A Bird In The Hand

She felt like a caged bird. A bird that was meant to fly the high, blue skies, but was trapped like a prized possession for her master to impress others with. Ava is the daughter of a very powerful man in the underworld. Her blood, her family name makes her a tool for others to gain more power. Greedy men want her for her name, not for who she is. Being locked up all her life in her father's house makes her naïve and ignorant of the outside world. Meaning the greedy men have an easy game to play.

I was a brilliant artist. But I crushed my right hand saving my mafia husband, Vincent, and my ability to create died with it for three years. Vincent promised he'd make me whole again. Our private doctor swore he was doing everything he could. But my hand remained numb, useless. Then, one day, I overheard a conversation that shattered my world. "Make sure she can never create again," Vincent told the doctor. "I can't have Isabella threatening Sophia's place in the art world!" "But, Mr. Torrino, another procedure might... she could lose the hand for good." "I don't care what happens to her! Sophia saved my life. I will not let her down!" It turned out my husband was the one who had destroyed me. And the assassin, Sophia, was the woman he truly loved. He let her claim my designs, turning her into the art world’s new darling while I was trapped in a broken body. When I confronted him, pregnant with our child, he slapped me in public and told the world I was losing my mind. That night, I burned everything that bound me to him. Then I dialed an encrypted number I hadn't used in what felt like a lifetime. "Grandpa. In three days, I need to disappear."

He locked me in his penthouse, a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. Caius Evans, the billionaire who ruined my father, thought he owned me. He wanted to break me, to possess my art and my silence. But as the days turned to nights, the lines between captor and confidant blurred. He started sharing his secrets, his scars, the ghost of a brother he loved and lost. Now, the man I should hate is the only one who sees the real me. And the key to my cage is also the key to his haunted heart. But is this love real, or just another one of his calculated games?

The uprising killed the royal Cardinal family. The Cardinals were magic wielders and had ruled for over five hundred years with an iron fist. Eventually, the humans waged war against wielders and shifters. They overthrew the crown, branding all non-human beings as Unnaturals and leaving them to fend for themselves in a broken world. Ida has spent those last ten years since the uprising sold from one household to another, never able to repay her indenture. The situation, although not ideal, has offered her a second chance at life. A life in hiding was better than no life at all, and she did not wish to suffer the same fate as others of her kind. Sold into the services of Duke Kestrel, she meets a seductive yet mysterious Lord Alexander. Already in his thirties, Xander cares very little for his title and responsibilities. He should have been married years ago, but no woman appears to please him. Many assume he is simply difficult, but not all is what it seems. Xander carries the weight of being a shifter, unable to find his mate in this new kingdom. After a chance meeting between them, Ida becomes overwhelmed by Alexander's mixed signals. She dares not succumb to her inner feelings. Letting Xander in would mean opening up about what she truly is, and she is determined to keep her past hidden. Xander, however, has other plans. He intends to get his mate by whatever means necessary. When both their lives intertwine by fate, a new quest emerges fraught with danger as they encounter all walks of life trying to tear them apart. Can their love survive, or is there a more sinister plot afoot?

Ava is on the run for a crime punishable by death: killing a dragon. As a human-dragon hybrid, Ava has never doubted the godlike dragons’ dominance. Her life has been sheltered beneath their stained-glass wings in the city in the sky—until she murders one. Hunted, she flees to the human desert below the floating city. Yet she’s not alone. Though he doesn’t know the crime she’s running from, Vito, the dragon Ava serves, refuses to abandon her to the harsh world of humans. Paired to be her master and she his caretaker, their friendship has always meant more than titles. The desert holds no sanctuary for them. The long-suffering ground dwellers are tired of having their water supply monopolized by the dragons above and want all dragon-kind dead—including Ava and Vito. Surrendering to the dragons isn’t an option with Vito by her side, and the rebellion has offered a tempting deal. They will keep Ava alive and hide her crime, but only if she reveals the weaknesses of dragon-kind and the secrets of her city. Ava must choose between her life and everything she once called home—including Vito, the closest thing to family she has left.

The night before my fiancé, Soren, and I were supposed to leave for Northern Europe to start our new life, the sounds of a lively discussion drifted from his private club. "Christ, Boss, are you insane? Why the sudden marriage alliance with the Rosetti family to make a play for Italy? Didn't you say you were getting out of the life with Abby and heading north?" Soren leaned back into a leather sofa, his voice nonchalant and muffled by a cloud of smoke. "Plans change. Besides, remember, I'm the one who made her who she is." "Once she sees the new empire I'm building, that little canary will come flying right back to my cage. The woman can't live without me." I stood in the shadows of the club, a wine glass in my hand, a dull ache blooming in my chest. The anniversary gift I had so carefully chosen for Soren was still in my purse, waiting for me to give it to him. I slipped out of the smoke-filled club, tossed the gift into the nearest trash can, and booked a one-way ticket to Northern Europe. But what he didn't know was that just as he could betray our future for Monica, I could abandon him for mine. All those years we spent dancing with death were never just for his sake.