Anna Rafferty left New York two years ago to find herself. Not because she was running. Not because she was afraid. But because somewhere between the violence, the secrets, and the trauma that changed her life, she'd lost herself. For two years, she built a life on her own terms. She traveled. She healed. She learned to preserve things most people considered beyond repair, restoring rare books and forgotten stories while trying not to think about her own. Because some trauma isn't dealt with. It's buried. Returning to New York was supposed to be simple. Be closer to her family. Purchase the rare bookstore she'd fallen in love with years ago. Continue building the future she'd fought so hard for. The only complication... Julian Mercer. The powerful, devastatingly handsome and infuriating Don of New York, a man she should stay far away from. A man her sister can't stand. A man she hasn't seen since the night she left the city. Unfortunately for her, Julian Mercer has never forgotten a debt or Anna. What starts as a favor quickly becomes stolen moments, lingering glances, and a connection neither of them seem capable of walking away from. The problem? Julian is a man built from secrets and Anna has spent the last two years burying her own. When a string of brutal murders rocks the city-random, violent, and seemingly unconnected-every road somehow leads back to one person. Anna. As detectives begin circling, asking questions she can't answer and digging for secrets she can't share, Anna finds herself caught between the life she's carefully built and a past determined to drag her back. And the closer the danger gets, the harder it becomes to ignore the man she's spent two years trying to forget. Because Julian Mercer has always been dangerous. The difference is that now Anna has something to lose. Not her safety. Not her freedom. But her heart.

He called her his. His ol' lady. His wife. Property of Clutch. Rebecca "Bex" Pierce never belonged to anyone. She chose him. She stood beside him. She wore his patch with pride. Until the night he chose wrong. When a lie tears through the Dawnbreakers MC, loyalty turns toxic and pride turns cruel. In front of his brothers, in front of the clubhouse, Clutch does the one thing Bex never thought he would. He doesn't hit her. He doesn't cheat. He just doesn't believe her. And if he doesn't believe her? Then the patch means nothing. So she takes it off herself. Throws it at his feet. And walks away from the only life she's ever known. No protection. No club. No husband. The fallout fractures the Dawnbreakers from the inside out. Secrets unravel. Brothers fall. The club reforms. But the woman he lost? She isn't waiting to be claimed again. If Clutch wants his wife back, he won't just have to apologize. He'll have to rebuild everything he broke. Publicly. Relentlessly. Without expecting forgiveness. Because this time, she isn't property of anyone. Not even him. This story was born inside the Grovel & Betrayal Facebook group during a live "build-a-book" day. You asked for: • Public humiliation • Believed-the-wrong-person betrayal • Nuclear heartbreak • A man who has to earn her back And as I was reading your comments, one character kept echoing in my head. Clutch. You met him in Unlawful Hearts. You saw the quiet weight he carried. You heard him whisper to Remi. You watched him stand in the fire with the Dawnbreakers. This is his story. Welcome back to the Redemption Road world, this is within the same timeline as Unlawful Hearts.

Five years ago, Aria Castellano learned the truth that destroys most people: innocence is the easiest weapon an enemy can use. So she cut hers out. Piece by piece. She left New York to sever every tie that made her vulnerable-family, friends, and the boy she loved enough to become a liability. She traded softness for strategy, hesitation for violence, and the girl she used to be for a woman who understands that survival requires dirty hands and an even dirtier conscience. Now she's back. Not for forgiveness. Not for closure. But to finish the war that began long before she knew she was part of it. Her return exposes traitors, rattles alliances, and forces her to face the one person she swore she'd never see again. And the worst part? It hurts. It shouldn't- but it does. Still, pain is a small price. Because Aria isn't in New York to feel. She's here to win. And she stopped fearing the monster inside her the moment she realized- monsters survive longer.

*A Heir of Silence Spinoff* Enzo Moretti was never meant to rule. Third-born. Uncrowned. The weapon, not the king. But when the Russian Bratva fractures and its Don is violently removed, the throne doesn't go to the prepared-it goes to the feared. And Enzo's name carries weight. Sent to Russia to stabilize a crumbling empire, Enzo steps into a world built on ice, blood, and loyalty enforced at gunpoint. He doesn't speak the language. He doesn't know the politics. But he understands violence, power, and what it takes to survive when mercy is a weakness. At his side is Maya-the strategist assigned to keep him alive. She never wanted to return to Russia. The past she buried there refuses to stay frozen, and every step forward drags old ghosts into the light. But as Enzo claims a throne he never asked for, Maya becomes more than his guide-she becomes his anchor in a country that devours the unprepared. As past and present collide beneath frozen skies, enemies circle, alliances fracture, and the line between control and destruction blurs. In Russia, power isn't inherited. It's taken. And the ice doesn't care who you were before it crowned you. Heir of Ice

