"The Caregiver and the Mob Boss" ❦ Avelina makes her money by taking care of those who can't take care of themselves. When she is handed a case about a man who had needed a personal caregiver, she accepts. One thing Avelina never anticipated was the dangerous lifestyle he lived. Not only that, but she didn't expect for him to be so incredibly good-looking. Adrik Zolotov, the Russian mobster that everyone called "Mad Hatter". His insanity and crave for blood left him the most feared man of all. All he wanted was power and those around him to fear him. For a man recently diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, everyone believed him to be emotionally incapable of ever loving anyone. . . Imagine their surprise when he meets Avelina. ❦ "Mr. Zolotov, I have to make sure you bathe before I leave. It's apart of my jobs protocol," she said softly. The truth was that he made her feel nervous. There was so much coldness and evil in his eyes, it left a chill to run down her spine. "Fine," he stated before walking over to his bathtub. Her eyes followed his movements as he pulled off his shirt causing her to lick her lips and quickly look away. She could hear the sound of more clothes falling onto the ground until the sound of water running littered her eardrums. "You assist when asked, isn't that right?" He asked. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see that he had already gotten into the shower. "Yes," Avelina answered. "Bathe me." ❦ Dangerously far from cliché

"The Caregiver and the Mob Boss (pt.2)" ❦ Avelina has always cared for those who can't care for themselves. With a baby on the way, and a man who can't stand her, she has to still find a way to put herself first. Adrik cares for Avelina. Avelina cares for Adrik. Caring was never enough for either of them. With unexpected twists, unwanted family reunions, and secrets that keep Avelina and Adrik far apart; it's almost impossible for them to be together. The true test is whether or not their love will be enough to keep them together. ❦ Cover by @eroticcinderella

❛❛I foresee terrible trouble, and I stay here just the same.❞ 「TW: Dark themes. Death, SH, abuse, addiction, age gap, childhood trauma.」 ❛❛I wonder what it'd feel like if you cleaned up the mess I just made with your mouth, Ash. I've pretty much been a dripping, desperate mess for you since I was sixteen. You knew that though, right?❞ 「You're stubborn as hell and you hate confrontation and you pretend things don't hurt when they do. But you saved me. Not because I deserved it. Just because you couldn't stand the idea of me drowning. You're a good person, Jules.」

𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚? 𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧. ⋆⭒˚🍑｡⭒⋆ 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 swore she'd never come back. Not to the cracked sidewalks and creaking porches of a town that watched everything give up. Not to the ghosts that still lingered in the house her mama left behind. And definitely not to... 𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙮 𝘾𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙝𝙖𝙢 - the boy who knew every inch of her heart before she ever learned how to guard it. But grief has a way of calling you home. Now, years later, Peach is back where it all started: sorting through her dead mother's things, drinking too much of her good wine, and pretending she doesn't notice the way Tommy still looks at her from five houses down. He's not the same golden boy she left behind. His shoulders are heavier. His smile - when it shows at all - never reaches his eyes. He spends his days fixing other people's things and taking care of a sick mother in the same house that's slowly falling apart. And still, somehow, he shows up. To fix her railing. To fix her roof. To remind her of everything they used to be before the world got too hard. She broke his heart once by leaving. He's breaking hers now by staying exactly where she left him.

"r. p. if you forget" When she wakes up in the hospital with no memories of who she is, Elainne has no idea what to expect from her life. Fortunately for her, everything seems just perfect: her parents care about her a lot, and all of her classmates support her. But that still doesn't explain how she got kidnapped and lost her memories. Or that strange tattoo that pushes her to start her own investigation. From hidden notes to looking for clues on her bookshelf, Elainne realizes there's much more to her amnesia than she initially thought. As the perfect facade starts to fall apart, and everyone around her shows a different face every day, she will have to work quickly to recover her memories. Because someone made them lock themselves up inside her brain. And they will make sure she doesn't get them back. ⁂ PUBLISHED: 9/9/2022 COMPLETED: 10/23/2022 Word count: 24.6K Cover made by @ninaisawip #1 in yamystery - 9/13/2022 #1 in yathriller - 9/15/2022 #198 in ya - 10/24/2022 #143 in amnesia - 10/24/2022 #318 in mystery-thriller 10/26/2022

Harley had a bright future ahead of her, but that dream died a long time ago. ***** Harley vowed she would never return to the city that broke her heart, but old wounds never stop hurting if you keep poking at them. When the phone rings, the city stops, and she's summoned back, she discovers some doors are better left closed. Those you open might never be locked again. ***** WARM HANDS #0.5 Open Novella Contest 2023 -- prompts 42, 45, & 69 [[OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2023 ROUND 2 WINNER]] © 2023 caterina george // all rights reserved

Penn Romero is a smart girl. Smart girls don't get involved with their professors. ***** It begins with a casual meeting at a speakeasy. It begins with a drink. It begins with a stolen stare. It begins with the not-knowing, the secrecy, the sneaking around. Penn Romero hardly knew what she was getting into when she was drawn in by Chase Steele's magnetism, and she hardly knew he'd be her new Film Theory professor. Against everything she's ever known, against everything she should do, she stills falls into a dark spiral of manipulation that keeps her trapped in a spider web, losing sight of who the real Penn is--all that's left is what he has made of her and all he's taken. It ends with him taking and taking. It ends with the should've-knowns. It ends in ruin. ***** THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE. DON'T ADD THIS TO ROMANCE READING LISTS, PLEASE. [[THE AMBYS 2024 TOP PICK IN CONTEMPORARY]] © 2021 caterina george // all rights reserved

"You keep me on my toes but God, you have me on my fuckin' knees sometimes."

A baby thief he was, living by the beach with his wife and little daughter. A sweet father to Diana. An angel of death to teen mothers. So when she is no longer little, people ask Diana, "How was he like?" But no one asks of her story, its beginning, and how it seems to be ending. No one except one man. A man who gifts her with a family in the most unlikely, bloodiest of ways.