"You're sorry?" he repeated, his deep and raspy voice reaching my ears from across the room. I nodded. His dark eyes the same shade as the night looked me up and down. "Why don't you get on your knees and show me how sorry you are." All it took was one glance. Five years ago, Ezra Atlas laid his eyes on Lilac Winter. He had never seen somebody so beautiful. He knew, just from that one look, she would be his, and only his. Wanting to live her life in freedom, Lilac escapes to a different country. Hiding. Hoping that the man obsessed with her, will never find her. But nothing could stop Ezra from finding her. Time is slowly catching up. He is slowly catching up. And once he gets his hands on Lilac again, She will be his, forever.

Rhodes is an intimidating man, with no expression to match your attempted humor. But his art is like no other, a talented tattoo artist he gave people their wishes but better, making something permanent, merely impossible to regret. There was only one thing to make Rhodes soft, a gorgeous woman he studied like a student did before an exam, analyzing who she hung with, who she spoke to, hoping none of the interactions were genuine although they were. With the kindness that reminds one of a warm summer day, Cecelia serves Rhodes merely everyday at the local pub she waitresses for, his order the same every time to where she forgot his voice completely after the first time. After finding out where he works, she's determined to get him to speak, after all, he was the only one who she thought to be a bit strange. Little did she know he'd been watching her for months. Loving her from afar.

Running from hell isnʼt easy. Especially when someoneʼs dragging you back down into it. Belligerent, brash and always in shades of black, Freya is hardly a lady. Hidden away by her father, sheʼs lived a normal life despite being born into the dark waters of New Yorkʼs underworld. Heʼs cold, cruel and calculating, with a proclivity for destruction. Feared by even Made Men, Torren is the boss of the stateʼs most leachorous crime syndicate. Freya hates his crudity and possessiveness, but she canʼt deny the way her breath hitches at his rough touch, the deep timbre of his voice, and his dark, heated gaze. Torren hates her disobedience, her recklessness, and her chaos. To him, sheʼs only something to be tamed. And after he slips a ring on her hand, snatching away her future, she makes only one vow---to become his biggest torment.

Vincent Brunos is the Don of the families. Ezra Gallo is a shy girl. When Vincent meets Ezra by chance, he can't help but feel enthralled by the young girl sitting on a couch, reading a book.

Silent chains An Obedient Girl. A Dangerous Man. A Silence Too Loud to Ignore. Aarya has never spoken a word. A twenty one year old Born mute and forbidden by her cruel family to learn sign language, her life has always been quiet - not peaceful, but silenced. Hidden away in an attic, unloved and abused while her stepsister is pampered like royalty, Aarya's only survival tool is obedience. She never questions, never resists... until one night, fate places her in the wrong place at the worst time. She witnesses a brutal murder committed by the city's most feared mafia boss, Luca De Rossi - a twenty eight year old man known for leaving no witnesses alive. But when he finds her cowering in fear, trembling and tear-streaked, he spares her life. Barely. A story of forced proximity, power and vulnerability, slow-burning connection, and a girl who can't speak... but says everything without words. ---

Alessandro Galanti, a mafia boss who has his eye set on Aria Stone. And he'll stop at nothing until she is his.

"Останови машину," I commanded. (Stop the car) The driver, whose name I'd forgotten, obeyed. Stepping out, I walked towards the boys, hearing their laughter and insults. I jogged over, drawing my gun from the holster at my waist, and snapped, "Тебя никто не учил манерам?" (Did no one ever teach you any manners?) The color drained from their faces, and they scattered. Approaching the corner where they had been standing, my heart clenched. There, on the cold ground, lay a girl, shivering in nothing but a dirty, torn t-shirt. ♡♡︎♡︎ A small, naive girl with no shelter. A feared mafia boss known as the Angel of Death...What will happen when their paths cross?

"Do you know what metal this knife is made of?" My breaths were coming out in ragged wheezes, sounding garbled as my windpipe fought around the blood in my mouth. "No, sir." "It's silver." Another round of tears sprung loose from my eyes, and my hands curled into fists. How could I be so stupid? I could hear the smile in his voice, "Do you know what I am going to use this knife for, girl?" When I tried to speak, all that came out was a strained sob. A round of laughter erupted from the table, the council reveling in my torture. "I'm sorry, pet, I couldn't hear you," Alpha unhooked the back of my dress, exposing his canvas. A tremor racked my body, nearly seizing my vocal cords, "For carving into my body, sir." "Correct." +++ Copyright© to -hickman

When River crosses paths with a man who speaks to every hidden hunger inside her, their connection spirals into an all-consuming pull neither of them can resist-but is she Grayson's salvation... or his ruin? *** Everyone in River Avelle's hometown knows about Grayson Maddox-the troubled bad boy who almost killed another student in the middle of the school hallway. Those who look into Grayson's eyes only see pure fury and hatred. They all think he's beyond redemption, even Grayson himself. But not River. As the seemingly perfect good girl, River saw something more in those alluring grey eyes. Something worth holding onto. From the first time their eyes connect, both Grayson and River feel the intense, undeniable attraction between them...but neither of them understand what's pulling them together so fiercely. The closer they get and the more vulnerable they become, River has to wonder: is she saving Grayson from his darkness? Or is she just pulling him further into hers? *** He tips my head toward his with his index finger, keeping my eyes trained on him and driving me crazy with the primal look on his face. His grey eyes look heavy, filled with dark desire, and a shock runs up through my core. Everything around us disappears and all I can sense is him and the hardness pressing between my legs. "What are you doing to me, River?" he whispers, his voice raspy and utterly captivated. His face is lowering and I'm closing my eyes, waiting for soft lips to press against mine. My whole body is on fire as I hold my breath for his touch. *** Cover by @strayin

A bodyguard, a girl with a smart mouth, and lots of tension.