"Comm check... Testing, one... two... Kwes Boaz speaking. ...you a hear me? Ah. You ever wake up and feel like something's...missing? That's my life. Seven years after. Now I'm back, but nothing's the way I left it. Not even me. Amnija happened right after. Or at least, I think she did. She slipped through the walls I built around my mind-how she even do that? Bagga ray she gwaan wid. Afi' give har, ar' props. She a live her life now still, but all I'm trying to do is find my way in it. Yaan'dastan? Yuh feel she can make some space fi mi doh? Yuh feel e' g have a chance? Jah... We're about to take off. Buckle up. Guess we're about to find out." Ranking🥇 #1 in St. James #1 in matrimony #1 in young author #1 in youngwriter #1 in youngwriterspize

He only offered silence and smooth turns. But somewhere between late-night pickups and quiet glances in the rearview, a young woman with big dreams finds herself falling for the last man anyone would expect.

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐦. . . . There are things you're taught not to do. Rules you're told to follow. People you're meant to forget. Flora never planned to end up here, but after one too many mistakes, her life dives for rock bottom. Now, she's trapped in a world she doesn't understand, haunted by a past she can't outrun. And at the center of it all stands the boy she'd sworn to forget. What once was fate, fractures into an illusion and twist into something dangerously evil. They were kids together. Friends together. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵. She's new. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵. She's fresh meat. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. What happens when they reunite? Secrets unfold. Chaos runs free. And the line between love and ruin sharpens into a thin blade, as history proves to repeat itself in its cruelest form. A girl. A boy. And a mad house that feeds on sin. There's no place to hide here. You can run, but you'll never get away. "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺." 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭. She hides behind sharp boots and brighter dresses, yellow loud enough to drown out the cracks in her heart. It almost works. Until the man her papa crossed decides to collect what he's owed. He doesn't ask. He takes. Tattooed hands. Calculated eyes. A ruler of empires built on blood. He closes the distance. She tries to keep it. But he's always liked the chase.

I cupped her face, planting a soft kiss on her beautiful lips. "Don't ever run from me, baby," I said softly, letting my thumb trace her jaw. "I love the chase." Her jaw tightened, her hands coming up to try and move mine. "Stop calling me baby, Ezra," she snapped, eyes flashing. I couldn't help but grin, dropping my voice to something low and dark. "Ohhh, now my baby has a problem with me calling her baby?" She shot me a glare, but I just tucked her hair behind her ear, pressing another kiss to her lips-gentler this time, lingering. "You don't get to tell me what to call you, baby." I leaned in closer, brushing my nose against hers. "You're whatever the fuck I call you."

"You want to act reckless? Fine. But don't think for a second you're not being watched. This city is full of men who'd love to carve a message into you just to make a point." "And what message would you carve?" I whispered. He reached out. Brushed the back of his knuckles down my jaw, rough and slow. "Mine." It wasn't sweet. It wasn't romantic. It was a brand. And then he dropped his hand. "You have ten minutes to get out of here before I make a fucking scene." ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Massimo Bianchi is ruthless, the kind of man who leaves blood in his wake and never looks back. At 29, he's the trusted enforcer for one of the most feared mafia bosses in America - my father, Lorenzo DeLuca, the ghost I never knew but can never escape. I, Francesca DeLuca, have spent my life in the shadows of wealth, too blind to see the truth behind my family's fortune. But when I confront the mysterious man who's been following me, I'm thrown into a world of blood and betrayal, where loyalty is bought and sold like a commodity. Massimo is everything I should fear - cold, dangerous, and bound by an oath to my father. But there's something in the way he looks at me, a dark hunger he refuses to acknowledge. I should hate him, push him away, but the deeper I fall into my family's twisted legacy, the harder it is to resist the pull. But loving a man like Massimo is a risk, and in our world, mistakes are paid for in blood. So the question is - will I be his downfall, or will he be mine?

She was supposed to die in that warehouse. Instead, she became his. Jaslyn was just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time-kidnapped, brutalized, left for dead. But when Cain showed up, dragging hell behind him, she didn't just get rescued-she got recruited. Now she's not the victim. She's the weapon. Trained by the most feared man in the city, Jaslyn moves through blood and betrayal like she was born for it. The girl who used to flinch now pulls triggers. The girl who used to beg now gives orders. And Cain? He doesn't just want her sharp-he wants her loyal, cold, and just as savage as him. Bodies drop. Enemies burn. And the city starts whispering her name with the same fear they whisper his.

"𝖫𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗐𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗈𝗇 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝖺"-𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗲

.ೃ࿐𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓜𝓐𝓕𝓘𝓐 𝓑𝓞𝓢𝓢 & 𝓗𝓘𝓢 𝓢𝓘𝓝𝓕𝓤𝓛 𝓐𝓓𝓓𝓘𝓒𝓣𝓘𝓞𝓝.ೃ࿐ ᯽⊱┈──╌❊ - ❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱ "I'm starting to think you enjoy pushing my limits, il mio bel piccolo fiore," he grits out through clenched teeth, exerting just the right amount of pressure on the hand he has wrapped securely around my throat-enough to make my pulse race. I fight the urge to keep my eyes from rolling into the back of my head from the sheer dominance of him, determined to hold my composure. Instead, I flash him a slow, taunting smile from beneath my lashes. A silent, fuck you. My lack of reaction urges him to press harder and his grip tightens. A strangled moan betrays me, slipping past my lips. My eyes widen, and his chuckle is dark, amused. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he taunts, tilting his head, reveling in my torment. "Or is it that you want to piss me off?" he whispers, gaze flicking to my parted lips. "Tell me, bloom," he growls, "do you want me to devour that sweet little pussy of yours until you finally understand who you belong to?" His voice is a dangerous promise, sliding over me like silk and steel, eliciting a quiet gasp as he traces his lips along the tender skin of my ear. His lips trail down, ghosting over the sensitive slope of my neck and my pulse flutters as a response. I inhale sharply-just as he latches onto a certain spot. And I choke, knees weakening. What the hell have I gotten myself into? ⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊ - ❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱ What happens when a ruthless, all-powerful Mafia Don becomes fixated on a stripper with more secrets than scars? She defies him. He takes what's his. But with the past rising to drag them under, one question remains: Will they survive each other, or burn beautifully together? ❥Read to find out-and don't forget to check the tags❥.

To crave safety was one thing. To sleep with a monster to get it? That was something else entirely. ____________________ The bar. Her best friend. The need to forget her ex. That's all Maebelle Taylor was signing up for one Thursday night in college. The icing on the cake was the tall and handsome one-night-stand she managed to fall into bed with, and she was able to achieve what she set out to do: Forget. However, things don't go as planned when said one-night-stand saunters back into her life. Not only is he as handsome as he was during their night of fun, but he seems to be a completely different person than Maebelle remembers. He's dangerous, brooding, vicious, and far from the man she thought she had first met. And he wants absolutely nothing more to do with her. What seems like fate is what tosses them together. What seems like karma is what can't keep them apart. Mr. tall and handsome lives a life far from the safe haven Mae so desperately craves to have, but after stumbling upon something she shouldn't have seen? Mr. tall and handsome isn't so keen to let her go. ____________________ t r o p e s: Grumpy x sunshine Mature themes Criminal/Gang-related content ____________________ D I S C L A I M E R: this story has been re-edited and republished. the events of this story , for those who have read it prior to February 2023 , have been slightly altered to make way for my improved and matured writing style (as well as to fix plot inconsistencies). originally published : june 2017 newly published : february 2023 ____________________ Copyright © All Rights Reserved