Kingdom of Ash and Blood
Kingdom of Ash and Blood
Book one of the Sicilian Ruin Series
She was the fire he thought he had extinguished.
He was the ruin she barely escaped.
Three years ago Amara Varela vanished without a trace --- betrayed, broken, and hunted by the man who once owned her heart. Now she's back in Sicily, not as the naive girl he left behind, but as a woman forged by survival and secrets. She has a score to settle and Luca Moretti is at the top of her list
Luca, the heir to the brutal Moretti empire, never forgives himself for losing her. When he finally finds her alive, everything he buried erupts --- lust, rage, obsession. But the Kingdom he now rules is built on blood, and his bride-to-be is not the one who haunts his dreams.
Torn between a crown he never wanted and a woman who could destroy it all, Luca must choose loyalty or desire, power or love.
In a world of violent cartels, arranged alliances, and ruthless vendettas, Amara and Luca's reunion is anything but tender. It's a war. And their passion? It could burn Sicily to the ground.
Dark. Obsessive. Addictive.
This is not a love story.
This is a Sicilian ruin.
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Chapter: Chapter EightThe Morning After RuinAmara woke before the sun.The bedroom was cloaked in dusky blue, the last remnants of night curling against the tall windows. She lay still, her limbs sore and tangled in silk sheets that reeked of heat and sin. Beside her, Luca slept like a man who hadn't known peace in years—one hand fisted lousely arounaround the edge of the sheets, his other arm resting on her waist, anchoring her to him even in sleep. She studied him in silence. There was something dangerous in how soft he looked here—this man who ruled with bullets and fear, who touched her like she was a religion, not a ruin. His lashes lay dark against his cheekbones. His lips, parted slightly. A faint scar slashed his right jawline, a new one she didn’t remember, and it made him look even more untouchable. But no one was truly untouchable. She knew that. She'd learned it with blood in her mouth and bruises on her thighs. Carefully, Amara slid from the bed, suppressing a wince as her muscles protes
Last Updated: 2025-06-23
Chapter: Chapter SevenDinner with a MonsterThe silence between them at the dinner table wasn't empty.It was thick with every unsaid word, every question Amara hadn’t dared ask, every truth Luca refused to give. The Moretti dining hall was something out of a godfather's fever dream—long mahogany table, flickering candlelight, walls lined with ancestral oil portraits that seemed to judge everything from their gilded frames.And at the end, across silverware and fine China, sat the monster himself.Luca.He wore a black dress shirt, sleeves rolled just enough to show ink dancing across his forearms. His hair still damp from a shower, his stubble sharp as glass. He didn't eat. He didn't speak.He watched her.Amara cut into her steak with practiced poise, her spine straight, face calm—but she could feel the heat of his gaze. She'd dressed deliberately tonight: a silk wrap dress the color of rusted wine, a slit that flirted with indecency, and her hair pinned up to expose the scar behind her ear. A reminder.
Last Updated: 2025-06-22
Chapter: Chapter SixSmoke and SilkThe morning after did not come with sunlight.It came with a silence. Dense, layered, like smoke after gunfire. The only sound in Luca's Palermo penthouse was the ticking of a heavy clock and the distant hum of the city below. Amara sat on the edge of his bed, wrapped in one of his black shirts, staring at the skyline through the floor-to-ceiling glass like she was looking for herself somewhere out there.She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Hadn’t meant to stay.And yet here she was, skin still humming from the aftermath, every breath reminding her of the hours she spent tangled in the arms of the man she was supposed to hate.Luca hadn’t said a word since waking. He stood behind her now, bare-chested, a towel slung around his hips, droplets of water sliding down his skin. Even his silence carried weight—not anger, not indifference, just presence. “I don’t know what last night was,” she said quietly. “It was inevitable,” he replied, voice gravel low.She didn't answer. C
Last Updated: 2025-06-20
Chapter: Chapter FiveThe Devil's Playground—Palermo Amara had never seen Palermo this way before.The old city wore its sins like jewelry—too proud to hide, too bold to care. But tonight, it was a cathedral of shadows. The backseat of the black Maserati smelled like leather, lust and danger. Luca hadn’t spoken a word since they left Club Inferno, but the silence between them was louder than the pounding bass that had chased them into the night.She sat rigid, her eyes fixed on the passing streets, though she was barely seeing them. Her skin still burned where he had touched her. Her lips ached from the force of his kiss.She should've pulled away. Should've screamed. But she didn't. And now here she was, driving deeper into his world. They pulled into a narrow alley where vines strangled iron gates and the city seemed to exhale all its secrets. He Parkes without a word. The engine died, but the tension didn't. She turned to face him, her voice icy despite the war inside her. “Where are we?”Luca look
Last Updated: 2025-06-20
Chapter: Chapter Four Palermo — Club Inferno, Vucciria District The night pulsed with heat, a heady mixture of alcohol and desire that soaked the air in the dimly lit club. Amara had pulled away from Luca’s kiss, her breath shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her body still hummed with the remnants of his touch, every inch of her skin feeling like it was on fire. She was lost and she knew it. The moment his lips had found hers, it was like a storm had shattered her carefully constructed walls. All the years of building a life free from him, all the years of pretending she could be someone else — someone strong and independent — had evaporated in the space of a heartbeat. Luca hadn’t let go. Not physically, not emotionally. And the worst part? She wasn’t sure she wanted him to. “You don’t get to do this,” she said, her voice strained as she stepped back, breaking the connection between them. She wiped her lips quickly, though the taste of him lingered — raw, addictive. He still had the power
Last Updated: 2025-05-13
Chapter: Chapter Three Palermo — Club Inferno, Vucciria District The night stretched on in agonizing slow motion, each second an eternity under the oppressive weight of his presence. Amara’s breath came in shallow gasps, her body still rigid from the shock of his arrival. His eyes, dark and unyielding, hadn’t left her since he spoke her name. Luca Moretti. The man who had consumed her life and left nothing behind but chaos and regret. She had run. She had escaped his grasp — or so she had convinced herself. Three years of creating a new identity, burying herself in work, in the dim lights of the club, behind the bar, and she had convinced herself it would be enough. But standing here, only a few inches from him, she realized how foolish that thought had been. His presence was like gravity. She could try to escape it, but she would always be pulled back in. “You haven’t changed,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, betraying the calm she desperately tried to maintain. Luca didn’t respond immediately, just
Last Updated: 2025-05-13
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