❝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.

"No-please-don't do this!" Seraphina sobbed, her voice cracking as she clung to her eldest brother's wrist. "I-I'll be good. I'll do whatever you say, just don't-" A sharp crack echoed through the room as his palm struck her cheek, sending her crashing to the marble floor. Pain exploded across her skin, but it was nothing compared to the terror clawing at her chest. From above, his voice was cold. Unmoved. "You will marry him." She shook her head wildly, crawling backward until her spine hit the wall. "He's a monster," she whispered, her breath shuddering. "He's not human. Please, don't make me do this. I'll die." Her second brother crouched in front of her, grabbing her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. His lips curled, eyes void of warmth. "Then die." Her breath hitched. "But you will die as his wife." The door behind them creaked open. Heavy footsteps. Her father stepped inside, his expression unreadable. "Lock her in this room," he ordered. "She will not step out until her wedding day." Sera thrashed as hands seized her, dragging her toward the massive iron doors. "No! Please-Father, please!" But he didn't even look at her. The last thing she saw before the door slammed shut was her brothers standing side by side, indifferent as she was thrown into a fate worse than death. Then darkness. And the only thing left was the suffocating truth. She was a sacrifice. A bride to the Sinister, a devil himself. #A STANDALONE BOOK