Novels by Smooth Talker

The darkness inside the mansion’s lower level was split by the red emergency strobes. Above, the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of silenced automatic rifles vibrated through the floorboards.Diego didn't wait for Marco. He sprinted up the service stairs three steps at a time, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped beast.Don Pedro’s bloodline. Ravenna.The words echoed in his head, a sickening rhythm to every step he took. The woman he had held through the dark, the mother of his twins, carried the blood of the men who had slaughtered his own kin. But right now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that she was breathing.He rounded the corner into the master wing, gun drawn, only to freeze.The security team wasn't dead on the floor. They were standing down, weapons lowered, looking completely bewildered.Standing in the center of the shattered glass of the grand balcony was Ravenna. She wasn't hiding. She wasn't screaming. She stood just still in an oversized silk robe,

The heavy iron door of the mansion’s underground tunnel holding the cell screeched on its hinges as Diego stepped inside. The air was thick with the copper stench of blood and damp concrete.Mariana hung by her wrists, her hands bound tightly to the rusted chains suspended from the ceiling. Her designer dress was torn, streaked with grease and dirt from the warehouse floor. Her face was swollen, but when her eyes adjusted to the dim light and landed on Diego, her lips pulled back into a bitter, blood-stained sneer."Back for more, Don?" she spat, her deep voice raspy from crying and screaming. "Or did your little saint send you down here to finish the job?"Diego didn't answer immediately. He adjusted the cuffs of his dark shirt, his face an unreadable slab of marble. The raw panic from earlier; the sheer terror of almost losing Luca and Luna, had hardened back into the cold, lethal precision that had made him feared across the entire continent."Santiago is dead," Diego said softly,

The candlelight danced across the heavy oak table like golden fireflies, casting soft shadows on the exposed brick walls of the private dining room tucked away in a quiet corner of Ravenna’s favorite hidden trattoria. The world outside Bologna’s narrow streets, the simmering war, the blood debt 4felt a thousand miles away.Ravenna laughed, a low, melodic sound that wrapped around Don Diego Ortega like warm silk. She leaned forward, her dark hair spilling over one shoulder, the neckline of her deep burgundy dress catching the light. “You’re staring again, Diego.”“I’m not staring,” he murmured, reaching across the table to take her hand. His thumb traced slow circles over her knuckles, the same hands that had pulled triggers and signed death warrants now felt gentle, almost reverent. “I’m memorizing you. Trying to take you all in." He said without breaking his gaze.She smiled, that dangerous, knowing smile that had been his undoing since the day he met her at Matoe's office. “You’ve m

Ortega moved like lightning despite the heavy exhaustion weighing on his bones. In one fluid, decisive motion, he scooped Luca into his arms while barking at Ravenna, “Take Luna, now!”Ravenna’s heart hammered violently against her ribs as she snatched Luna from the bed. The little boy stirred with a sleepy whimper, rubbing his eyes in confusion. The beeping from the black box grew louder and more insistent, its red digital timer counting down with merciless precision: 00:08:12… 00:08:11… 00:08:10…“Gale!” Ortega roared toward the door, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade.The loyal man burst in seconds later, pistol already drawn, his eyes widening in alarm at the sight of the sinister device. “Madre de Dios…”“Evacuate the east wing immediately. Get Mariana out if she’s still breathing. Then clear the lower floors,” Ortega ordered, his voice forged of steel and ice. “This is no bluff. Pedro wants blood tonight.”Gale nodded sharply, his expression hardening with grim

The rain had slowed to a drizzle by the time they emerged from the warehouse. Ortega carried Luca in one arm while keeping his other hand firmly on Ravenna’s back. She held Luna tight against her chest, the boy’s small fingers twisted into her shirt like he’d never let go again. Their loyal men surrounded them in a tight formation, bodies still humming with adrenaline.“Home,” Ortega murmured into Ravenna’s hair as they climbed into the reinforced SUV. “No more detours. No more risks tonight.”Luca’s head rested heavy on his shoulder, his breathing finally evening out into exhausted sleep. Luna whispered, “Papá, the bad lady said you were gone forever,” and Ortega’s jaw clenched so hard Ravenna heard his teeth grind.“I will never be gone,” he vowed softly, meeting Ravenna’s eyes over their sons’ heads. “Not from you. Not from them. This ends tonight.”Ravenna leaned into him, her free hand sliding over his thigh, seeking the solid warmth that had grounded her through every storm. “We

The storm outside broke with a crack of thunder, rain lashing the tall windows like accusatory fingers. Inside the mansion, the silence after Santiago’s call was heavier than the downpour.Ortega held Ravenna as if she might dissolve into nothing. Her sobs tore through him sharper than any blade he’d ever wielded. He could still smell their children on her; Luca’s strawberry shampoo, Luna’s faint scent of crayons and milk. The absence carved a hollow in his chest so vast he wondered if he could physically bleed from his heart.“We’re wasting time,” Ravenna whispered, pulling back just enough to look at him. Her eyes were swollen, red-rimmed, but something fierce flickered behind the tears. The same fire that had once made her stand against him in the beginning. “Every second they’re with that traitor could..."“I know.” Ortega’s voice was like gravel and broken glass. He wiped her cheeks with his thumbs, then pressed a hard kiss to her forehead. “I’m calling everyone in. No one sleep