|18+| 𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙚. 𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙'𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧. My best friend had one specific rule for her wedding week: 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐝. It should have been easy. I'm here to be a bridesmaid, not a distraction. Then I met Caleb Calhoun. He's forty-four, runs the biggest ranch in Montana, and looks at me like I'm a natural disaster waiting to happen. He values order, discipline, and respect. I drive a rusted El Camino, drink cheap beer, and thrive on chaos. He thinks I'm just a reckless twenty-one-year-old with nothing to offer but trouble. So, naturally, I decide to be his trouble. I push every button he has. I call him 'Daddy' because I know he hates it-and because I know it makes him think things he definitely shouldn't. To top it off? I flirt with his son just to watch his jaw tick...until his son starts flirting back. His son Benny is freshly back from war, dangerously charming, and looks at me like I'm the first thing he's wanted in years. And the more I provoke the grumpy rancher, the more I realize this isn't a game. Benny wants to keep me. Caleb wants to tame me. And for the first time in my life, I might actually want to be 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝

Book #1 --𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 is a survivor. A single mother and a tattoo artist to dangerous men, she exists on the fringes of the criminal underworld, belonging to no one. Her life is her own. Until the night 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 walks in. As the newly crowned Don of the Lucchese crime family, Andrea sees the world in assets and liabilities. After a bloody display of power leaves Charlie as a loose end, he claims her shop-and her-as his property. She's a reckless, infuriating complication he can't afford, and a temptation he refuses to resist. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭. He has no idea that Charlie is the secret key to a war between the mafia and the cartels, with a lineage more 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 than his own. As his 𝓸𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 deepens, so does the 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧.Every touch is a battle for control, every kiss a promise of 𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖓. ℑ𝔫 𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔞𝔡 𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔞𝔩 𝔟𝔞𝔯𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝕬𝖓𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆 𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖊'𝖘 𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞 𝔦𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝖇𝖚𝖗𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖙𝖔 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖙.

Athena Marchetti has survived the silence, the secrets, and the steel walls of her family's legacy. Now seventeen, she's stepping into a world that's both familiar and new - a prestigious private academy where the weight of her name follows her like a shadow. By her side are Lulu and Jules, her fierce and loyal best friends, sisters in all but blood. Together, they navigate the highs and lows of teenage life, carving out space for laughter, dreams, and unbreakable bonds. But when Matteo Ricci, the brooding and notorious heir of a rival family, crosses her path, Athena's carefully guarded world begins to shift. Surrounded by her fiercely protective brothers and caught between loyalty and desire, Athena must learn what it means to stand tall, trust in love, and bloom in the harshest steel. Book 2

Eight-year-old Athena Dimitriou has never known safety. Raised by a mother who loved her but resented her, and a man who hid his violence behind closed doors, she learned early how to stay small, quiet, and invisible. Until the night everything shattered. When her mother is found dead and her stepfather vanishes, DNA results reveal an impossible truth-Athena is the illegitimate daughter of one of America's most powerful Mafia dons. Whisked away to New York, she finds herself in a palace of cold steel and burning loyalty, under the protection of five ruthless brothers who rule a criminal empire. She was born in silence. They raise her in steel. But beneath the violence lies something unexpected-soft hands, warm arms, a family that will kill for her, die for her... and teach her, at last, how to live. Book 1

Amalia Romano is a selective mute. After years of enduring abuse from her step father, who has ridiculed and hurt her mercilessly, she doesn't want to talk, for fear of what might happen if someone doesn't like what she says. But then her step father--who's care she has been in for two years, ever since her mum died--passes away, and her father, who she was taken away from when she was three, agrees to take her in. But she isn't the smiley little girl she used to be. And the Romano men have secrets of their own, ones they want to keep their twelve year old princess away from. 1M VIEWS: Sunday, 12th March 2023 COVER BY: @sugarhighstoned

❝ 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 ❞ ────୨ৎ──── 𝙆𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧 knows what it means to fight for survival. With three younger siblings to protect and an abusive father threatening to pull them under, basketball is more than just a dream-it's his escape. Every game is a shot at freedom, a chance to leave the shadows behind and build a future far from the chaos that has defined his life. 𝙃𝙖𝙯𝙚𝙡 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 is the picture of perfection-or so the world believes. Driven by the crushing weight of trying to live up to her family's reputation, she excels in everything she does. But behind her polished exterior lies a girl unravelling, haunted by a past she can't forget and the relentless fear that she'll never be enough, no matter how hard she tries. They hate each other He's a scholarship kid from the Southside She's the daughter of a billionaire They have nothing in common until they do

From the outside Juliet Kingston seems to have the perfect life. She has popularity, beauty and a famous dad who seemingly spoils her rotten. But nobody is aware of what happens behind closed doors. After spending years at the mercy of her abusive father Juliet sees her chance to escape by attending her dream university across the country but after being told that she doesn't qualify for student aid she faces a problem. Her dad refuses to pay her tuition and in an attempt to control Juliet and to keep her always at arms reach, he makes her a deal. He'll pay her tuition for a smaller, local university as long as she agrees to continue living at home and miss out on the full uni experience. She agrees and starts her first semester soon after but she becomes more and more depressed living with a father who constantly tells her how worthless she is. Her days start to become repetitive and she no longer finds joy in anything, becoming an empty shell of who she used to be . Seeing no point in living, she gives herself a deadline. If something in her life doesn't change by her nineteenth birthday approaching in two months she plans to end her life. But what happens when the quiet drug dealer is the only one to notice her downward spiralling.

Thalia Kennedy is a positive ball of sunshine, she likes dirty jokes and smiling whenever. When she meets a man, the complete opposite of her she immediately takes a liking to him and wants to be the one to teach him how to enjoy the little things is life. Heath Jackson was a complicated man in many ways, from his complicated past to his guaranteed complicated future, he was never able to run away from his silent fears he'd face alone. He was closed off and hated the thought of even interacting with people, until someone was heavenly brought in to save him. --------------------------- "I'm thinking" He tells me and I frown. Is it really that hard to think about something nice about me? "I like your lips" He finally answers with a sly smirk on his face thinking he did something. "Which ones?" I ask before I could stop myself and bite my lip. "Don't you dare answer that" I point my finger at him, the smirk still on his face. ----------------------- #3 in cold 7/11/22 #1 in sarcasm 8/10/22

"Ariel," he said, my name falling from his lips like a prayer. It's the first time he said my name And before I could process what was happening, he pulled me into a deep, breathtaking kiss. His lips crashed against mine, firm and desperate, like he had been holding back for far too long. I gasped against his mouth, but he only used that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, his arms wrapping around me fully, holding me close. I melted. I completely melted into him, my hands reaching up to thread through his hair as he tilted his head, taking his time to explore my lips like he was memorizing every inch. Tropes: Only soft towards her Arranged Marriage (forced) Love at first sight Villian mmc (kinda?) Touch her and die 🤭 HEA

Mila Valentino X Isaac Martinez 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.