Book 1 in the Sacred Bonds series. There are two kinds of scars on a man. The ones you can see, etched into skin by the Texas sun, and the ones you can't; the kind carved into a twelve-year-old boy watching his legacy get stolen at the barrel of a smile. For AZAD MARTINEZ, the memory is a film reel that never stops playing. The day his father was laid in the ground, his uncle, MALIK MARTINEZ, arrived to deliver his first lesson in family: it's a weakness. He threw Azad and his grieving mother out of their own home, the only home they'd ever known, the very dirt his father had sworn was a sacred trust. But Malik didn't just take the land. As a final, calculated act of cruelty, he took Azad's older brother, ZAYAN, dragging him away to be remade in his own corrupted image. Now, years later, the echoes of that day have become a relentless soundtrack. Azad has built a new empire from nothing, a legitimate agricultural powerhouse, but every success is shadowed by the ghost of what was stolen and the sound of his mother crying in the next room, her tears a silent prayer for the son she couldn't protect, begging for a forgiveness only God and his return can grant. But Malik isn't finished teaching lessons. He's back with a contract, wielding a forgotten debt from Azad's father like a holy writ. He offers a choice that is no choice at all, a move designed to break Azad's spirit completely and claim his hard-won empire. This is where the real war begins. This is a halal romance, a journey deep into the heart of what it means to love under the weight of duty, to seek revenge without losing your soul, and to find the impossible path to forgiveness when the wound is the only thing that reminds you you're still alive. This is a story of one man standing on the land he built, forced to choose between the vengeance that fuels him and the faith that could save him, all while the ghost of his brother and the cries of his mother threaten to pull his world apart at the seams.

Dominic Romanov, a mafia boss who spends the night with a beautiful woman who leaves him wanting more than what he bargained for. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯. "𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯." 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 - 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵. 𝘐 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. "𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵."

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.

"You are mine!" He roars. "I will do whatever it takes to make you know that. Whether it means I lock you up in a prison and throw away the key." Footsteps come rushing into the dining room, and I turn to see multiple men--guards I suppose, flanking one another. Each of their hands rest on things within their jackets. Which i can only guess are guns. What else would they be? He waves them off and stalks towards me, standing behind my chair. I try to turn my head to look behind me, at him, but his hands move to the sides of my face, stopping me. "I can give you the world Mia. I am no fool. I know that love takes time, and I will give you as much as it takes. But you are mine." He says so calmly. -------------------------- When Mia Jones, a College student from Australia with a mysterious past is offered the opportunity to work as a translator for a man she had never heard of in New York City, she had assumed it would be a normal job, little did she know it would be the end of her freedom. Matteo Giovanni is the most feared Mafia leader in New York, and the whole country, heir to the Italian Mafia, he is used to getting what he wants. And when he sees Mia walk into his office for a job interview, he knows he wants her. She is his light, and he is her darkness. Will Mia ever be able to escape Matteo and the Mafia, or will she fall in love before she can stop herself? WARNING: Within this story there is coarse language, themes and violence. ______________________ #1 in Romance 29/10/2020 ----------------------------------- Began: 21/08/2020 Completed: 13/01/2021