ASHER I wasn't looking for love. I was looking for power. A wife is not romance in my world. She's leverage. Blood ties. Contracts sealed with rings instead of ink. When Carson begged for protection and money, offering his daughters like bargaining chips, I expected to be bored. Elisa. Eighteen. Italian. Five-foot-five of something breakable. And I wanted her. Not because she was the most beautiful - though she was. Not because she would make the best alliance - though she would. I wanted her because she looked at me like I was something terrifying... and still didn't run. I have built an empire with blood. Men fear me. Enemies whisper my name. I take what I want. And I wanted her. She is everything I am not - light where I am darkness, gentle where I am ruthless. I thought she would bend. I thought she would obey. I did not expect to fall. But the mafia monster is learning something dangerous- Even monsters can love. ⸻ ELISA Papa said this was an honor. He said I should smile. Be grateful. Be obedient. And then there was him. Asher Ivanov. Six-foot-four. Broad shoulders. Dark hair with blonde streaks. Brown eyes that looked like they'd seen too much. And dimples that didn't match the rest of him at all. I was the youngest. The quietest. The one who still believed marriage meant something soft and safe. But when he chose me, there was no softness in his voice. He didn't ask. He took. I was afraid of him. Of the way he moves like he owns every room. Of the way men step aside when he walks. Of the darkness that clings to him like a shadow. And yet... When he looks at me, sometimes there's something else there. Something almost careful. Almost gentle. He is cold. I am warm. He is a storm. I am a flower. But storms don't always destroy flowers. Sometimes... they protect them. And somewhere between fear and fate, I started falling in love with the monster who chose me.

Dakota: I ran the moment I turned twenty-one. Not because I was reckless. Not because I was ungrateful. Because staying would have killed me. My family called it love. I called it survival. They dressed me up, paraded me, whispered filth about me when they thought I couldn't hear. Treated me like something to be traded. Used. Owned. So I left. No plan. No protection. Just hope. The night of the ball was supposed to be a fresh start. Chandeliers like fallen stars, music floating through silk and champagne. For the first time, I felt almost free. Then I felt his eyes. He stood across the ballroom like sin given a body. Black hair, sharp jaw, broad shoulders that filled his suit perfectly. Green eyes that didn't look-they measured. They owned. When he looked at me, I should have been afraid. Instead, I felt chosen. Dangerous felt safer than going back home. ⸻ Ashton: I don't believe in coincidence. I believe in opportunity. I went to that ball to secure alliances, smile at men I despise, remind my family I am no pawn. They want obedience. Quiet. A wife who keeps me exactly where they want me. I don't do obedience. Then I saw her. Brown hair down her back, soft eyes too soft for a room like that. Five-foot-five of light in a world of wolves. She didn't belong. Which meant she belonged to me. She looked at me like I wasn't a monster. Her first mistake. I'm not a good man. Men twice her size fear me. My own family watches me like I'm a loaded weapon. But she didn't flinch. She smiled. God help her, she smiled. I need a wife. Someone untouched by my family's poison. Someone I can marry fast, claim faster, and use as a shield. She needs protection. I took her. Cold. Clean. She thinks I saved her. She doesn't know she's just stepped into a cage far worse than the one she ran from.

"If you win...?" He remained motionless for a second, before lifting his head and meeting my gaze. I could see the determination and hope swimming in his blue orbs, "If I win, you have to give me a chance to prove that I won't hurt you." People often warn you not to make permanent decisions on temporary feelings, but Alyssa had absolutely nothing to lose. "Deal." ********** Alyssa Shade embraced her move to New York as an opportunity to start fresh and leave behind her shady past. She wanted to forget what previously defined her. She wanted to overcome the fear that trapped her for over 15 years. When Hunter Ashford sets his eyes on Alyssa, she doesn't know that he would end up meaning a lot more to her than just another one of her challenges. *This story is complete*

Did he know how hard it was for me to breathe when he was this close to me? Our bodies were pressed to each others and the feeling of him tensing up by my touch on his abdomen made me smile but yet blush. ''Victoria Summers, you're so dead'' he said in a sexy husky voice making me gulp. This was the end, I didn't know what he had planned but he was going to do something. ''and i want to grow old and die with you'' he said and kissed me all emotions in display. Taken by surprise i stood still with his lips pressed to my lips thinking through what he just said. This would definitely ruin his reputation, this was to sweet to be badass.