THIRD BOOK OF THE VELVET & VOWS SERIES 💍♟️ 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• Alessandro Moretti became Don of Milan after his father retired and returned to New York. When his sister was targeted by Rome's underworld, he took the city by force and claimed it as his own. Now he rules Milan and Rome as one of the most ruthless Dons in Italy. Victoria Marchetti is the daughter of a former consigliere, raised close to a world she never wanted. After her father was shot, she chose to become a trauma surgeon to save lives. She never wanted the mafia - she wanted a life far away from violence. 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍•𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• 𒁍• Alessandro & Victoria... Neither of them ever wanted this marriage. Alessandro never planned to take a wife. Love was a weakness, and marriage was only a tool of power. He rules as a ruthless mafia Don, where killing is part of survival. Victoria never wanted a life in the mafia. She became a doctor to save lives, not to stand beside a man who takes them. Violence is everything she chose to stay away from. They come from opposite worlds, forced into the same vow. One takes lives. The other fights every day to save them. #1 - gangleader 02/07/2026

𝘏𝘦'𝘴 22. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 26. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵- 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵.

Isaac pulls back, his eyes burning into mine. "Look at me after I kiss you" he says, voice low and rough, like he's fighting for control. I nod, breathless, cheeks flaming. "Are you shy?" he asks, a teasing lilt in his tone. I shrug, my voice barely a whisper. "I-I don't know what to do. It's my first time kissing someone." Isaac's eyes soften. He smiles-a slow, dangerous smile that sends another shiver through me. "It's also my first time, Mila" he says, voice warm and low. My head snaps up, eyes wide. No way. He's too good at this. "It can't be" I say, disbelief colouring my voice. He leans closer, lips brushing my ear. "Just because it's my first kiss doesn't mean I don't know exactly what I need to do to make you feel good, sweetheart." Heat blooms in my cheeks, spreading down my neck. My hands tremble as they rest on his chest.

Eva Graham is a guarded, no-nonsense social science major who studies human behavior to understand why people leave-and how to make sure she never lets the wrong ones in. She keeps to herself, avoids drama, and especially avoids campus athletes, whom she considers walking red flags. Cole Grayson is a third-year psychology major, a cocky ice hockey star with a grin that disarms and a fanbase full of puck bunnies. While everyone sees him coasting, Cole's under constant pressure-trying to go pro, balancing school, and keeping up a charming front to hide just how much he's cracking underneath. When Cole starts slipping in class, he's assigned a tutor: Eva. Neither is thrilled. She thinks he's a loud, lazy distraction. He calls her "Teach" just to get under her skin-she responds by calling him "Skates," with just the right amount of disdain. What begins as bickering soon turns into banter... then something softer. The nicknames stick, becoming a quiet thread that ties them together as friends-and maybe more. Cole falls first. Hard. Eva, scared of being hurt and shaped by people who've left before, fights it. Still, she agrees to go to one of his games-just once. But seeing him on the ice, in his world, adored yet somehow still alone, shifts everything. Then the bet surfaces. A stupid, careless thing made before he really knew her-and it threatens to destroy everything they've built. Surrounded by puck bunnies stirring drama, teammates with their own loyalties, and a past Eva isn't ready to share, the fragile trust between them begins to crack. Between jealousy, late-night confessions, and moments where one look says everything, Eva and Cole must decide: is love worth risking it all-even if it started with a bet, a nickname, and everything going wrong?

❝𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬❞ 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢❦ ঌ 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 is smart, stubborn, and never backs down-especially from Angelo Moretti. She's top of her class, quick-witted, and hides her soft heart behind sarcasm. Confident, competitive, and impossible to intimidate, she refuses to let the school's biggest troublemaker get to her... even though he always does. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢 is pure trouble-detention's favorite visitor and the king of reckless decisions. He doesn't do love, only hookups, and he lives for chaos with his best friend, Damiano. Charming, dangerous, and always smirking, he thinks he's untouchable... until Isabella becomes the one person he can't shake. 🏅#𝟕-𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟑/𝟎𝟑/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🏅#𝟐-𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝟏𝟗/𝟎𝟒/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Mariah is confident, outspoken, and focused on herself not love. But when she moves into a new apartment and meets Elijah, the quiet white boy next door, her plans start to shift. He's reserved. She's bold. They come from different worlds but can't seem to stay away from each other. What starts as tension slowly turns into something deeper. But falling for someone so different isn't easy and both have pasts that threaten to get in the way. Still, some connections are worth the risk. And sometimes, love doesn't look how you expect it's just painted different.

PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS "The softest place to fall" "Who did this to you?" The question hangs in the air between us. I can't look at him. I stare at my hands instead. "Ella." His voice breaks on my name. "Please. Talk to me." "I- " The word comes out as barely a whisper. "I can't." "You can. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm not going anywhere."

"Why do you want me?" "You want to know why I want you?" He exhales, like he's been holding this in for weeks. "I want you because I don't date for fun. I don't do temporary. I want you because when I think about marriage, your face is the only one there. I want you because if I ever have kids, I want them to have you as their mother. I want you because you're the love of my life." A beat. "And I want you because everything in me settles when you're with me."

Aaliyah never planned on catching the eye of Leo Ramirez. A quiet, brooding basketball player who looks at her like she's trouble & like he'd burn the whole world for her.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨-𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐱 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 ❝𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.❞ 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 has been doing a good job at leading two mafia empires with the help of his brother while also raising his four year old daughter alone. It's difficult but he always gets the job done because he gets to come home to his little girl every day. 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮 has always felt like her pastries are not good enough even though her bakery thrives, receiving many customers each day. She's now trying to change the name of her bakery to disconnect from her family's name, but runs into difficulties and needs help. These two have been part of the same friend group for as long as they can remember. They've known each other for years. So, it's not out of the ordinary when Catalina spends the rest of the evening at Santiago's place after closing her bakery for the night. But is it out of the ordinary when they share a kiss under the moonlight? What about hooking up a few days later? Or forming a friends with benefits pact after that? There's no way they'll catch feelings, right? Wrong.