Ela Kapoor has always lived life on her own terms. At twenty-two, she's carefree, stubborn, endlessly talkative, and armed with enough sarcasm to survive almost anything. After losing her parents at nineteen, she learned how to stand on her own, find happiness in the smallest things, and never let anyone tell her who she should be. Then one wrong door changes everything. One accidental encounter. One secret she was never supposed to hear. And one man she was never supposed to meet. Lucien Moretti is feared ruthless head of the Italian Mafia. Cold, powerful, and dangerously reserved, he rules his empire with absolute control. Men obey him. Enemies fear him. No one questions him. Until her. When a failed assassination leaves Ela under his protection, she finds herself living inside his fortress-like mansion, surrounded by killers, bodyguards, and a mafia family that doesn't know what to do with a woman who treats them like ordinary people. But Lucien doesn't want to control her. He doesn't want to change her. He wants something far moredangerous. He wants her to choose him. As Ela turns his silent mansion into a home, befriends his intimidating head of security, Matteo, drives his charming younger brother Alessio crazy, and slowly becomes the heart of a world built on violence, Lucien finds himself fighting a battle no enemy has ever forced him to face. Because protecting her is easy. Claiming her is easy. Loving her is easy. The impossible part? Waiting for her heart to catch up with his. In a world of blood, loyalty, and power, one carefree girl may become the only thing capable of bringing a mafia king to his knees. Tropes Mafia Romance Protective Hero He Falls First Possessive but Not Controlling Touch Her and Die Found Family Slow Burn Romance Grumpy × Sunshine Bodyguard Friendship Brother's Best Chaos Forced Proximity Action Speaks Louder Than Word. Strong Female Lead Emotional Healing Found Home "He claimed her long before he ever confessed he loved her." ❤

Marlowe Thorne is a ghost in a city of sin. A freelance photographer who specializes in the shadows, she has spent years documenting the crimes of the elite without ever leaving a footprint. But on a rain-slicked night at Pier 90, her lens captures a shot that wasn't meant for any witness: Silas Vane, the city's most lethal power player, executing his rivals with cold, clinical precision. ​Instead of a bullet to the brain, Silas gives Marlowe a choice that is its own kind of death: disappear into his world, or be erased from her own. Trapped in the sprawling Blackwood estate with a diamond tracker at her throat and a broken camera at her feet, Marlowe finds herself playing a high-stakes psychological game with a man who treats souls like chess pieces. ​As a shadowy syndicate closes in and the city begins to burn, Marlowe realizes she is no longer just a witness. She is the leverage Silas needs to crown himself king-and the only woman who can see the jagged truth behind his armour. In a world of monitored whispers and possessive claims, she must decide if she's fighting to escape his cage or fight to rule the abyss by his side.

Avery's senior year is turned upside down when a kiss with her older brothers' best friend ignites a forbidden relationship tangled in danger, heartbreak, and family secrets that could destroy everything. *** "Aiden..." I shake my head, eyes fixed anywhere but the gorgeous man next to me. His hand grips my chin tightly, just enough to make me avert my eyes to his. "You know you want this as much as I fucking do. I want you to be mine. I want to be the one to hold you and kiss you the one you go to whenever you're happy or fucking sad. But let it be me, let me fucking show you that it should be me." He glares, jaw tensing. ...... ©hessaherophinelove

Ice and fire were never meant to survive the same war. Olivia has spent years perfecting survival. Beautiful. Untouchable. Trapped in a marriage built on power, appearances, and silence, she learned long ago that softness gets women destroyed. Then there's Enzo Russo. Dangerous. Reckless. Feared by men twice his size. The kind of man who solves problems with violence and wears sin like a second skin. He has always been there - lingering too close, watching too carefully, waiting for the moment Olivia finally lets him in. Because Enzo has wanted her for years. And Enzo Russo does not walk away from things he wants. But Olivia has never needed saving. She needs control. And when power begins shifting in the shadows of their world, one choice threatens to unravel everything - loyalties, bloodshed, desire. Including the only thing Olivia has left to protect: Herself. A dark mafia romance featuring slow burn tension, obsessive devotion, dangerous loyalty, and a man who would burn the world down for her.

In the blink of an eye, I lost everything - my mother, my home, and my life. The only thing she left me was a debt I couldn't repay and a bounty on my head, and desperate times require desperate measures. ---------------------------------------- A mischievous smile spreads across his lips as he takes a big step toward me, and as soon as I am within his reach, he grabs my hips and pulls me against him. I lay my hands on his chest and trace my fingers along the outlines of his tattoos as he maneuvers me back to his desk. My ass presses against the edge of his desk as he lets his hands run down my sides until he grabs my ass cheeks " Are you sore from last night, baby?" "I'm fine." "I hope you're not lying to me," he whispers against my lips.

