Stolen at 3. Tortured for twelve years. Forged into a deadly assassin. Morana escapes her captors, leaving only blood behind. But freedom comes with a price-returning to the family that abandoned her. Six mafia brothers who don't remember her. A past she must hide. A world that fears the name she's built in the shadows. Then there's Ace Romano-her brother's best friend. Ruthless. Tempting. Off-limits. He sees through her mask, matching her darkness with his own. But when secrets unravel and enemies close in, Morana must decide: stay the broken girl they expect, or become the nightmare they never saw coming. it includes mature scene with no warning.

Book 2 of the Painted Lies duet grief /ɡriːf/ noun; intense sorrow, especially caused by someone's death. Liliana Russo is many things. The head of the Spanish mafia. A daughter. A sister. An assassin. A young woman. A criminal. Cruel? Ruthless? Unforgiving? Grieving? After everything she's been through in Italy, everyone almost forgot about everything that happened in Russia. Apart from Liliana, she struggles to forget a second of her past no matter how hard she tries. The training, the psychological manipulation, the torture and the fear. Now she has to face everything at once. Her family. Her friends. Her enemies. Her own reflection. Her past, her present and her future. And her grief. She watches as everything within reach to her burns at her command, at her touch. And she watches as it all goes up in flames. All of it. ... "Do you know how it feels-" I start, the anger seeping out of every crevice of my body as I walk up to him swinging my knife around in my hands with practiced precision, something that felt completely natural to me. Like riding a bike. "To have everything you love stripped away from you with one person?" My voice cracks and I point the knife against the external jugular vein popping out the side of his neck as he strains to get away from my hold. Alas his attempts appear to be useless against the restraints binding him the the wall. "My sisters dead" "I- I promise I didn't do anything to her" "Oh I know" I recoil with amusement and repositioning the knife so that the tip and butt both rest comfortably between my fingers as I twirl it, grinning like the Cheshire Cat with a sincere expression towards the bloody man hanging on the basement wall. "But unfortunately the person who did met an all too easy demise, quicker than I would have liked" I pout breaking into a manic laugh before dropping my face all together. "So I suppose, you'll have to do"