Zaina Aziz is the popular high school girl. She may have the charisma of a mean girl but breaking the stereotypes she is also an academic weapon. That is until the new, quiet boy, Aariz Sheikh takes her place. From there, it is a cut-throat competition of scores, games, schemes, betrayal and love. Until one of them lose, leaving both of them miserable in the game of scores. Six years later, they cross paths again at a wedding where they end up being forced into their own marriage. Aariz is out for revenge but Zaina will stop at nothing to grovel and win him back. What will succeed in the games this time, love or revenge? "He was a game for her- a tragically beautiful game." Tropes: Zaina X Aariz Part-I • Academic Rivals • Popular Girl X New Boy • High School / Collage Romance • He fell first and harder • Betrayal • Enemies to Lovers Part-II • Marriage of Convenience • Secret Marriage • Second Chance • FMC Grovelling • Boss X Intern • Intense Slow Burn |Green Flag MMC | Strong FMC| No Toxic Drama | Found Family| No cheating | Standalone | Chaotic Cousins | School life fun | Friendships | happy ending - IMPORTANT! : This story can be read in 2 orders : 1. Part (0) --> Part (I) --> Part (II) If you want to read their school life as a flashback in the middle. (2) Part (I) --> Part (0) --> Part (II) If you wish to read in sequence of the events. I'd suggest this order for those interested in school life stories.

Revenge. I'm familiar with it. You have to be when you're the firstborn son of a notorious mafia leader. Death and vengeance have been the very foundations of my life. So who in their fucking mind would be stupid enough to cross me? My brother and I have been wrongfully convicted of a crime we didn't commit. We know who is behind this. We bid our time behind bars, planned and prepared for the day we got out. Now we're free and hungry for redemption. I know what must be done. I know whose blood will be spilled. But before I go after him, I'll go after his daughter. I never said I play fair. *Book one in the Marino Brothers Duet. Rated 18+ due to explicit language, sex, and violence.*

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.

She's a wild, free spirit who sees the good in everyone, and he's the hardened, bad-tempered loner who wants nothing to do with her-yet no matter how hard he tries to push her away, she's the one temptation he can't escape. *** He's never met someone with such a bubbly personality. Not to mention the wildness and odd phrases she says every five minutes. He hates it. He hates how he can't stay away from it. He hates what she does to him; it's not like him to chase after some girl. She gets under his skin like no other. She's never met someone with such a bad attitude. He's ill-mannered and menacing. The glare never seems to leave his face. Considering it all, she can't help but feel the attraction toward him. Dangerous attraction toward a seemingly dangerous man. Maybe it's the tattoos on his arm that gets her attention. Or maybe it's because she can tell there's hope for good under his rough exterior. And she's about to find it, whether he likes it or not. It's no secret that the two of them are complete and total opposites. *** "You like being called Sugar, don't you?" I tease, placing my toothbrush back after finishing. He does the same and gives me a side-eyed scowl. He grips my chin harshly and kisses me. My body temperature raises a good ten degrees and my right leg goes all wiggly. He pulls away. "You like it when I kiss you, don't you?" He teases the same way I did to him and I'm left blubbering. "I think both of our questions are rhetorical," I lower my voice up at him. His lip curls up into a smirk. *** #1 in Young Adult #9 in Badboy #1 in Cold #3 in Goodgirl #1 in Sweetheart #14 in Love *** *Warning* This story contains mature themes (language, scenes)