His expression shifted, a storm of emotions flickering across his face. "Cassia... how long have you been planning this?" "Years," she admitted, her voice breaking. "Ever since Lydia passed, it's been harder and harder to stay. I love this village, I love everyone here-you most of all-but it feels like... like I'm suffocating." He stepped closer, his jaw tight. "So, that's it? You're just leaving? For how long?" She looked down, her fingers twisting the hem of her tunic. "I don't know. Maybe I'll come back, but not for a long time. I can't promise anything." Lucius's silence was louder than any words. She could see the hurt in his eyes, the way he clenched his fists as if trying to hold himself together. Finally, he spoke, his voice quieter than she'd ever heard it. "You don't want to leave, Cassia. Not really. You want to escape. There's a difference." "I know that," she snapped, her voice sharper than she intended. "But it doesn't change the fact that I need to go. I need to figure out who I am outside of this place." Lucius turned away, running a hand through his hair. "And what about us? What about everyone here who depends on you?" "I'm not abandoning anyone," she said, stepping closer. "Finn is stronger than he looks. Brutus and the others-this village is their home now, too. They'll protect it. And you... you don't need me, Lucius. You're strong enough without me." He turned back to her, his eyes blazing. "That's not the point, Cassia. It's not about needing you. It's about..." He trailed off, his voice catching. Meant to be - #2 out of 1.65k stories True love - #78 out of 39.9k stories Maximus -#1 out of 279 stories

Aurelia hates the arena. She hates the gladiators, she hates the animal fights, the blood, the guts, the glory. She avoids the violence by staying away from the Colosseum until the day she decides to try and save a few lives from dying in the arena. It's there that she meets Caius. Caius loves the arena. As a gladiator he loves the cutthroat challenge of it, the comradeship of the men, the honor of fighting for his country. His desire is to fight as long as he can and when he has nothing else to offer, to go out in a blaze of glory under the open sky of the arena. It's there that he meets Aurelia. When Caius is assigned to be Aurelia's new guard, he's more than distraught about no longer being a gladiator. Aurelia isn't too fond of the idea either considering the giant of a man represents everything she dislikes about the gladiator fights. When Venus' wind grazes both of them and disdain turns to desire, both find arrangement rather to their benefit. A romance between a gladiator and an emperor's daughter is no match for marriage though, putting them both at risk when Venus pulls them together. Doomed from the start Caius and Aurelia will have to decide just how much they're willing to risk and just which door they're willing to walk through to find what they desire on the other side.

A blacksmith's apprentice who would be a knight. The heir to the throne, at death's door. One woman who would save them both, if she could... Charlotte was number sixty-four in the second group of young, hopeful maidens intended to meet the Prince at a grand ball in his honor. That introduction was not to be. She returned home to her tiny village- and her visions of a future limited by it- without any warning of the drastic turn her life was about to take. Soon she would be fighting against the odds to help keep a gravely wounded stranger alive; and waging war with her own heart, as he stirred feelings in her she'd never known. When the stranger's royal identity is revealed, Charlotte is faced with an entirely different battle: one to keep her family, village, and the injured Prince in her care all safe from a madman set on taking the throne by any means necessary.

When a mafia princess's dangerous past catches up with her, she is forced to confront her complex connection with a mafia boss-a man she once loved, and now hates. Standalone in the Sons of Sin series *** In a single night, Imogen Murphy lost almost everything. A daughter of the Irish mafia, she believed her entire family and her beloved gruesomely murdered, so she disappeared to protect the life of her unborn child. Five years later, she is brought back into the world she abandoned when she and her daughter are abducted by Torin, the man she once adored. Mafia boss Torin O'Brien has become cold and merciless, dismissive of both Imogen and their child. But passion still burns between them, and they will need each other as old betrayals and sinister promises threaten everything they hold dear...

Nikolai Silvetti stopped using his real name a long time ago. After a decade of sanctioned kills, he's known only as Sinn-a ghost in the underworld, a weapon forged from trauma and blood. He doesn't believe in softness. Not until he sees her... Seraphina Payne works for his cousin-the Don of Italy-and Sinn mistakes her for someone else's wife, someone else's responsibility. But when the truth shatters his assumptions, obsession takes hold. She isn't married. She's surviving. And Sinn decides survival isn't enough-he wants her to live, belong, and break beneath him. He doesn't care what he has to destroy to have her. She's not his. But he's going to ruin her anyway. "I found salvation in the most dangerous man alive. Because heaven isn't light-it's kneeling in the dark, worshipping the devil who tastes like sin, and letting him burn every trace of innocence from your soul." Previously known as 'The Enforcer'.

Sabina Byrne, a carefree soul with a lot of love to give. Jonny Knight, despite his surname, was meant to save a damsel in distress but instead, he ruins her. Can love fix everything? *** This is a spin-off story from The Other CEO. You may read separately but some characters will have a cameo in some of the chapters :)

After a devastating tragedy shatters the renowned Romano crime family their fate weighs heavily on Don Leonardo Romano's only heir twenty-two year old Valentina. Determined to uphold the family's power Val will go to any means necessary even if it means selling her heart to the highest bidder. As the Romano family's most notorious hitman Matteo Costa knows the most depraved corners of New York's underground. So when Val arrives home after college he is confident she won't last long. The New York mafia would chew her up and eat her alive and yet... Serving as Valentina's personal guard Matteo realizes Val has grown into a beautiful, smart and cunning woman. He knows it won't be easy keeping the principessa safe especially when the Romano's rivals set their sights on her. But as their relationship grows Matteo realizes that his own desire might be the greatest threat to the Romano dynasty. Season 1 of The Hitman's Mark WARNING: This story contains depictions of violence that may be upsetting for some readers.

Most of Bruce Wayne's problems were either solved with his wallet or his fists. But the look that she gave him couldn't be solved with either- face like stone and her stature unwavering. However, he read the teasing message in her eyes loud and clear: "I know something you don't." Which is possibly the worst thing you could say to a man with the title "the World's Greatest Detective." ー [ set in the DCAU universe ] [ Bruce Wayne x fem!oc ] [ @alexaveil ]

It all started with a misunderstanding... It's not every day Claudia Romano gets an unusual request from her sister asking her help to avenge on the man who broke her heart and then cast her aside. No man will ever do that to her sister and can get away with it. So Claudia is on a mission to find this man and make him pay dearly for hurting her younger sister. Will it end with a happy ending...? Alfonso Orsini did not expect that the woman who demanded to see him and started accusing him of things that he didn't even do will be this enchanting creature with a fiery blue-green eyes. He will be stupid if he send her away faster than she arrived with her threats so he countered a sweet deal that she can't refuse!

"You will come with me to Sicily." Those were the words the handsome but dangerous stranger tells her one bright afternoon outside the campus just when her summer break from the university is about to start. Haven Pierce knew she never laid her eyes on this man with vicious aura around him before. Maybe there was only some sort of mistake but the man insist that he is now her new guardian since her father died recently. Santi Marchesi doesn't have time to babysit this opinionated girl who has a say on everything but this pink-haired woman is left in his care. In his chaotic and deadly world as a Mafia this woman has no place in his life. He can take down enemy in no time but he needs to be vigilant as far as this woman is concern. Because if he's not careful she will surely be his downfall.