Don't Expect

Setelah melewati serangkaian tragedi dalam hubungan ‘toxic’ dan abusif yang nyaris merenggut nyawanya, Trisha Geraldyn kembali mencari jati dirinya. Dengan kemampuan istimewa membaca batin yang sempat hilang selama masa keterpurukannya, Trisha pun menuju petualangan baru yang sangat menantang. Namun, di dalam prosesnya, dia bertemu Desmond Zachery, seorang pengusaha yang kejam di siang hari, lelaki hidung belang di malam hari. Bagaimana kisah cinta keduanya?

POWERS SERIES (BOOK TWO) ”I’m only here until my father’s debt is paid. I’m not your property,” I said, though my voice faltered under his piercing gaze. Owen smirked, stepping closer, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “Funny, because the moment you stepped into my territory, you became my property, mia cara, and I do not let go of what’s mine until I’ve taken everything I’m owed—and more.” Mae has spent her entire life trying to clean up her father’s messes. But when his largest debt lands her in the hands of Owen, the most feared Mafia Don in the country, her life takes a maddening turn. Owen built his empire on blood, power, and his unwavering belief that family is nothing but a weakness. Mae’s fierce loyalty and willingness to risk everything to protect her deadbeat father—and track down the mother who abandoned her—makes her more interesting than she already is. Trapped in a web of danger, desire, and impossible choices, Mae has to decide: How far will she go to save the people who’ve already let her down? And how long can she resist the pull of the man who claims to own her?

Solenne's life is completely shattered when her charming, fun-loving boyfriend, Vincent, is killed, prompting his cousin Caelum to swear he’ll protect her. Caelum, a ruthless man suddenly thrust into leadership of the families after losing both his cousin and uncle, has no interest in playing bodyguard to the ungrateful girl his cousin foolishly fell for. +++++++++ The room was dark with red hues and a large bed in the center draped in black silk sheets. Caelum's body was over six feet tall and completely bare as he rammed himself violently into a woman he had bent over the edge of the bed. His hand was wrapped in her hair forcing her face into the mattress as she screamed in pleasure. Then he roughly pulled her head back making her screams louder. Caelum's eyes met mine and he began f**king her faster, grunting out his release as I stood there and just watched him dominate every part of her body. I was right, he was a f**king beast and I swear I was not finding it f**king hot. What is wrong with me? I quickly ran from that room and headed straight to mine. That did not just happen.

Luca Marino's world collapses when he realizes he's been unknowingly laundering money for the Russian mafia. After talking to the FBI, he's kidnapped and sold at an underground auction to the highest bidder. Dante Vitale never planned to buy anyone. But when the defiant accountant refuses to break despite his terror, Dante can't stop himself from claiming him. As Luca investigates betrayal within Dante's crime family, enemies close in from all sides. The Bratva wants him dead. A detective wants him to testify. And Dante's own family sees him as a dangerous weakness. Trapped between the man who bought him and the freedom he lost, Luca faces an impossible truth: he's falling for his captor. But he doesn't know if what he feels is real or just a way to survive. Can love built on such a dark beginning ever become something genuine? Or will the way they started destroy them both?

In the day, Evelyn Jefferson is Warren Larkin's elegant and capable executive secretary. At night, she's his alluring bedfellow.After three years of such an arrangement, she thinks he loves her. But when she proposes to him, he says, "It's just a game—we fuck, not make love. Did you really think I'd take you seriously?"She loses hope in him and leaves without another word. From that day on, her life is transformed, and her career skyrockets. She becomes a renowned lawyer that no one in the industry dares offend. Countless suitors swarm her.He regrets his decision and pins her to the wall, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm yours in heart, mind, and soul. Will you marry me, please?"She smiles seductively. "Sorry, but you're standing in the way of my Mr. Right."

For three months, I’d been seeing a guy named “Rex.” A total stranger I’d only met online. We were in the thick of it, that honeymoon phase where every night my phone would blow up with messages that made my pulse jump. “Miss you, sweetheart.” “Dreamt of you again last night. You were all over me, begging for it.” I was about to suggest we finally meet. But then he sent me a picture, a casual shot of his desk, and I saw something familiar: the crest of the Falcone crime family. And I work for a company owned by the Falcones. For three months, I’d been sexting a dangerous man, a made man in the mafia, who could be right under my nose. And just when I was trying to figure out who he was, I saw them. The custom black onyx cufflinks I’d picked out for “Rex”… on my boss, Marco’s, wrists.

I showed up to Luciano's birthday in his favorite lingerie—ready to surprise him. Instead, I walked in on him hooking up with my half-sister, Cecilia. Classic. So yeah, I dumped him on the spot and hit the nearest bar to blackout my rage. One thing led to another, and I ended up having a one-night stand with this insanely hot stranger. Plot twist? He turned out to be Luciano's adoptive dad. Yeah—Lysandro Godino. The freaking mafia Don. Since then, my life's been a mess of his dark world, intense nights, and seriously confusing feelings. He's wild. Possessive. Obsessive. The kind of man who doesn't believe in limits. And somewhere in all that chaos, I fell for him—hard. But does he love me back? I still don't know.

The day I went into labor with the twins, I bribed the family doctor to shoot me up with every heavy-duty suppressant he could get his hands on. Anything to stall the birth. Why? Because in my last life, Vincent—my husband, the Don—claimed to have a low sperm count. To guarantee an heir, he lined up ten mistresses and told the whole house: whoever popped out a son first, her kid would be the next Corleone Don. He promised if I delivered first, he'd ditch the others. Said our baby would inherit the throne. I bought every word. When I found out I was carrying twins, I couldn't stop shaking—I thought I'd won. But after I gave birth, he tossed me and the babies into the freezing wine cellar and locked the place down. "Lucy came from nothing. I just wanted to give her kid a name. You started rumors, pushed her into despair, and now she's dead—her and the baby. You're vile. Not fit to be the Don's wife. Think about what you've done. I'll open the door in three days." Then he had the butler seal it shut. What he didn't know? That night, the cellar caught fire. Me and my babies? Burned alive. When I opened my eyes again, I was back—right before labor. This time, I'm not staying. Soon as I deliver and get back on my feet, I'm taking my kids and disappearing for good.

I was Don Alexander's most skilled assassin and Consigliere, and also his secret wife. But for five years of our secret marriage, he never allowed our son to call him Dad. He always said that the enemy families were constantly watching our family, and that I and our son were his only weakness, so this was to protect us. I believed him, and silently helped him manage all the family affairs, until his first love, Bella, returned with a five-year-old boy. He booked out the entire Disneyland for them to play all day. That day was my son's birthday, and he stubbornly waited for his father to come home, holding a melting cake. I completely lost hope and made a phone call: "Help me cancel my and Leo's identities and erase all our information." But when my son and I truly disappeared, the powerful Don went mad, searching the entire world for traces of us...

I am a top-notch surgeon. But when my ex-boyfriend —— now the Don of the Blackwood family —— was brought to the hospital injured, even the head nurse advised me against taking the case. Everyone said the Dante Blackwood despised me. Because three years ago—the last time we met—I took off my engagement ring and handed it back to him, then got into the car of Dominic, the Don of Mercer family. But I still put on my white coat and walked in. Not only walked in—I pressed my hand right against his stomach without a shred of hesitation. Before the punch came, it was the killing intent in his eyes. "I told you. Touch me one more time, and I'll break every bone in your body." The interns outside the door were all holding their breath for my safety. I adjusted my gold-rimmed glasses and let out a helpless smile. But the moment I undid the buttons of his shirt, even though his mouth told me to get out, his body couldn't help but tense up.