edwardsauthorsally

Sold to the highest bidder to pay off a blood feud, I never imagined I would be the pawn in my father's fatal game. Still, here I am before Enzo De Luca, the most vicious mafia leader in the city. Though appealing, he is cold, deliberate, and as lethal. Though my heart races just from his proximity, it is his touch that ignites me. My body betrays me and reacts to him in ways I am powerless over. And I melt as he softly, commandingly says my name.

Enzo loves neither me nor another. In his deadly kingdom, I am only another bargain, another transaction. But every time we are alone, the conflict between us snaps—desire becomes a terrible addiction. Although I detest him for everything he stands for, I yearn for the way he consumes me, body and soul.

He has made it quite evident—our marriage is more about power than love. Still, every angry gaze and every snatched moment in the shadow reveals something different. Benevolent underneath his icy façade lies something broken that appeals to the darkest sides of me. But depending on a man like Enzo may mean losing everything.

Bound to him now, for better or worse, I am caught in a world where loyalty is brittle and treachery carries a bullet. Our friendship gets more perilous the more truths about his empire I find. And as the past calls for us, I have to question myself: will our passion be the thing that ruins us both or can I survive loving a guy like Enzo De Luca?

Burning in his arms is me. But in his universe, I could roast alive.

OWNED BY MR MAFIA

The stillness that follows the combat is deafening. The air stinks of blood and perspiration, the metallic taste mixed with the dust that still clings in the room. Every muscle in my body screams in protest, yet I push myself to stay on my feet. Emilia is by my side, her chest rising and falling with strained breaths. She's alive. That's all that matters.

"We need to move," Vincent adds, his voice breaking through the fuzz. He's drenched in blood, some of it his, yet his eyes remain piercing and unrelenting. "They'll send reinforcements."

I nod, the weight of his words sinking in my chest. He's right. We can't remain here. But every stride seems like a thousand. My body is a tangle of bruises and scrapes, and each breath is a reminder of how close we were to losing everything.

"Can you walk?" I ask Emilia, my voice scratchy.

She nods, her eyes catching mine. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about."

CROSSFIRE OF FATE