Novel & Cerita First Novel Featuring Vi Warshawski

​I poured a glass of whiskey and stared at the framed copy of my debut novel sitting on the shelf. Cara Mia. ​Writing it had been my only lifeline during this hellish year. It was supposed to be a catharsis, a way to process the madness of being a mafia lord’s wife. Every page was stained with the truth of us. I wrote about the way he smelled of expensive tobacco and gunpowder, the way his Italian filtered through his lips like a prayer, and the way he looked at me as if I were the only thing in this world worth saving.

But for now, his house looked whole again, and appearances were a kind of power too. Far beyond the estate walls, however, someone else had already set the hourglass running. Varian’s war was never loud at the start. It began with marks, with patience, with silence. And tonight, two new names had been carved into that silence.

But at that table, under the glittering lights, no one was really listening anymore. Because between Cassian, Zara, and Hadley, the war had just quietly begun. Hadley swirled the wine in her glass, eyes never leaving Zara. The false laughter around the table gave her courage — or maybe just an audience. “So, Zara,” she began, her voice honeyed and cruel, “how exactly did you and Mr. Wolfe meet? I imagine it must’ve been… unexpected.” Zara turned her head slowly, her expression unreadable. “Life tends to surprise us all, doesn’t it?”

she says in a desperate, urgent tone. “That is someone Alpha Kai has been looking for for a long time.” He says, shaking his head and crossing his arms. “Watch what happens to BloodCrest traitors, Nova, and learn well. This is not simply a pack of brothers running the city’s underbelly - there’s a reason Alpha Kai is known as The Beast of New York.” Hey, that line makes me feel proud as hell to be a Volkov. I turn my attention to my brothers and see the murderous look on Kai’s face when he approaches Vanya.

The FBI suspected he was hiding in South America. She tucked the file away and finished packing, tossing in a swimsuit she hadn't worn in years and a dress Megan insisted she bring. "You'll thank me," her assistant had said with a wink. The next afternoon, Sarah's plane touched down in Las Vegas. The blast of desert heat hit her as she exited the terminal, along with the sensory overload of lights, sounds, and the distinct feeling that normal rules didn't apply here. Her hotel suite was ridiculous—clearly her colleagues had splurged. Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the Vegas strip glittering below, and a bottle of champagne waited in an ice bucket with a note: "For once in your life, don'

# THE HUSBAND I IMAGINED ## Season Two: The Life We Chose *A steamy contemporary romance novel — sequel season* --- ## Chapter One: The Journalist Vivian Cross had been building her career for fifteen years on exactly one skill: finding the seam in a story that everyone else had already decided was finished. She found the Ashford-Marchetti seam on a Tuesday afternoon, buried three pages deep in a court filing related to Corbin Vale's ongoing appeals process — a footnote, really, nothing more, a reference to a "cooperating witness" whose initial statement to the FBI had been given six days *before* the official wedding announcement rather than after, a detail that didn't quite square with the

Five-hundred pages of filth turned into a weapon. The perfect Poetic justice for chasing me through the city like a deranged bloodhound. My heart hammered so hard I almost laughed. Wasn’t this the part where heroines in books pulled some badass move? Yeah, well—I was no mafia queen. I was Nova, whose emergency plan consisted of “call 911 and maybe throw stationery.” “Why are you following me?!” Her lips curled. “Why do you think?” The way she said it made my stomach flip. If only she knew how chaotic and filthy my thought process was. I’m sure she wouldn’t have asked what I was thinking at any given time.