Nikolai Petrov is the ruthless leader of the Russian mafia, feared by all who cross his path. When he forces Vera Moretti, the innocent yet broken daughter of a rival mafia family, into an arranged marriage, he expects obedience and submission. But Vera, scarred by her past, hides her pain behind a facade of strength and grace. As the lines between power and desire blur, Nikolai finds himself captivated by the one thing he can't control-her heart. In a world of danger and deceit, can love survive, or will it destroy them both?

𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. ✞ ✞ ✞ He wanted to use her. She was the mastermind who planned for that all along. ✞ ✞ ✞ Power. Power built them. Power is what will destroy them. From sworn enemies to reluctant allies, there is nothing 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯 wouldn't do, nobody she wouldn't use to reach what her mind has been fixated on for years. Revenge. She's inhumane. Emotionless. Messed up in the head-a diagnosed ASPD mind turned into something precise, something dangerous. A machine. The underworld doesn't call her by name. They call her the flame behind the ghost don. The living requiem. Nyx. And when something like her sets her sights on a target? She takes. Uses. Burns everything necessary to get what she wants. And 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 became exactly that. There's nothing the Camorra king hates more than her-the ghost, the flame, the thorn in his side he's been chasing for years. The assassin behind the Russian don he wants nothing more than to take down. The one thing standing between him and full control over New York City. Blaze is forced to do the one thing he would rather die than do: Ally with the enemy. It was supposed to be simple. Temporary. Strategic. But temptation has always been a dangerous game, and Vera has never been the kind to walk away from a game. Especially one she knows she'll win. Because she's always ten steps ahead. And this time, she chose to play.

Logan Romano didn't just enter the NHL. He tore through it. Dark. Brooding. Untouchable. With brutal talent and a reputation as cold as the New York winter, Logan dominates both the ice and every room he walks into. He doesn't lose. He doesn't bend. And he certainly doesn't fall in love. Not after the last time. Not until November Levine crashes into his life like a beam of sunlight he never asked for. She's warmth where he's storm clouds. She's soft where he's jagged edges. A walking contradiction to everything Logan swore he needed. When a deal forces the polar opposites under one roof, tensions ignite fast. Teasing turns to feuds. Feuds turn into something dangerously close to desire. And Logan is forced to confront the one promise he's never broken. Because once you step into the light- it's impossible to return. ✩ Grumpy x sunshine • forced proximity • slow burn Will the hockey captain cross that line? ✩ "Nova." I whisper, my voice low and hoarse against her neck. "Stop it." "Stop what." She whimpers back innocently as her thighs tighten around my hips. My teeth nip at the skin on her jaw in warning. "Either stop teasing, or put me out of my fucking misery." November pulls her head back from mine, resting it against the wall, and bats her lashes up at me. "Say please."

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐦. . . . There are things you're taught not to do. Rules you're told to follow. People you're meant to forget. Flora never planned to end up here, but after one too many mistakes, her life dives for rock bottom. Now, she's trapped in a world she doesn't understand, haunted by a past she can't outrun. And at the center of it all stands the boy she'd sworn to forget. What once was fate, fractures into an illusion and twist into something dangerously evil. They were kids together. Friends together. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵. She's new. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵. She's fresh meat. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. What happens when they reunite? Secrets unfold. Chaos runs free. And the line between love and ruin sharpens into a thin blade, as history proves to repeat itself in its cruelest form. A girl. A boy. And a mad house that feeds on sin. There's no place to hide here. You can run, but you'll never get away. "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺." 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