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 man chuckled, a sound that sent frost through my veins. "Such touching loyalty. Ruining it nearly makes one ashamed.

He lifted his hand, and the air seemed to buzz with power. The shadows surrounding him reached out toward us and wriggled like live entities. Enzo pushed me behind him; his body stiffened, prepared to fight against all the odds.

"Isabella, run," he muttered, his voice low and desperate. "I'll hold them off."

"No!" I clung to his arm, my voice breaking. "I'm not heading away from you!"

The shadows surged ahead, quickly swallowing the area between us and them before either of us could react. The last thing I saw was Enzo being hauled into the darkness; a piercing scream tore across the air.

"Enzo!" I cried, my voice echoing uselessly into the emptiness.

A cold, mocking voice murmured in my ear as a hand clamped across my mouth from behind passed through. "You should have run when you had the chance."

SHADOWS OF DESIRES AND DECEPTION