"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.

BOOK 1 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐒, 𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐇𝐎𝐋, 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ♚ "𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭ish 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴." ♚ "Enough!" I yelled but before I could breathe in I was pinned to the wall. I gasped. Staring into his dark blue eyes made every bone of my body weak. He smirked, knowing exactly what he did. "You got too comfortable with me, doll but I didn't show you what Ace can really do." He mumbled. He broke the eye contact we were having and leaned closer to my neck. My heart beat was racing his and each breath he took sent electricity all over my body. I bit my tongue, scared of what my brain could make me say. "And I don't think you want to know," he whispered so close to my ear sending shivers down my spine. I took a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts. He moved back to stare into my eyes, wanting to see his effect on me but I didn't give it to him. I smirked, pushed my chin down and looked up at him. "You're all talk, Ace," I whispered, not even blinking. I saw the gulp that rose in his throat, growing my smirk. "Even when I am under your grip, you're still under my control." ♚ ♚ TROPES ♚ Dark Romance Mafia Romance Forced proximity Enemies to lovers Love triangle Living together ♚ 14.08.23: 2 Dangerous 12.03.24: 2 lovetriangle 26.11.24: 1 action-romance ♚

"Touch me, Blaze... and you'll remember me every time something beautiful dies." -- She was the only sin he'd die to confess. So he destroyed his kingdom for her absolution. -- 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. Power built their world. Power destroyed it. She pulled the trigger that turned his hate into a kingdom of fire, and now fate binds them to the same war. Hate keeps them sharp. Hate keeps them alive. But hate is just another mask for power. And when it cracks, they'll both discover the cost of letting go. -- In a city ruled by blood and silence, some names are spoken only in whispers. New York breathes violence like smoke-its kings crowned in crime, its peace bought in bodies. Blaze Marino, heir to a fractured Italian empire, doesn't believe in myths. He believes in control. In power. In pain as currency. But when a woman with white hair and a scar like prophecy crashes a masquerade of monsters, everything changes. She moves like fire. Vanishes like smoke. Leaves no name, no trail-just destruction and desire. And with her, the game changes. As alliances crack and old ghosts crawl from the shadows, Blaze finds himself caught between revenge and something far more dangerous: curiosity. Obsession. A pull he can't explain. They say saints die young. But what if she was never a saint at all? And if she was- maybe she always knew how her story would end. 𝕿 𝖍 𝖎 𝖘 𝖎 𝖘 𝖆 𝖘 𝖙 𝖔 𝖗 𝖞 𝖆 𝖇 𝖔 𝖚 𝖙 𝖆 𝖘 𝖎 𝖓 𝖓 𝖊 𝖗 𝖆 𝖓 𝖉 𝖍 𝖊 𝖗 𝖈 𝖔 𝖓 𝖋 𝖊 𝖘 𝖘 𝖎 𝖔 𝖓 𝖊 𝖗 Tropes / Themes: ✦ Mafia · Enemies AND Lovers/Yearners · Don x Assassin ✦ Russian x Italian · Dark Romance · Slow Burn ✦ Antihero · Psychological Tension

ONGOING /// She's an injured dancer trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered career. He's a broken man with an addictive personality. Like oil and water, they don't mix well. When watching isn't enough, he gets much more than he bargained for with the little ballerina he's been hunting. People call him crazy, ruthless, and unhinged; they're not entirely wrong. His world spins on a different axis than everyone else's, slightly twisted from reality. His Harley and his friends are the only things that have kept him out of jail this far, but watching her gives his life an entirely new purpose. So he decides he'd like the lonely little ballerina he's found, but thinks she'd look much better displayed in a music box, spinning only for him. ~ MATURE, 18+ ONLY unedited

COMPLETED✔️ What follows is a violent clash of worlds, where elegance is destroyed by brutality and innocence is trapped by a darkness far deeper and more dangerous than anything she imagined. Her dream of becoming the greatest ballerina, praised by her parents and supported by a loving friend was once the perfect vision of her life. But fate with its cold indifference doesn't follow the paths we choose. Instead it controls our lives. In one sudden turn her world is flipped upside down and she meets a man who is nothing like the one she dreamed of. He is ruthless, consumed by his own ego, a mystery to all who encounter him. His abilities are beyond comparison, his morals fractured and ambiguous, and his true intentions buried beneath a veil of darkness. Where once she believed her life was guided by passion and elegance, she now finds herself thrust into a world governed by dominance and brutality, where survival no longer hinges on talent or grace but on submission to a far more unforgiving force.

Revenge. I'm familiar with it. You have to be when you're the firstborn son of a notorious mafia leader. Death and vengeance have been the very foundations of my life. So who in their fucking mind would be stupid enough to cross me? My brother and I have been wrongfully convicted of a crime we didn't commit. We know who is behind this. We bid our time behind bars, planned and prepared for the day we got out. Now we're free and hungry for redemption. I know what must be done. I know whose blood will be spilled. But before I go after him, I'll go after his daughter. I never said I play fair. *Book one in the Marino Brothers Duet. Rated 18+ due to explicit language, sex, and violence.*