Phoebe Marlowe has spent her life trying not to be noticed- soft, timid, gentle to the bone. But softness has no place in New York's criminal underworld. When her grieving father signs a fatal contract with the Valenti crime syndicate, Phoebe becomes the debt. At eighteen, she is handed over as the unwilling bride of Romeo Valenti- the cold, ruthless heir to an empire built on blood, fear, and obedience. Romeo doesn't want a wife. He wants nothing to do with the fragile girl who flinches when he enters a room. Yet the moment she steps into his world of marble floors and locked doors, Phoebe becomes a liability he can't ignore-and a weakness he never wanted. She breaks rules she doesn't understand. He punishes a girl who can barely lift her eyes. She cries through dinner etiquette lessons. He threatens to kill anyone who makes her cry again. And when she tries to run, he hunts her. But the deeper Phoebe sinks into the Valenti world, the more she sees its truest monster- Dorian Valenti, Romeo's father, a kingpin who uses people like weapons and cages girls like pets.

She was never meant to choose her future. He was never meant to question his. Princess Emilia Barton has spent her life under scrutiny-wild, reckless, and constantly at odds with the crown she was born into. University is her one chance at freedom. One chance to be more than a headline. Until she meets him. Tommy Thorne is everything she should avoid-dark, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. What starts as something reckless quickly becomes something real... or at least, it feels that way. Because Emilia doesn't know the truth. Years ago, a deal was made between the crown and the underworld. A promise written in blood. And she was always part of it. When secrets unravel and loyalties are tested, Emilia is forced to confront the one thing she's always fought against: A life she never chose. And the man she was always meant to belong to.

"𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚." Olivia groaned and crossed her arms, standing her ground. "Don't tell me what to do. You're not my dad." Amusement filled Santino's gaze as he stood up, abandoning the papers he desperately needed to read and sign. Yet, all that was forgotten as her bewitching lips protruded. "I might not be your dad but," a midnight lock of hair was pinned behind her ear, "I can be your papi." Shuddering, her body drew closer to him, betraying her mind. "You're sick." Taking the nape of her neck, Santino leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear. "Yet you still dream about my touch, don't you, principessa?" ❦ When Santino Adriano discovers that the Bratva has betrayed their neutrality by secretly working with his family's enemies, he's determined to send a brutal message that cannot be ignored. His target? The Bratva kingpin's sister, Olivia Morozov-a sheltered girl who knows little to nothing about the dark underworld her family controls, having been shielded from the darker truths of her family's empire her entire life. Fresh out of boarding school and blissfully oblivious to the power struggle boiling beneath her feet, Olivia is suddenly whisked away from everything she's ever known and thrust into a world where loyalty is weaponised and power is the ultimate prize. As secrets and long-buried lies unravel around her, she realises she's caught in a game where the unrelenting fight for power holds more value than human lives-including her own. Santino is cold, calculating, and relentless - everything Olivia should fear. Yet, she is intrigued by by his deadly nature. The line between fear and attraction is thin, and like a moth to a flame, she seeks him out, unafraid of the burn it may cause. She's never known anyone like him-an older, dangerous man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about desire. Olivia just didn't expect her captor to be so handsome.