The Velvet Knife

Katherine Salazar. A girl from Spain whose life changed the day she first held a knife. She learned early that silence can be sharper than any blade. Her weapon a slender knife, always hidden beneath her clothes. Her adopted parents named her "Ghost Knife". She moved like a shadow—silent, precise, deliberate, clean. As she grew into a woman, her beauty captivated—and haunted— people around her in ways almost impossible to resist. When she took a mission she wasn’t supposed to handle herself, it tore her world apart, everything changed. She was caught by two brutal twin—opposites in behavior, different in power, identical in blood. Instead of ending her life, they chose to use her skills for their own dirty work. But then things got complicated. When both twin fell in love with her. A forbidden love, dangerous and consuming. Her next mission was supposed to be simple: eliminate the twins’ greatest enemy. But the target… was her “dead” father. "Dad?” My voice barely escaped, thick with disbelief, my vision blurred by unshed tears. “Kat?" His voice trembled with shock, more startled than I had ever seen him. In a fluid motion, he lifted his left hand, swift, precise—and the guards froze, stopped as if caught in a web of unseen power. " Y..You , I saw..." My words faltered, the knife quivering in my grip.

In the shadows of the city’s most notorious club, where danger and desire intertwine, he sees her. Valerio Moretti—ruthless, feared, and untouchable—is the most dangerous name in the criminal underworld. He owns the city, one blood-soaked deal at a time. Women throw themselves at his feet, yet none have ever caught his eye... until her. Sera Devlin is an enigma behind red velvet curtains. A stripper who doesn’t belong. Her stiff movements, wide eyes, and barely concealed fear as men paw at her set her apart from the others. She's innocent—too innocent for a place like this. And that's what draws Valerio in like a flame. One night, Valerio breaks the rules—his own rules—and barges into her dressing room. Half-dressed and startled, Sera throws him out without a second thought, unaware she's just challenged the devil himself. Now, Valerio is obsessed. She doesn’t know who he is. She doesn’t want him. But he always gets what he wants—and he wants her. As their worlds collide in a twisted game of dominance, secrets, and forbidden desire, Sera finds herself caught in a cage made of diamonds and danger. But behind Valerio’s control lies a man with a dark past... and behind Sera’s fear, a secret that could shatter them both. He’s her captor. She’s his temptation. And in this game, love could be their ultimate ruin.

Love was never soft. It was loaded. New York City, 1950. Behind velvet curtains and glittering chandeliers, the city’s elite dance to the tune of money, politics, and blood. Amy Finn is a cold-blooded mafia boss with a reputation as deadly as the gun she keeps hidden in her tailored tuxedo. She doesn’t make mistakes. Not anymore. Especially not with women. Especially not with daughters of the enemy. Eliano “Ellie” Marchetti is young, wealthy, and restless — born into the family that betrayed Amy and the woman she once loved. But when Ellie sneaks into a forbidden warehouse one night and witnesses something she was never meant to see, their lives collide. Obsessed, fascinated, and dangerously drawn to each other, Ellie and Amy begin a slow-burning dance of dominance, desire, and secrets too explosive to bury. But Ellie doesn’t know the truth — about her mother, about the war she was born into, and the woman whose heart Amy once vowed never to touch again. One woman is fire. The other is the match. And some love stories are written in gunpowder.

After I refused to donate my uterus to my older sister, Madeline Holloway, my childhood sweetheart grew to hate me. He plotted to send me into the bed of the top heir of Highcrest's elite circle. The heir's desires were intense, but he despised women who threw themselves at him. Everyone waited to see my downfall. Instead, he spoiled me beyond measure. Three years into our marriage, he loved getting his hands on me whenever he could—the balcony, the kitchen, the car, even at glamorous banquets. I could barely step into the restroom before he'd follow, pinning me against the sink. We never used contraception. Alas, I never got pregnant. It wasn't until the day I went to the hospital, thinking I might be expecting, that I overheard his conversation with the doctor. "Winston, you had me secretly transplant Madison's uterus into her sister three years ago. Now you want me to lie and tell her she's infertile? How can you be so cruel to a woman who loves you?" "I had no choice. Madeline's marriage will be on the rocks if she can't bear children. Madison's uterus was the only match." The familiar male voice sounded so icy and unrecognizable just then. That was when I realized the love and salvation I trusted without question were nothing but another lie. If that was the case… it was time for me to make my exit.

Winter, 2025. Seattle is shrouded in the cold mist of its endless rainy season. For the sake of a single recommendation letter to Stanford, Catherine Hale—a destitute but proud art student—knocks on the doors of the Highlands Manor to return a restored Song Dynasty porcelain. She intends to leave as quickly as she came, but instead stumbles into the world of William Sterling, the young, enigmatic patriarch of an old and powerful family. Cold, noble, and unfathomable, William draws her into a game of testing and maneuvering that plays out in the cracks between social class and self-esteem. From their first meeting on a rainy night to a silent rescue amidst the vanity fair of high society, Catherine fights to escape a glittering vortex she doesn't belong to, only to find herself falling step by step into William's gentle trap, lingering with the scent of cold cedar. In this rain-soaked city, a forbidden attraction blooms across the divide, unaware that fate has already secretly marked the price of its gifts.

Crystal Bennett learned early that the world shows mercy to no one. Life has made her strong, cautious, and quiet. She doesn’t complain, she doesn’t ask for help, and she expects nothing from anyone. The only person who truly knows her past is Greta, her best friend—the only family she has left. Then Axel Valenti enters her life. CEO of the Aurelian Group, Axel is a man built on control: power, business, discipline. Cold and impenetrable, he trusts no one. In his world, there is no room for love—only for success. When Axel chooses Crystal as his personal assistant, she steps into a world of wealth, secrets, and ruthless decisions. As time passes, Crystal begins to realize that behind the man made of ice lies something far darker. And Axel, in turn, starts to see in her something he has never considered necessary before: a weakness.