Natalia Stevens is smart, nice and shy-and this is exactly how everyone sees her. Even day-to-day conversations with friends and classmates are difficult, and guys certainly don't pay her any attention. During her senior year, Nati begins to notice unexpected interactions with her volleyball coach, Alex. Despite the apparent chemistry developing, she struggles to believe there is anything between them. Before she can make sense of it all, volleyball season is winding down, and it appears her mystifying crush will be out of her life for good. Natalia enters university just as socially petrified as she had been in high school, but new experiences with friends, booze and boys open up a surprising world of possibility. She realizes she can talk openly to other people for the first time, and this exhilarating discovery fosters a newfound confidence she thought she might never uncover in herself. Along the roller coaster ride of thrilling and frustrating crash-and-burn encounters with various crushes, however, there is one guy Nati can't seem to shake from her mind.

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.

Running from hell isnʼt easy. Especially when someoneʼs dragging you back down into it. Belligerent, brash and always in shades of black, Freya is hardly a lady. Hidden away by her father, sheʼs lived a normal life despite being born into the dark waters of New Yorkʼs underworld. Heʼs cold, cruel and calculating, with a proclivity for destruction. Feared by even Made Men, Torren is the boss of the stateʼs most leachorous crime syndicate. Freya hates his crudity and possessiveness, but she canʼt deny the way her breath hitches at his rough touch, the deep timbre of his voice, and his dark, heated gaze. Torren hates her disobedience, her recklessness, and her chaos. To him, sheʼs only something to be tamed. And after he slips a ring on her hand, snatching away her future, she makes only one vow---to become his biggest torment.

"You like it, don't you?" "What?" I managed to breathe. "The fear, Miss Night," he mused, "you crave it." _______________________________________ Sabina Night owes Antonio Marafi her life. But when he asks her to spy on the Russo crime family, Sabina starts to wonder if maybe her debt is too high of a cost. Gio Russo: ruthless, handsome, and intelligent. Too intelligent. He knows that Sabina's hiding something. But what is that worth when he can't seem to stay away from her? He's about to find out. ________________________________________ **Updated Weekly** **Mature Themes**