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

"𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚." Olivia groaned and crossed her arms, standing her ground. "Don't tell me what to do. You're not my dad." Amusement filled Santino's gaze as he stood up, abandoning the papers he desperately needed to read and sign. Yet, all that was forgotten as her bewitching lips protruded. "I might not be your dad but," a midnight lock of hair was pinned behind her ear, "I can be your papi." Shuddering, her body drew closer to him, betraying her mind. "You're sick." Taking the nape of her neck, Santino leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear. "Yet you still dream about my touch, don't you, principessa?" ❦ When Santino Adriano discovers that the Bratva has betrayed their neutrality by secretly working with his family's enemies, he's determined to send a brutal message that cannot be ignored. His target? The Bratva kingpin's sister, Olivia Morozov-a sheltered girl who knows little to nothing about the dark underworld her family controls, having been shielded from the darker truths of her family's empire her entire life. Fresh out of boarding school and blissfully oblivious to the power struggle boiling beneath her feet, Olivia is suddenly whisked away from everything she's ever known and thrust into a world where loyalty is weaponised and power is the ultimate prize. As secrets and long-buried lies unravel around her, she realises she's caught in a game where the unrelenting fight for power holds more value than human lives-including her own. Santino is cold, calculating, and relentless - everything Olivia should fear. Yet, she is intrigued by by his deadly nature. The line between fear and attraction is thin, and like a moth to a flame, she seeks him out, unafraid of the burn it may cause. She's never known anyone like him-an older, dangerous man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about desire. Olivia just didn't expect her captor to be so handsome.