Book 1 in the Vendetta series. In Texas, land ain't just something you buy with a check. Sometimes it costs you blood. Azad Martinez spent twenty years building a fortune on one thing, and one thing only: burning down the uncle who stole his family's ranch and snatched his brother when he was just a kid. His plan is cold, it's ruthless, and it don't leave room for nothing soft-especially not a wife. But when his cousin comes for an innocent woman, Azad does something he ain't never done before. He acts on impulse. He marries her. Yasmin Garcia is a veterinarian who traded her freedom to keep her family's land out of the wrong hands. She figured she was signing up for a gilded cage and a husband who'd look right through her. What she didn't count on was a man whose silence tells a whole story of wounds that never healed. A man whose touch leaves marks, and whose enemies don't play nice. When a cartel-backed war kicks off around them, Yasmin starts to see the truth: the man she married ain't just some businessman with a nice spread. He's a king taking back his throne. And he'll do it by any means necessary. Y así es como empieza el desmadre. As Malik Martinez and his cartel compadres hit back, the fight for the Martinez name turns into a fight to stay breathing. Yasmin's got a choice to make: is she just a piece on Azad's chessboard, or is she the one person who can reach the wounded man behind all that cold steel? And Azad? He's gotta face down a truth that scares him worse than any enemy: to win his war, he might have to let down the walls he's been building his whole damn life. He might have to let her in. And that just might make the woman he married the biggest target of all. A darkly romantic tale of revenge, resilience, and the ruthless fight for a place to call home.

𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐌'𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱 She's the city's top model. Seen by everyone. Known by no one. She survives by keeping her past sealed tight- every bruise, every secret, every ugly truth locked behind elegance and restraint. Her life is a performance, and she never misses a step. Until she slips... ...and falls straight into the orbit of the man she was taught to despise most. One reckless act- done under the guise of a false persona- sets something irreversible in motion. A line is crossed. A fire is sparked. And the illusion of distance between them shatters. That night leaves her with a hangover, and a realization she can't escape. You don't have to die to go to hell. Some men bring it right to you. He is power without conscience. A presence felt more than seen. The devil everyone fears. She is a mess dressed in designer. A voice that refuses to be silenced. The angel everyone envies. Logic says they should never align. That their worlds, their loyalties, and their sins are fundamentally opposed. Nexum says there couldn't be a better fit. 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐱 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 @xplicitlyvenus 2025, all rights reserved

𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙉 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙔𝘼𝙇 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿 𝘽𝙔 𝙁𝘼𝙏𝙀, 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙎: 𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙎𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙆𝙀 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏? ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈ ཐི ❤︎ ‬ཋྀ Over the course of humanity's time on this earth, we often retreat into reflection of all that was. We tend to examine where we've gone wrong, what we've achieved, and what lessons we might have think we've learned. Some might even hope that by looking back, we can prevent ourselves from repeating the mistakes of the past. Yet... we contradict ourselves, giving rise to the familiar adage: history repeats itself. For centuries, two souls have been ensnared by a curse. Fates entwined in ways neither can escape. One must always betray. One must always kill. The Order has long hunted these two souls, for theirs is the only altered DNA capable of powering an ancient relic, which is an artifact born of an even older tale: the story of The River. And when these cursed souls meet again, unaware of the history they've shared, the cycle begins anew. Old wounds ache with fresh pain. Trust dissolves like smoke. Passion flares into pure chaos, threatening to consume them both. He's the curse. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺. But together, they are the downfall of their own 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦. ཐི ❤︎ ‬ཋྀ #1 in interesting #1 in government #2 in loverstoenemies

❝He's looking at me with wide eyes, flushed face and body completely tense, as he puts his hands in front of him and crawls to the spot I pointed at. I put my boot clad foot on his shoulder to stop his movements, then plant it back on the floor. "Kiss it."❞ 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢 is the leader of the dangerous Profati mafia, 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐡 is a shy teacher who finds himself desperate to escape the claws of his deranged family. When she abducts her childhood best friend from his wedding, Nevan's foolish enough to think being her captive is her way of protecting him. But Helena has much more sadistic purposes for him. And she knows just how to make him vow himself to her unaware of what truly awaits. Enter a world of reckless vows and binding chains with this extraordinary duo in 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘰𝘸𝘴 by AddieBookss ─── ❦ ─── ♤ Dual POV ♤ Bad girl × Good boy ♤ Reverse Dark Romance ♤ Mild BDSM ─── ❦ ─── Highest ranks: #1 Good boy #1 Girlboss #1 Masochism #1 Shy boy #1 Opposites Attract #1 Bad girl Good boy #2 Childhood friends #2 Bdsm relationship

