Synopsis: Her parents raised her to save lives. He was born to take them. At twenty-three, Dr. Evangeline James has her dream job and a haunted heart. One of Manhattan's youngest pediatric surgeons, she spends her days stitching up children and her nights keeping her demons in check. Raised under her parents' strict Southern roof-with gospel in her ears and shame stitched into her spine-Evangeline ran to New York for more than ambition. She came for air. For control. For secrets. She never expected to find him-a man bleeding to death behind a dumpster in the freezing cold, clutching a gun like it was a lifeline. One look into those brutal, obsidian eyes and Evangeline knew: this man was not a victim. He was a threat. And somehow, she still brought him home. He said his name was Lorenzo DeLuca. She knew it belonged to a monster. Not just a mafia prince-but the heir to the DeLuca empire. A man carved from violence and baptized in blood. A man who's used to getting what he wants-and now he wants her. Lorenzo is sin in human form. dark silk, loaded guns, and soft-spoken commands. He makes promises that sound like threats and touches her like she's already his. He says he'll protect her from his world-but his world is made of bodies, betrayal, and war. And Evangeline? She's no saint. What begins as a mercy spirals into a dangerous obsession. He's possessive. Unforgiving. Addicted. And the deeper Evangeline falls into Lorenzo's shadows, the more she questions everything-her morals, her loyalties, even her own pleasure. Because nothing about this is holy. Nothing about him is safe. But God, she craves him anyway. And she might not survive what loving him will cost.

Mafia Romance Book 1 of "The Veiled Desires" Series _______________________ 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? _______________________ They say to fear the Devil. They say to pray to God in hopes of keeping the Devil away. But they don't know that the Devil can hear their prayers too. They say there is only good and bad. They say there is both a Devil and a God. But what happens when only the Devil, two negatives of the same kind become one? Not knowing that the other is also a Devil? She has a high pitched voice everyday. 𝑇𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. He wears suits. 𝑇𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑. She's famous to the world because of her dad. 𝑆ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒. He is the most ruthless. 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 She never opens her heart. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 _______________________ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 D𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰? _______________________ 18+, read trigger warnings. Tropes : Dark Romance Arranged Marriage Enemies to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. . . . . . . . . . . We've all heard the tales of good and bad, the tales of innocent deceit and her hero, the tales that despite their nature, show us the beauty in contrast. But it's the tales of pure evil that get swept under the rug. The tales of deception, where cruelty is rewarded. The tales that have you questioning who the real villain of the story is. There's a simple philosophy to most thing in life; two wrongs 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 make a right. So what ensues when you put two of the worst kinds of people together? Loyalties transfer, lines blur, and hatred ignites complete chaos. She's cunning. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. She's dangerous. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. She's evil. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. Or so that's what we're told. The devil is always worse. But maybe, just maybe, she's the devil in disguise, playing his advocate... . . . . . . . . . . - 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 - 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. - 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧. - 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞.

Highest rank #27 in Teen Fiction. Written by @apricitys. _ _ _ "What is this?" He asked, not even bothering to look at the canvas in front of me. Instead, his eyes were locked in mine. I swallowed my saliva, chills running down my spine. I felt my palms getting sweaty as my legs nervously started bouncing up and down. Without giving me time to answer, he took a step closer to me, eyes still locked in mine. Each time he inched closer, I used my right foot to slowly push myself and the stool back. It seemed to be the only option to get away from him; until he forced his hands below the sides of my thighs, holding the stool in place. He released a soft chuckle as he eyed me from my eyes, down to my lips. "You're beautiful," he said. From his voice, I couldn't tell if he was being serious, or messing around. It sounded sincere, however there was a smirk on his face. The smirk that he always has on his face when he's found an amusing target. Then he averted his attentions back to my eyes. His expressions softened up the moment his eyes landed back on mine. His smirk disappeared. I cleared my throat and broke the eye contact. I looked down at my palms as I rubbed the sweat against my jeans, "What do you want, Landon?" I asked, almost whispering. I felt his hand brushing against my right cheek, as he tilts my chin up to look back at him. His messy brown hair, his light blue eyes and his pink soft lips were just centimeters from mine. I felt his breath lingering on the upper tip of my lip. In a panic, I pressed my palms against his chest and push him off. He stumbled back with a surprised look on his face. "Aubrey." _ _ _ Landon Carthy is an arrogant boy, who knowns to have absolutely no care in the world. Making girls suffer feels great to him. But what happens when a new girl in town becomes one of his victims? Will she allow him to walk upon her like all the other girls do?

𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚 ✧ 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧 [𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖐 1 𝖔𝖋 𝔇𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝕾𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘] 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫... 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫. ________________ "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞. "𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧?" 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬-𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Starting ~ 1 June 2025 Ended ~ 27 September 2025

I saw her long before she saw me. She didn't know then that her fate had already been sealed, that every step she took was drawing her closer to me. Closer to what she would become. There was something in her-something fragile, something wild. A fear she tried to hide, wrapped in defiance and confidence. It was intoxicating, watching her, knowing that no one else could see what I saw. No one else could feel the pull like I did. The slow, deliberate unraveling of her world as it would soon be tethered to mine. I felt my heart beat once, hard and fast. It was the only signal I needed. She would be mine-not in some fleeting, hollow way. No. I would strip away every shield, every defense, until she was laid bare, body and soul. And when she looked at me for the first time, I knew. She was already mine. A. Trigger Warning ⚠️: This story contains intense and graphic content, exploring dark and disturbing themes that may be triggering for some readers. Sensitive topics are depicted throughout. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Proceed with caution: after this point, no additional warnings will be provided.

From the moment Aurora Romano could walk, she was warned to stay away from him. Luca De Luca - the ruthless heir to Italy's deadliest mafia family. Cold. Cruel. Deadly. And terrifyingly silent. He never spoke to her. Not a word. Not a glance. Not even when they were children playing in the same villa courtyard. While others chased her with laughter, he stood in the shadows, watching. Always watching. To her, he hated her. His silence screamed of disdain. His sharp gaze felt like a knife. His presence made her heart race-for all the wrong reasons. But what she didn't know was that Luca had been obsessed with her for years. From the moment she smiled at him when they were eight and he didn't know how to smile back. Now, ten years later, she's grown into a fierce beauty-still soft-hearted, still scared of him. And Luca? He's no longer just the quiet boy in the corner. He's a man feared by everyone, even his enemies. Ruthless. Heartless. Unforgiving. She thought he hated her. But the truth is far darker. He was never ignoring her. He was waiting.

"No-please-don't do this!" Seraphina sobbed, her voice cracking as she clung to her eldest brother's wrist. "I-I'll be good. I'll do whatever you say, just don't-" A sharp crack echoed through the room as his palm struck her cheek, sending her crashing to the marble floor. Pain exploded across her skin, but it was nothing compared to the terror clawing at her chest. From above, his voice was cold. Unmoved. "You will marry him." She shook her head wildly, crawling backward until her spine hit the wall. "He's a monster," she whispered, her breath shuddering. "He's not human. Please, don't make me do this. I'll die." Her second brother crouched in front of her, grabbing her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. His lips curled, eyes void of warmth. "Then die." Her breath hitched. "But you will die as his wife." The door behind them creaked open. Heavy footsteps. Her father stepped inside, his expression unreadable. "Lock her in this room," he ordered. "She will not step out until her wedding day." Sera thrashed as hands seized her, dragging her toward the massive iron doors. "No! Please-Father, please!" But he didn't even look at her. The last thing she saw before the door slammed shut was her brothers standing side by side, indifferent as she was thrown into a fate worse than death. Then darkness. And the only thing left was the suffocating truth. She was a sacrifice. A bride to the Sinister, a devil himself. #A STANDALONE BOOK