Maria thought Mike was everything she wanted when they first got together at 21. He had charm, a little edge, and the kind of confidence that made her feel safe. But three years later, that shine is gone. Mike is controlling, jealous, and only focused on what he wants. Maria feels trapped but stays, scared to let go of what she knows even if it's toxic. Everything changes the night she crosses paths with him. He isn't a coworker or a friend of a friend he's just there. A stranger who feels familiar. The type who doesn't say much, but when he does, it hits deep. He carries himself with strength, someone who's clearly lived through things but wears it with pride. There's a mystery about him, the kind that makes Maria's heart race in a way Mike never could. Now Maria is torn. The hood has rules, and leaving Mike isn't just about breaking up it's about risking her safety, her reputation, maybe even her future. But the more she tastes freedom, the more she realizes she can't keep living in fear.

She's accidentally given his hotel room to stay in...when he confronts her he instantly recognises her beautiful face. This one moment would be the beginning of their love story...

How do you know when love stops feeling safe? Lanai came to Atlanta carrying more pain than luggage, determined to never again let a man have the power to break her. She wanted peace. Softness. A life untouched by the version of herself she left behind in New York. Then she met Phoenix. A man made of control, silence, money, and secrets. A man whose love felt warm enough to heal her... until it slowly began to consume her. Because sometimes the people who love you the hardest are also the ones capable of hurting you the deepest. And when grief, obsession, and attachment begin blurring together... how do you tell the difference between being loved and being possessed? ✧🩷

EDITING Anastasia: We all grow up being taught that every story has a villain, someone bad, someone who wants the worst for us, for everyone. The master of destruction, something so hellish that they even make the devil squirm; however we don't always end up marrying our villains, the princess is supposed to slay the beast and yet I still can't bring myself to slaughter my villain. His name is Vincenzo Romano... My childhood best friend's older brother is like a scary movie that you can't help but watch. He's beautiful, powerful, and especially ruthless. The head of the Sicilian Mafia, now ruling over the world like a god, he sees me as nothing more than an annoyance, and now... a murderer, a traitor, a... nothing. But I saw him... I watched him, I heard him. The things he had done, the crimes he had committed... for years, I watched, unable to look away. Now, I was getting married to him, and living with him like we were some perfect happy little couple, but we were missing only one thing, Love. I still watch him sometimes when he doesn't notice, because I can't help it, I'm like an addict and it's no longer in my head. Because he finally sees me... Vincenzo: Her name is Anastasia, like the Russian princess. My baby sister's closest friend grew up hanging around my house, constantly in my family home like she owned it, like she belonged there. For a time I would have allowed her to, until she did what she did best, destroyed everything. My past enemy and new ally's perfect little adoptive daughter, was finally ready to be sold off by her father, and I couldn't be happier with my newest purchase. I felt the way she froze beneath my eyes, the way she shivered at my presence, and most importantly how she submitted to my touch. I hardly thought about her these last couple of years, but now with my little sister no longer in the way of us, and Anastasia alone, desperate at my mercy In my house. Read Blurb in first chapter to find out more.

●COMPLETED● Kate Russo was trained by birth to be a dutiful and compatible wife for the next Don of the Italian Mafia. She was forced to become a quiet lamb, but they don't know how rebellious and resilient she had become with time. But what happens when she finally meets the infamous Don and he's nothing like what she was always taught and believed he would be? Will she let her prejudice win or break the walls she'd build around her all these years. Rome Moretti, the next in line for the throne of the Italian Mafia has to marry his consigleire's daughter, in order to claim it. He didn't have a choice in the kind of life he was born in, but he did chose the kind of man he was. Nobody had ever seen him but feared his wrath. Will he let his marriage become something more than a bargain for the throne or push away his wife like every voice in his head that told a different story. ___________________________________________ #3 in badgirlgoodboy

Aaron Russo - Don of the Russo mafia. "To kill or be killed" He had many women in his life but the one thing he didn't do was love or relationships. He said it was a weakness, something people can exploit and hold against you, something he can't have being the head of the mafia. His main objectives are making money, killing traitors and over powering every other mob. That's until he laid eyes on her. Aaron Russo may not do love or relationships, but he knew she was going to be his. She was made for him. Florence Stan - First year uni student. Finally away from strict parents and boyfriend. Studying, making friends and partying is on her agenda for the next three years while she stays in accommodation. She wanted to see what she'd been missing over the years when her father wouldn't allow her to go out, that's untill she ends up at the wrong club at the wrong time. His club. Little did she know the "freedom" she thought she'd just gained would disappear once again. She would no longer be her father's property but his. •• "Well you didn't think I'd just sit here, accept your deal and fall at your knees begging for you to be with me forever, did you?" I smile at her causing her smile to drop. "Don't answer that, you proved you were a freak when you kidnapped me. Anyways, since I have lived with my father for 18 years, I know what men like you and him are like, there's no way for me to get out of this. So, for the next two years I will do everything to make you hate me, I will make you wish you never brought me into your life. By time It gets to the end you will be begging my father to take me back." I slowly get up and walk around the table till I'm right in front of her. Her breathing hitches as I sit on the desk with my hands on my knees, bent down inches away from her face "Princess, I don't beg, the only person who will be begging is you when you want me to fuck that sweet little pussy of yours. Don't make empty threats again

ʟᴀɴɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ɴᴏᴛɪᴄᴇᴅ. ɴᴏᴛ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ꜱʜᴇ ʟᴇꜰᴛ. ɴᴏᴡ ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ꜰᴏʀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴇᴇᴋᴇɴᴅ, ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʀɪᴘ, ᴏɴᴇ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ... ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜱʜᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ꜱʜᴇ ʟᴇꜰᴛ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ꜱᴏ ꜰᴀʀ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢꜱ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴀᴅᴇ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʟɪɴᴇꜱ ᴀʀᴇɴ'ᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄʀᴏꜱꜱᴇᴅ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ... ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ'ꜱ ɴᴏ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ.

Kay never planned to fall in love. She's a bartender who minds her business, keeps her head down, and understands that some men come with silence instead of promises. Rome Brewster is one of those men. He's charming, romantic, and dangerous in a way that doesn't need explaining. He shows up. He stays late. He learns her routines without asking permission. He doesn't offer forever-just consistency, protection, and a presence that feels too rare to ignore. What starts as quiet attraction turns into something deeper. Something chosen. Something neither of them names out loud. This isn't a story about being saved. It's about loving someone as they are. About wanting without ownership. About choosing the moment even when you know it won't last forever. Some loves don't come to stay. They come to change you.

Cynthia's life came crashing down when her husband tragically passed away, it was hard for her to continue life without him but she had to make it through. Seven years later when Cynthia has car troubles she meets a stranger she never expected to fall for.