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

"Are you troubled by me?" Enzo's voice was a low whisper almost audible over the faint cavernous trickling of water. His remarks hung in the air, loaded with something more, something that made me quiver down my spine.

"No," I said—even though my voice deceived me. Keeping anything from him the way his dark eyes locked onto me proved challenging. "I worry about the path you are on."

He got closer, the bioluminescent fungus softly lighting the sharp angles of his face. "What I'm becoming?" he said, his voice equal in fragility and threat. "You consider me to have options in this?"

"You always have a choice," I murmured, my voice rising against the air's oppressive weight all about us. "You are not under obligation to develop like others do. This war does not mean you have to lose yourself.

His mouth closed, his tension in waves. I will act if losing myself means ensuring your safety. Without delay.

SHADOWS BETWEEN US