{"id":256036,"date":"2026-07-13T14:28:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/claimed-by-the-family-marian-black\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:28:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:28:56","slug":"claimed-by-the-family-marian-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/claimed-by-the-family-marian-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Claimed By The Family – Marian Black"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mira’s notebook was full, and Adrian’s computer was covered with new organizational models they’d drafted together. “I have meetings this afternoon,” Adrian said. “Jax will take you through the security protocols.” Mira nodded, gathering her things. At the door, she paused. “Thank you for this. For taking me seriously.” “You’ve earned it,” Adrian said simply. After she left, Adrian became aware of Jax’s gaze on him.<\/p>\n

“What?” Adrian asked. “Nothing,” Jax said, but his slight smile suggested otherwise. Adrian returned to his work, trying not to think about the moment when Mira had leaned over his shoulder, or the complicated awareness that had passed between all three of them. Trying, and not entirely succeeding. *** Mira’s quarters in the compound were generous\u2014a bedroom, small sitting room, and private bathroom\u2014but she still felt the weight of the space, the luxury she hadn’t earned yet.<\/p>\n

Her laptop was set up on the small desk, and she’d arranged a video call with Ghost for when Casey was settled in for the afternoon. Casey appeared first, her face filling the screen from her own apartment. “Hey. How’s the mafia life?” “Complicated,” Mira said. “How’s school?” “Professor Chen is assigning reading that would kill a normal person. I love it.” Casey grinned, then sobered. “You okay?<\/p>\n

Really?” “Really,” Mira assured her. “Adrian’s teaching me the business. Jax is teaching me how not to get killed. I’m learning.” “And they’re treating you okay?” “Better than okay,” Mira said honestly. “They’re taking me seriously. That’s more than I expected.” A notification popped up\u2014Ghost joining the call. His window appeared beside Casey’s: Julian Park in his mid-twenties, sharp dark eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, wearing his perpetual hoodie. “So you’re in the mafia now,” Ghost said without preamble.<\/p>\n

“I’m in something,” Mira agreed.<\/p>\n

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THE LATE AFTERNOON sun slanted through the blinds of Giovanni Moretti’s private office, casting stripes of gold across the mahogany desk. Adrian Costa stood with his back to the window, hands clasped behind him, watching the room with the careful attention that had made him invaluable as the family’s consigliere. He catalogued everything: the tension in Alessandro’s shoulders, the calculating gleam in Stephen Moretti’s eyes, the way Jaxon Leone positioned himself by the door\u2014close enough to intervene, far enough to seem uninvolved.<\/p>\n

Adrian forced himself not to look at Jax too long. That way lay danger. “The Battaglia family is pushing into Westside territory,” Giovanni said, his thick fingers drumming on the desk. At sixty-three, the don still commanded a room through sheer presence, his silver hair and lined face lending him an air of gravitas. “They think we’re distracted by the succession.<\/p>\n

They think we’re weak.” “They’re wrong,” Alessandro said. Giovanni’s son was thirty-five, broad-shouldered and handsome in the traditional way, with his father’s dark eyes but his late mother’s softer mouth. He would make a good don\u2014 steady, thoughtful, less prone to violence than his father. If he lived long enough. Adrian pushed the dark thought away. Security was Jax’s domain. “They’ll test us regardless,” Adrian said, his voice carrying the cultured tones of his expensive education.<\/p>\n

“We should respond, but strategically. Show strength without starting a war we don’t need.” Giovanni nodded. “This is why I keep you, Adrian. You think.” He turned to his son. “Tomorrow night, we make the succession official. Every family in the city will be there. They’ll see Alessandro as my heir, designated and blessed. After that, anyone who moves against us moves against the established order.” “It will be a good night,” Stephen Moretti said from his position by the sidebar, where he was pouring himself a scotch.<\/p>\n

Giovanni’s nephew was forty, handsome in a sharp-edged way, always impeccably dressed. He’d been loyal for years, a steady lieutenant without the ambition that might make him dangerous. “Alessandro will do the family proud.” Something in his tone made Adrian’s instincts prickle, but when he looked at Stephen, the man’s face showed only familial pride. “Tomorrow night,” Alessandro agreed, his discomfort with being the center of attention evident in the way he shifted his weight.<\/p>\n

Giovanni stood, signaling the meeting’s end. “Security?” he asked, looking toward the door. “Airtight,” Jax said. His voice was deeper than Adrian’s, rougher, with less polish but no less intelligence. “I’ve doubled the guard, background checks on all staff, and we’re screening everyone at the door.”<\/p>\n

“Good.” Giovanni moved around the desk. “Tomorrow, this family enters a new era.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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