Monica Juarbe

I knew the past would come back to haunt me. It was only a matter of time before my world came crashing down. The only thing I didn’t expect was Mateo. The head of the Italian mafia. We were never meant to cross paths; our worlds vastly different. His green gaze captured me, his touch burning through my defenses. The words he whispered melted away all the years of loneliness. But the secret I kept could get me killed. If he spared me, his rivals wouldn’t. As my secrets unravel, it could cost me everything and everyone I loved.

The first time I met Merrick Crawford was during my job interview. Well, technically, I’d met him 20 minutes earlier when he’d barged into a fitting room a few doors down from my appointment. I yelled. He yelled. After an argument while standing in my bra, I proceeded to smash the door into the gorgeous jerk, trying to yank it shut. As you might imagine, I was freaked out when I discovered that the rude guy was my potential new boss. Yet he didn’t seem to recognize me. Or so I thought.... Until we wound up bickering again during my interview and he told me to go sniff my armpit.

Losing my innocence at 13 in the most brutal way changed me. My kidnapper stole my childhood and tried to break me. The knowledge my father orchestrated the entire situation hardened my heart, and instead of grieving his death, I celebrated it. One down. Many more to go. Now I’m in charge. Men bow before me. Except for him—the brother of my abductor. Massimo fights me every step of the way, but I’m not about to let the explosive chemistry between us deter me from my chosen path. His family is my enemy. He is my enemy, even if he doesn’t know it yet.

In my defense, I had no idea the tattooed, glasses-wearing, soulful hottie I spent one perfect day—and one unforgettable night—with was a hockey star on my father’s team. And Miles didn’t know I was the coach’s daughter. That’s the point of a “no-work-talk” date. But now? He's as forbidden to me as I am to him. When I land a new gig as the team photographer, we vow to keep it professional. We mostly succeed…except for that time after a game when he couldn’t keep his talented hands off me. But I swear, it won’t happen again.

Everyone treats me differently now. Like I'm this broken doll with glue sealing the cracks. It's okay. I can handle their pitying stares. But not his. Not Nicoli's. I hate the way he looks at me like I'm this fragile thing he's too afraid to touch. I want him to love me the way he did before this nightmare started. He needs to realize that I'm stronger than he thinks. I'm not a victim, and I'm more than a survivor. I'm a fighter. And while Nicoli and his brothers hunt the man responsible, I'm plotting my own revenge. This isn't a Dark Sovereign war. It's mine.

The yearning for our passions is the reason we breathe. I've devoted my life to my pursuit of ballet, my escape from the dark underworld I was born into. As the daughter of a made man, I've accepted certain traditions, but after I'm promoted to principal within a prestigious dance company, I'm so close to escaping that world. Until a devil with blood on his hands and an Irish curse inked into his skin tears into my world.

Brianna Cassatto is off-limits. From the moment our families formed an alliance through marriage, she became untouchable. To not only me—but every man. I made sure of that by threatening all who dares to look her way. In the dark underworld of mafia monsters and villains, there is nothing more dangerous than the desire for a woman you cannot have. That temptation can drive a man mad, make him do the unthinkable.

It started out like any other morning on the train - until I became mesmerized by the guy sitting across the aisle. He was barking at someone on his phone like he ruled the world. Who did the stuck-up suit think he was...God? Actually, he looked like a god. That was about it.

It all started with a bet. When my young son inherited half of his great grandfather’s historic inn, I decided to move us both to the place where I grew up. Notice I said half of the Inn. The other half now belonged to Levi Miller, the famous quarterback who had other ideas about what we should do with the property. We won’t mention that I accidentally injured him during our first meeting, causing him to get eight stitches. You could say we got off on the wrong foot. We bickered a lot as we both moved into the property while we figured things out.

When my grandmother found out she didn’t have long to live, she embarked on a crazy trip—jumping out of airplanes and scuba diving with sharks. After I repeatedly voiced my concern, Gram blocked me—her own grandson—on text and social media, leaving me only her travel companion Eleanor’s number.