Four years ago, Natalia Moretti disappeared. No goodbye. No explanation. Just silence. Once the youngest princess of the Italian mafia, Natalia was raised to obey-to smile, to submit, to accept a future chosen for her. Instead, she chose herself. Now she's back in New York. Her parents are gone. Her brothers rule the Moretti empire. And the boy she once loved-the one who thought she betrayed him-has become a man shaped by power, pride, and unfinished heartbreak. Natalia returns different. Stronger. Untouchable in ways no one expects. She's built a life of her own, far from the shadows she was born into-and she carries a secret that could change everything. As old feelings resurface and fate pulls her back into the orbit of the man she never forgot, Natalia must decide how much of her heart she's willing to risk again. Because love in their world is never simple. And some secrets aren't just dangerous- They're legacy-changing. Heir of Silence is a slow-burn mafia romance about first love, second chances, and the quiet strength it takes to protect what matters most-when the whole world is watching.

Book 1 of The Dark Knight Series.. When the two people closest to you commit the ultimate betrayal, but there's only one of them left to feel your vengeance..... Lucy and Luca are so in love and looking forward to their future. So what will happen when Lucy discovers Luca has betrayed her, in a way that crushes everything around them.. Can their love survive? Or are some betrayals just to much to bare..

QUEENS OF CHOAS SERIES PREQUEL!!! Once upon a time, a girl was sent away. No trial. No second chance. Just a story everyone believed because it was easier that way. Five years later, she comes back. This is the part where, in a Disney movie, she'd forgive everyone, hug her family, and learn the power of love. Instead, Gianna De Santis learns how to break bones, keep secrets, and survive rooms that were never meant to be safe. The family expects a villain. The kingdom expects obedience. And some Princes are not always charming . There are no fairy godmothers here. Only men with power, women with knives, and lies that refuse to stay buried. And while everyone's busy wondering if Gianna is still dangerous- They forget to ask the real question: What happens when the girl they tried to erase comes back sharper... and finally decides to stop being nice? Because this isn't a Disney movie. And the girl who survived the tower doesn't believe in happily ever after- She believes in consequences.

Six years ago, Blanchard Collins packed her bags, boarded a bus to Houston, and never looked back. She left behind her abusive father, the town that never forgave her for speaking her mind, and Rueben Bailey, the boy who broke her heart the night before they were supposed to run away together. Now twenty-four, Blanchard returns home with her five-year-old daughter, Willow, and a dying mother who's asked for one final thing-her presence. But coming home means facing the ghosts she thought she'd buried, including the man she's never truly stopped loving. Rueben "Benny" Bailey did what his family expected. Stayed, took over the farm, and proposed to the girl everyone said was right for him. But when Blanchard walks back into church with a little girl who looks just like him, everything he's built starts to fall apart.

One lesson I learned very early in life was to be cheerful, to be agreeable, to do as I was told and ask for nothing, and to never ever complain. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and maybe they'll love you. I grew into an adult who took care of others and never expected that those I loved would take care of me in return. I gave and never asked, never expected, never demanded. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and you'll find someone that will love you. And then one day, a Dragon walked into my workplace and turned my world upside down with a single wink. Having grown up watching his father treat his men like they were disposable, just meat bags to be fed into the grinder, Dragon was determined to be different when he became president of the Dragon's Inferno MC. He cares about his people. He takes care of them. He was upfront with me, taking care of his MC and those he considered to be his would always be his priority. And I agreed to that, I joined him in that mission, throwing myself into becoming the perfect old lady of the prez. Smile Maddie. Act happy Maddie. Take care of them and maybe they'll love you. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't complain and maybe he'll love you. I told myself I was independent. I was strong. And I didn't need my Dragon to take care of me. And I almost believed it. Almost. But now I'm watching him with her. I'm watching him comfort her. I'm watching him listen to her, support her, reassure her. I'm watching him take time from his day to check in with her. I'm watching him worry about her. I'm watching them become closer right in front of my eyes. I'm seeing every thoughtful gesture he does for her. And me? I'm not happy. I'm not smiling. I'm done being agreeable. Fuck not causing trouble. I'm about to set my Dragon's world on fire. And then I'm walking away. She can have him. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing myself.