Cardinal's Rule

Steal the CEO's Black Card... or His Frozen Heart? "Please... please, sir. I'm begging you. I didn't steal the card." Belle's trembling voice cracked as tears streamed down her face. "Believe me..." "You belong in prison, fraud!" the store manager spat, his eyes filled with contempt. Humiliated and surrounded by accusing stares, Belle could only clutch her worn bag and pray someone would listen. But no one did. After all, who would believe a poor medical student over the owner of a limitless Black Card? Belle had been fighting for survival ever since she lost her parents. An orphan with nothing but a dream. A dream of becoming a doctor. A dream she once shared with the parents she loved more than life itself. For years, she lived in a cramped room inside a rundown building. She endured hunger, sleepless nights, and the mockery of classmates who looked down on her faded clothes and worn-out shoes. Life had never been kind to her. Yet despite her hardships, she never stole. Never cheated. Never took what wasn't hers. So how did she end up accused of stealing the Black Card belonging to Ethan DelValle—the cold, powerful, and untouchable CEO everyone feared? The man who could buy anything he wanted. The man whose single word could ruin lives. And the man who, for reasons she couldn't understand, suddenly became interested in hers. What begins as a humiliating misunderstanding soon entangles Belle in Ethan DelValle's world—a world of wealth, power, secrets, and dangerous attraction. She never wanted his money. She never wanted his Black Card. But what happens when she accidentally steals something far more valuable? His heart.

He was my ex’s older brother. Now he’s my professor. And I just fell into his lap — literally. After a brutal breakup, Eli just wants to survive his final year of law school in peace. What he doesn’t expect is Carter Vale — cold, powerful, and off-limits. Oh, and now standing at the front of his classroom. Carter doesn’t care about rules. Especially when Eli starts testing his control. One slip. One taste. And suddenly, his office… has new rules.

My name is Violet. I was the consigliere to the Leon mafia family in New York, and I wrote the rules of this city’s underworld myself. Yet, the man I had kept by my side for ten years, Drake Leon, was now trampling all over them. Ten years was more than enough time for a stray dog to grow into a wolf that can stand on its own. A decade ago, he was hacked to pieces by enemies on the streets of Brooklyn. Covered in blood, he crawled to me like a dying dog. I took him in. I put a gun in his hand. I taught him the rules of the mafia. Step by step, using my position as the Leon mafia family’s consigliere, I groomed him to become the boss of the Manhattan port district. Ten years later, he controlled the most valuable port under the Leon family for me, and for another woman, he framed her in standing grace. When that girl named Lina showed up pregnant, wearing the blue diamond necklace my mother left me, and sat in the seat that was supposed to be mine, I didn’t lose my temper. Instead, I had someone take the pathology report from the hospital, along with the child, seal them in a gift box, and deliver them to Drake’s new estate. Half an hour later, the study door was kicked open. He stormed in, drenched in night rain, carrying the scent of gunpowder. The barrel of his gun pressed straight against my forehead. “Violet.” He stared at me, his eyes bloodshot. “You touch her child, and I’ll make sure you’re buried with her.” I stayed seated by the fireplace. I didn’t move. I simply pushed a document to the center of the table. “Don’t rush into madness.” I looked up at him and continued, “As of fifteen minutes ago, I’ve frozen three warehouses under your name, two shipping routes, and seven offshore accounts.” Only then did his expression finally change. I smiled faintly, my voice soft. “Drake, you seem to have forgotten something. The reason for your accomplishments today isn’t because you know how to pull a trigger. It’s because I allowed you to live.”

Andriette Flynn doesn't believe in playing by the rules. Labeled a troublemaker wherever she goes, she transfers to a new school expecting another fresh start. Instead, she stumbles upon the one secret that could bring down the school's golden boy, Student Council President Claude Moore. Now trapped between Claude, who will do anything to protect his reputation, and Dixon Morris, the only person bold enough to challenge him, Andriette becomes the center of a battle she never intended to join. With two powerful boys pulling her into a war she never asked for, Andriette discovers that some secrets can break hearts... and sometimes, the biggest rule breaker is the first to fall in love.

⚠️ Mature Content Warning: This novel contains adult themes, explicit romance, violence, and emotionally intense situations. Reader discretion is advised. ————————————————————— “I expect loyalty, Margot. We marry in four days and you’re getting calls like that? What the fuck have you been doing?” My voice isn’t calmed down enough but I restrain myself from punching a wall. I wasn’t young and stupid but these rash reactions were making it seem as though I was. Tears welled in her eyes and I silently cursed myself. My bride. Just days before our wedding, I am screaming at her. Is this a product of the Binding? Making me a control freak? I came to her room for alone time with her, not to fight with her. I think she is going to give a meek answer to my question but instead she wipes her tears with the back of her hand and glares at me. “So you can fuck and feed from a Registry whore an hour before we go to the Binding ceremony, but I am expected to be loyal to you? You saw me watch that night. Did I yell at you?” —————————————————————— Every 25 years, a human from one of the five elite dynasties must marry into one of the five vampire houses to keep the peace of the Accord, a treaty between the ten families. Now it’s Margot’s turn to marry except she’s taking her dead sister’s place to marry the King of all vampires. Preserving the peace and producing a Crimsonborn is her duty, but she was groomed for society, not submission. Her immortal husband to be is not only the vampire king, Nathaniel Blackwell, but a calculating man who doesn’t want or need a wife. Or so he claims.

“You stare like you’re trying to memorize me,” she murmured quietly, without looking up. He stepped closer, voice rough. “I already have. Every inch. Every sigh. But I still feel like I’m starving for you.” He walked up behind her. His fingers trail over her collarbone, slow, reverent. She shivers. “You shouldn’t touch me like that,” she whispered. “Say stop, and I will. But don’t lie.” He leaned down, brushing his lips against the side of her neck. Her breath hitched. “This… this is dangerous.” He murmured, “You’re the most dangerous thing in my life. I’ve killed men with steadier hands than I have when I’m near you.” She turned to face him, their eyes locked. One look—everything trembled between them. “Let me ruin every thought you have of gentleness, Inayat. Let me be the fire you crave but don’t dare name.” He lifted her, gently, set her on the table beside the couch. His hands lingered on her thighs, the tension coiling like smoke in the air. He whispered, “You asked me once why I watch you like I might break. It’s because loving you has become my most violent instinct.” *** When King Agnil is betrayed and slain by his own commander, Samarth, his kingdom falls into chaos—and his daughter, Inayat, becomes the obsession of the man who murdered her father. Years later, the exiled prince, Ayman, returns to reclaim the throne. His plan? Use Samarth’s sister as a weapon of revenge. But as vengeance tangles with emotion, Ayman finds himself torn between justice and the forbidden pull of love. Can he destroy the man who stole everything—without losing the girl who might save him?