Now."

Another pause. Then, a slow, deep sigh.

"Your father... made certain choices, Ms. Carson. Choices that tied him to the Weston family."

My heart plummeted.

"To Leo's family?"

"Yes. To Leo's father, specifically."

The room seemed to tilt.

Leo's father?

"What kind of choices?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

There was a hesitation, then...

"He owed them a debt."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

"A very large one," the lawyer continued. "Your father wasn't just doing business with the Mafia, Ms. Carson. He was in deep. And when he couldn't pay his debts, he made... arrangements."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "Arrangements?"

A long pause.

Then, the words that shattered my world.

"Your father promised something in return."

A sharp, cold dread crawled up my spine.

"...What did he promise?"

The lawyer exhaled.

"You, Ms. Carson."

Everything inside me went still.

The phone slipped from my hand, crashing to the floor.

But I didn't move.

I couldn't.

The walls felt like they were closing in, pressing against my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs.

Promised me?

My father had promised me to the Weston family?

I stumbled back, collapsing onto the edge of the bed, my mind spinning, replaying the conversation over and over.

I wasn't just caught in a war between Leo and Adrian.

I was owned.

A piece of property.

A pawn in a game I didn't even know I was playing.

I thought back to the cryptic warnings.

The way Leo had said I belonged to him.

The way Adrian had spoken of debts, bloodlines, inescapable fates.

I had thought they were manipulating me, trying to pull me deeper into their world.

But this wasn't just their world.

It was mine too.

It always had been.

I was never free.

I had been born into this.

And now, there was no escape.

My hands shook as I tried to process it.

I didn't want to believe it.

I wanted to think this was all some sick mistake, that I had misunderstood.

But I hadn't.

This was real.

And Leo had known all along.

That's why he was so sure.

Why he had never doubted it for a second.

He wasn't just claiming me because he wanted me.

He was claiming me because I had been promised to him.

My entire life had been a lie.

And now, I was trapped in a world I had no way out of.

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought of Leo's possessive touch, his dark, predatory gaze.

He hadn't just decided I was his.

I had always been his.

There was no running.

No hiding.

No escape.

And for the first time in my life

I truly understood fear.