(Book #1 of Sinners of the Dark) He had a habit of dragging darkness just about everywhere he went. Darkness wrapped in Armani. His personality colder than a block of ice. She was loud, carefree and tainted around the edges. I played by the rules. I did what was asked of me. Until I met the one person that could destroy everything I had worked for. I hated him since our first encounter, and now I was forced to tolerate him. He was called gadyuka in Russia, but he was known as the Sin in the deep underground of New York. Handsome face filled with violence, commanding, gorgeous and deadly. A killer, a thief, a sociopath, and feared by all. A made man. He came dressed in all black. Gold cuff links. Tattoos burned into his skin. He had the ability to pin me to the ground with a single glare and made me feel things I didn't want to. He was absolutely unhinged. Frightening. Everything wrong and everything right. And he held the key to my cage in his palm. And before he crushed the key; I was going to fuck with the serpent, and then I was going to hunt him. He just didn't know it yet. - preview - "I'll fucking ruin your life, Elena. Corrupt every goddamn part of your body, and soul. And when I'm done with you, you'll get on your knees and thank me." His low voice snarled. Desperate. He backed me into a wall. He grabbed me by the throat, but didn't choke me. Just kissed me so deep I forgot whose air I was breathing. "I'm not fucking done with you, Elena. And if it is up to me, I'm not done fucking you either."

The world had gone to hell long ago, taken over by the vampire race. In order to keep some sort of peace in our land, the Vampire Lords made a consecutive agreement. The rich and powerful humans could survive just as they had been, untouched by the vampires save for the occasional blood collections, or so they thought In reality, we were all under their control. Castles spread out throughout our land, one landing in each city. Each castle varied in the number of vampires residing there, but all of them carried a Lord. The Lords were the ones in charge in every city, whether we liked it or not. The vampires often roam through the city, making sure that everyone was in order and no one stepped out of line. If you stepped out of line, you died, end of story. Even if the rich were still under their control, their lives were still better than the poor. The poorest lives held a much worse fate. The men were to be put to work as slaves, whether that meant serving a specific vampire, or just building their castles, they were slaves. The women were to be pets. Pets were the lowest rank you could have. They were forced into cages that were too small to stand in with collars around their necks. They spent their lives in pet shops, just waiting for the dreadful day that they'll be bought. They were treated like animals, trained into what their master wanted, and punished if they misbehaved. Those who were lucky enough to live through that, we're to be slaughtered for their blood at age twenty-five in an act to make sure that our population would stay steady. I was born into this world. Born into this world full of blood-sucking monsters. Except, I was one of the lucky ones. Was. It all ended for me when I was 12, when I was taken away from the last bit of hope and family that I had left. Ever since then, I've lived in a cage, just rotting away, waiting, dreading for the day that some monster would make me his. This is my life. I am a pet. ~~~ Cover by: @mshacake

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.*