"If I didn't care I would have left you to die but I care and that's why I'm protecting you." Xavier Arivonese A young boss with deadly connections to a deadly organization, mafia. Being just eighteen, Xavier is forced to run a deadly empire and his life has been anything but safe. When he decides one day to go against the wishes of a certain man all hell breaks loose in the mafia and a girl falls right into his hands leaving him no choice but to protect her. Royalty Lemeire A normal girl cheerleader with a few problems but nothing out of the ordinary. When someone tries to kill her one night she is taken into the world of the deadly mafia. She ends up falling into a dark and mysterious lifestyle and secrets about who she really is unravels. Her fall lands her straight into the hands of the mafia's boss and under his protection. Living with the mafia himself is one thing but getting tangled up with him is another and Royalty realizes she that her happily ever after is no Cinderella story..... How will this story end? In absolute rebellion or just like Cinderella?

Nandini Varma owns the only bookstore in town and is content with hiding her awkward self behind bestsellers. What she doesn't know is that her favorite author has moved near her, and that perhaps she could finally have a love story of her own, even if it's an awkward one. ***** Ryan Callahan wants to move on from his writing career and just work for the police. It's hard though, when the town's book lady happens to be a huge fan of his. She's smart, funny, beautiful, and kind - a lethal combination. He wants to get to know her more, but something seems to be holding her back. Who is this mysterious woman that Ryan can't stop thinking about? Content/trigger warning: This story contains themes of sexism and verbal abuse. [[word count: 70,000 - 80,000]] Cover designed by Joe Resch