At two years old, she was taken from everything she knew - a powerful father, devoted brothers, and a home where she was treasured beyond measure. Kidnapped by the one person meant to protect her, she vanished without a trace. Raised in cruelty by her mother and stepfather, she grew up believing pain was normal and love was something earned. She never knew she had been stolen - or that an entire empire had been quietly searching for her. For fourteen years, her father and brothers tore through cities, secrets, and bloodlines to find the daughter and sister ripped from them. Now, as she turns sixteen, the truth begins to unravel. And when a mafia family finally finds what was taken from them, they don't let go easily.

I am insufficient. Well, that's not my name obviously, but that's what my family has decided I am. I'm Julie. I'm 14, about to be 15 years old. I have a twin sister, Jamie. Jamie is an angel. Perfect at everything, and can do no wrong. At least in my family's eyes. And I? I am not perfect. I am a disappointment. Though they've never said that to me outright, I know that's what they truly think. The apparent "last straw" was when Jamie fucked up and I took the fall for it. Now, I'm on my way to live with some of my more distant relatives back in Italy. They're supposed to "put me back in my place." So now I get to go live with 3 Italian Capo's. Sounds like fun right? ------ What happens when Julie gets sent away? And what happens when her relatives receives a girl they had been brought to believe was a troublesome, borderline delinquent teenager, but is actually just a confused, dissociative little girl with a messed up idea of what family really means. And what happens when Julie comes to realise that the people she was living with, weren't all who they said they were?

Briella,17, never had a stable family set up. She was left alone by the age of 7, to fend for herself. Her father hated her, abused her for her whole life. Briella usually got into trouble with the law. She has never trusted anyone before in her life... that was until her father passed away. Marco Enzo, 28, a caregiver to his 7 brothers, gets a phone call from the Illinois Police department informing him that they have his sister in custody. The sister that he has tried to find for 17 years. A whole new family that she didn't know about. A "secret" business. Trauma and heartbreak. Built up anger and more..

"You lied to me" I screamed "You hid everything from me, why. Just why did you do this to me, to my siblings?" Tears began streaming down my face. "I did it to protect you, and your brothers, and your sister. I did it all for you guys" he said. "At what cost ... at what damn cost did we have to pay for your mistakes, you took the thing that I loved the most away from me" I said, tears being smeared all over my face, as I stared at him with my forest green eyes. Just like his. ... Astraea Knight is a 15 year old girl living with her four older brothers, due to her parent's disappearance when she was 13. No one knows what happened to them, and no traces were found. Left to fend for herself in this big family, Astraea is forced to keep the family afloat as new and old wounds begin to open up. The issues that were once forgotten and tucked into the pages of the past, begin to untangle themselves and into the lives of the Knight siblings. Astraea will soon unravel the truth, the truth of how her life came to be, the truth that no one wanted her to know.

Alessandra has never believed in safety. Life never gave her a reason to. Pain carved her childhood, silence became her armor, and trust? That was a luxury she could never afford. So when she runs -- bloody, broken, and barely breathing, she doesn't expect saving. She certainly doesn't expect to be taken in by a family dripping in wealth and power and. . . warmth? A mother who refuses to give up on her. A father who watches like he's waiting for her to let him in. And six brothers. Rough. Protective. Complicated. Brothers, who don't know what to do with a sister who won't speak. She doesn't know how to trust. How to believe that maybe not everyone wants to hurt her. Every instinct tells her to run. To shut down. But they don't let her go. Not when she flinches. Not when she hides. Not even when she breaks. Happiness is for other people, or that's what she believes. But when love comes wrapped in gentle patience and fierce protection, when hands reach for her without demand, when hearts break themselves wide open just to hold her... she starts to wonder. Can a girl stitched together with silence and fear ever belong in a family built on love? Can she stand tall when the ghosts of her past refuse to let go? And when danger claws its way back into her life, threatening everything she's come to know... will she find her voice, or will she shatter all over again? Trigger Warnings: Child abuse. Violence. Addiction. Panic attacks. Self-harm. Death, and more.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳, 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. Cinder ˈsɪndər -The remains of something that has been burned or destroyed, often with a sense of something lingering or fading. ___ Bullying, Brothers, Dysfunctional Family

Aurora's life had always been about survival, each day a quiet battle against fear and pain. When her stepfather was finally arrested, she thought the fight was over. But leaving one dangerous world meant stepping into another-one she didn't fully understand. Now, she's living with seven older brothers she barely knows, their lives a tangle of secrets and shadows they never speak of. Their house is loud, protective, and filled with rules she's afraid to break. For Aurora, it's a new kind of survival. For her brothers, it's a chance to keep her safe-no matter what it takes.

Nine-year-old Addison has known only darkness - locked away in a basement, her world has been one of silence, fear, and isolation. But when Addison moves in with the Harrington brothers - the family she never knew she had - she faces the daunting task of learning to trust, speak, and heal. Surrounded by love but haunted by her past, will Addison find the light she's been searching for - or will the shadows of her trauma keep her trapped?

Eight-year-old Annelise doesn't remember her real name - or what it means to be safe. Taken from her family and trapped in a nightmare for six long years, she's finally rescued and returned to the people who have been waiting for her all along. The Beaumont brothers each carry their own scars from a past filled with loss and secrets. Together, they embark on a slow, tender journey of healing, trust, and rediscovery-where every unlocked door holds the chance for Annelise to reclaim what's been stolen from her.

noun: one who returns, especially from the dead or a long absence They lost her once. They'll burn the world to get her back. Cecilia Bonetti has spent her life locked away in a care home - isolated, overlooked, and surviving in silence. What she doesn't know is that five powerful men have been searching for her since the day she vanished... and they're her brothers. As the feared leaders of the Bonetti mafia, they believed Cecilia was gone forever. Until now. But blood has memory. And when sunshine slips into their dark world, even the coldest hearts begin to crack. They'll fight to keep their composure - ruthless, untouchable - but with Cecilia back, staying cold might be the hardest battle they've ever faced.