(HOPE-VERSE #1) Carter Romano is tired of the mafia life. To get his freedom, his father makes a deal with him to kill their biggest enemy, Rossi. In searching for the enemy, he stumbles upon the chirpy adorable nurse named Lilly Hastings. What she doesn't know is that she saved the life of Carter Romano's biggest enemy and Carter kidnaps her because he thinks she knows the answers to where he can find Rossi. Torture turns into lust, lust turns into possessiveness, and possessiveness turns into... What could it be, darling? ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ "I am not buying this dress. It's too revealing." He smiles "You can't even afford it, Lilly. So I am buying this." He stands up and makes his way to me. His body language was calm but his eyes were like a fire that was about to burn me. I turn around to walk back into the dressing room but he's hot on my heel, following me inside it. The space was cramped but he closed the door and locked it. Pinned me up against the wall. My breathing hitched when I felt the cold wall on my bare back and I gasp when he grabs my hips. He leans, almost hovering, and kissed my cheek "I'm buying this dress so you can wear it for me one day." I swallow "I'm never wearing this." He chuckles in my ear which makes my stomach feel crazy "You're wearing this for me so I can take it off, darling." 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: ♡ Violence ♡ Sexual Content ♡ Trafficking ♡ Dark Content ♡ Language ♡ Torture ♡ Rape

Two months after finding out that they have magical abilities, Quinn is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that they're a witch. It becomes even more difficult when another, significantly more troubling talent starts to emerge: the ability to see ghosts. ***** Even though Quinn tries to ignore the spirits haunting the old college campus, they soon find themself inexplicably drawn to Vincent, a boy from the 1930s with a sweet disposition and a tragic past, and his rag-tag group of ghosts. Before they know it, they find themself on a desperate hunt for answers and artifacts from their former lives, aided by Luis, a charming coffin maker with a penchant for the paranormal who Quinn can't seem to stay away from. In the end, it all comes down to one question: to accept or not to accept their magic? Spoiler alert: caring more and more about the ghosts you're supposed to set free doesn't make things easier. This is a spin-off to LOVE AND OTHER WICKED THINGS but can be read as a stand-alone. Content warning: this story contains themes of anxiety, death, insomnia, mentions of alcoholism, mentions of cancer, mentions of drug overdose, mentions of motorcycle accident, mentions of parental neglect, paranoia, panic attack