​"You are either my wife, or you are my enemy." He wanted a submissive wife. He got a soldier in silk. Alessio Gravelli, the ruthless Don of New York, doesn't make mistakes. But marrying Elina Vitale might be his fatal flaw. He thought he was acquiring an asset-a quiet, pristine bridge between two rival families. Instead, he brought an assassin into his bed. Elina hates him with a violence that burns. She has one goal: find the proof of his family's crimes, and then end the Gravelli line. But Alessio isn't the mindless beast she was promised. He is calculating, lethal, and harder to kill than she imagined. When he discovers his wife is trained and dangerous, he doesn't execute her. He decides to keep her. To study her. To break her walls down one by one until she confesses everything. In a game where sex is a weapon and trust is a death sentence, the line between hatred and obsession begins to blur. She wants to burn his world down. He wants to watch her do it. ~~~~~~~~ **TROPE LIST:** 🖤 Dark Mafia Romance 🔪 Enemies-to-Lovers (Real enemies) 💍 Arranged Marriage 🔥 Slow Burn & High Heat 🌶️ ⛓️ "Who did this to you?" vibes 🚩 Morally Grey Hero (He's a walking red flag, but he's *her* red flag) **Rated M for Mature.**

Alessia Ferrari is the Don of the Italian Mafia. Whip-smart and dangerous, she is a woman in a man's world, surviving against all odds. Born and raised to become a lethal killer, even the ground she walks on bows at her feet. She has it all, until that is, her father gives her hand away in marriage. Ace Hernandez is the boss of the American Mafia. He's a cold cruel hearted monster. He knows the game all too well and does whatever it takes to win and if that means breaking someone, he could do that with his eyes closed. Fate is vicious when the two are forced to marry. Will two monsters find solace in each other's arms or will they kill each other? ---------------------------- "I don't recall signing up for strip poker." She replied. Her full lips frowned softly but her eyes were filled with amusement. She knew she couldn't beat me, not at this game. "Are you quitting? Are you a quitter?" I mocked getting under her skin. Her lips twitched before she pursed them tightly. The blues of her eyes deepened and she threw me a dangerous smirk. She shuffled and pulled off one of her sandals. Fuck. So we're doing this the long way. She raised it in the air, dangling it off her finger before tossing it aside. She raised a brow at me, she challenged me. I knew I got under her skin. Just as I had anticipated. -------------------------- BE AWARE: Trigger warnings: MATURE CONTENT 18+ (SMUT) SWEARING VIOLENCE/GUN VIOLENCE SELF HARM/SUICIDE (REFERENCES) EXPLICIT LANGUAGE REFERENCES TO RAPE SMOKING/ALCOHOL/DRUGS BLOOD/DEATH/GORE ©️ All rights reserved ™️ The Walnut Tree BOOK ONE OF THE MAFIA SERIES

"Morning, Mr. Serious," I say now, setting his usual cup on the table. I add two sugar packets because I can't help myself. He never uses them. He never even looks at them. But I like the idea of them sitting there, taunting him with sweetness. His eyes flick up to mine - stormy gray, the kind that make you feel like you're under interrogation for a crime you don't remember committing. "You should stop doing that." His voice is low, accented, like gravel dragged across velvet. Russian maybe? Or Italian. Or both. Either way, it does unholy things to my stomach. "Doing what?" I ask innocently, sliding the sugar closer to his hand. "That." His gaze drops to the packets. "I don't take sugar." I grin, all sunshine and sass. "You don't know that. Maybe one day you'll wake up and realize life's better with a little sweetness." ●・○・●・○・● Rafael Volkov doesn't do small talk. Or smiles. Or sugar in his coffee. As the mafia's underboss, he's built a reputation on silence, sharp suits, and an expression that could curdle milk. So of course, Lila Parker makes it her mission to crack him. The sunny diner waitress insists on slipping him extra sugar packets, calling him "Mr. Serious" behind the counter, and treating him like a normal guy instead of a walking red flag. He tells her to stop. She doesn't. He growls. She grins. And suddenly, his late-night coffee runs feel less like routine and more like... something he shouldn't want. The problem? In his world, affection is dangerous. Smiles get noticed. Weaknesses get used. And if Lila isn't careful, her little act of kindness might just paint a target on her back. Rafael swore he didn't have a sweet tooth. Turns out he was wrong. ●・○・●・○・● Word Count: 37,478

His finger trailed up my thigh ever so gently causing my pussy complete torture. He knew what he was doing. He knew this was driving me completely crazy. Just as his fingers were trying to push past my underwear my hand grabbed onto his wrist. "Don't," I warned, in a low voice making sure nobody would notice. "Watch me fuck you in front of every single person here unless Tobias stops looking at you like that." He explained. I glanced over to Tobias who was looking angrier than ever. If Tobias didn't stop looking at me not only would my husband keep to his word, someone would send a bullet through his skull. *+*+* Scarlett Salvadore was to be married to a man she hated with all her heart to increase her father's power. Aleksander Petrov was to be married to a woman he hated with all his heart to make amends with some of the Italian mafia. When the two of them meet at a club without knowing their identities they are immediately drawn to each other. What will happen when the two of them discover each other's identity? Will it grow the passion they have for each other or will their families history destroy it? *+*+* "I hope you realize that you belong to me now. In fact, you've always belonged to me, before and after the wedding ring on that finger of yours." I rolled my eyes at his words, still not forgetting the things he said to me before. "I'm just as much yours as you are mine, and don't you forget it, Aleksander." I snapped, pointing at his hard chest. "Prove it." A smirk appeared on my lips. Men in the mafia always use their wives for sex. But why can't it be the women using their husband's? *+*+* Far from a cliché Started: Thursday 26th August 2021 Finished: Monday 15th August 2022 RANKINGS: 11 in Lust 6 in Italian 1 in Strong Language 1 in explicit

He kidnapped a spy. She became his obsession. Elena Valenti was trained to survive monsters until she met Devlin Romano. Mafia heir. Merciless. Addicted to control. Now she's trapped in his world of velvet cages, forbidden touches, and deadly secrets. She was meant to destroy him. But with every look, every command... he's unraveling her instead. And in the dark, she's starting to like it.