These teeth won't let you go. ✷ Dutiful. Naive. Spoiled. Gwendolyn Wu, eldest daughter to the ruthless patriarch of the Vermillion Birds Triad, has been sidelined from the family business for the fact that she was not born a son. Not like her brothers, whom her father expects would lead the triad someday. But when her eldest brother, Gideon, is murdered at the hands of vengeful and cruel boy-king Enzo Armati, newly anointed don of the Armati crime family of London, Gwen simply can't sit back and watch. Cold. Calculating. Merciless. Enzo Armati, the sole heir to his father's syndicate empire, is hellbent on revenge. The death of his father bloodies the hands of the Vermillion Birds, and so he must enact vengeance as he sees fit. A son for a father. He takes the Vermillion Birds' eldest heir. But it's not enough to sate the bloodlust, the rage. When the opportunity for the perfect revenge lands right in his lap ─ literally and figuratively ─ in the shape of Gwendolyn Wu, the spoiled and coveted princess of the Vermillion Birds, Enzo seizes it. Kidnapped and imprisoned in an opulent cage of marble and ivory, Gwen knows she's in over her head. Now, she must do the impossible: thaw her captor's frozen heart before he breaks her. But as the days pass, as secrets begin to unravel, as Enzo finds the mirrored glimmer of a dark likeness buried deep in Gwen's soul, as Gwen peels back Enzo's layers and finds inside him the man who could've been, mutual distrust quickly unspools into a mutual obsession. Or, perhaps, mutual possession. Both have teeth in the other. Both refuse to let go. Both refuse to fold first. © raiden ╱ 2025 GLORY & GORE #1 No one in this story is a good person.

An alliance that was doomed before it even began... ❥❥❥❥ They call her princess, but she was never looking for a prince charming. Good thing he's anything but. Completely irresponsible, troublesome, and a liability, there's nothing remotely noble about him. Not that there's anything righteous about what their families' do to begin with... However something about her just seems so right to him. Too bad he can't have her. So, perhaps it's a good thing she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. ....... Tough, resilient, and lethal- Cara runs through danger like it's child's play. And as the daughter of an Irish mob boss, she's been placed on a pedestal high up in the clouds, so she already has almost anything she could ever want. And of what she doesn't have, Leonardo "Leo" Ricci- the youngest and most reckless member of the Ricci famiglia surely couldn't provide it for her. But there's something she didn't account for- Leo's wild inhibitions, free-spirited nature, and unwavering devotion, might end up being just what she needs. It doesn't matter though, because the developing burn between the two of them could threaten everything, especially her plans. Plans that she didn't realize were flimsy to begin with, going up in smoke upon chaos being unleashed. Proving just how cursed her little arrangement really was. But in the midst of the destruction that the inferno leaves behind, can she find the blessing in disguise? ❥❥❥❥ - Dark Romance - Reverse Sunshine x Grumpy - Forbidden - Mafia -He Falls First -Forced Proximity

He hated her. Not the I-don't-like-you kind of hate. No. He hates her with every fibre of his being. Her mere presence set him off. He hates her know it all smile and the way she brushes her hair out of her face when she is upset. The way she played with her hands when she's nervous or made snarky remarks whenever he walked into a room. He hates her with every fibre of his being. She hated him. With every fibre of her being. With his sarcastic comments and devilish grin. She hated the way he never would address her politely, or at all for that matter. He was rude and annoying and she hated it all. Everything about him. She couldn't stand it. But then again, there's a very thin line between hate and love... - Dark romance - Enemies to lovers - Arranged marriage. - Forced proximity. - Revenge.

❛𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐈 𝐀𝐌, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈𝐓.❜ - F. SCOTT FITZGERLAD, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 ───── 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈 - the golden girl of a ruthless empire, born with the world at her feet and blood on her family's hands. Once soft-hearted, once in love, she learned the hard way that mercy is a weakness. Now, her smile is a weapon, her silence a war cry - and the man who ruined her is the one she's sworn to destroy. 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄? - the Bratva's ghost. No records. No past. No soul to save. Once her protector, now her curse. He vanished without a trace, leaving behind a girl who learned to bleed quietly. But monsters always come home - and this time, he's back with blood on his hands and secrets in his eyes. ───── In a city built on loyalty and lies, love is the most dangerous weapon of all. And when Amara finally faces the monster who made her one - only one of them will walk away unchanged. ───── 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗌𝖾 𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖽𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌.