Gilded

“Are you here to save me?” I asked bitterly, thinking of the look in my father’s eyes as he tried to wring the life out of me. “Or are you just here to bring me gifts and false hope?”The stranger didn’t answer, but I could feel his presence as he approached. Still, I didn’t turn to face him, even when I felt a warm, gentle hand squeeze my shoulder.Abused. Neglected. Caged. That’s how Princess Ember, the daughter of the Alpha King of Allusia, has spent her young life. Sold like chattel to another Alpha in exchange for the promise of warriors for her father against an uprising, Ember’s life feels like it might be over. But a stranger comes to her in the night, her only refuge from the daily attacks from her father. Will he be her savior? Or will she just find herself in another gilded cage?An Alpha for the Stolen Princess is created by Claire Wilkins, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

In Catania, beneath the shadow of Mount Etna, the mafia rules with fire and blood. No name carries more fear than the Valerios and no one is more protected than Lucy Valerio, the youngest and only daughter of the ruthless boss, Salvatore. Sheltered by her brothers, especially Vince, the heir to the Valerio name, Lucy lives in a gilded cage where freedom is only a dream. Until one reckless night changes everything. At The Velvet Room, the city’s most dangerous nightclub, Lucy meets Angelo, dark, magnetic, and scarred by secrets. Their chemistry is undeniable, but their love is forbidden. For Angelo is no ordinary man: he is the prodigal son of Giovanni Mancini, Salvatore’s sworn rival. A man who once abandoned the mafia life, only to be pulled back into its shadows. As passion ignites between them, the past resurfaces. Old betrayals, family feuds, and the reappearance of Angelo’s first love turn their bond into a deadly gamble. In a city where love is weakness and betrayal is currency, Lucy must choose: loyalty to her family… or the man who could destroy it.

She wanted freedom… but traded one cage for another. Ember thought escape would mean freedom. She thought leaving Kelvin, the man who vowed to love her but would rather bury her six feet under than let her go, would save her. But freedom came wearing a darker suit. Aaron Moretti, a cold, Ruthless and Untouchable. A Mafia lord and a business tycoon who took her not out of mercy, but as collateral for a debt her toxic boyfriend owed him. In one swift move, he became both her saviour and her captor. Now trapped in his gilded prison, Ember is forced into servitude, haunted by the possibility of being sold to the highest bidder if Kelvin doesn’t pay up. Aaron, with his icy eyes and domineering presence, makes no promises least of all freedom. Yet, against her will, she finds herself drawn to the man who holds her chains. But in the Mafia world, love is a weakness a weapon your enemies will wield against you. And when debts are cleared and loyalties tested, Ember must decide: is Aaron her second chance… or her final downfall?

Two marriages. Four lives. One tangled web of betrayal, secrets, and revenge. Justin and Kyla were once college sweethearts who had nothing but love and ambition. Together, they built everything from the ground up—a business, a home, a life that seemed unbreakable. Ella and Zach, on the other hand, were forced into a loveless marriage to merge empires and protect family wealth. With money to burn but no affection between them, their union was a gilded cage. One summer, a chance meeting between Justin and Ella at a luxury hotel ignites a reckless affair. What should have been a fleeting fling spirals into something darker—an obsession neither of them can walk away from. But when Kyla and Zach cross paths—two wounded hearts bonded by betrayal—their cold business deal begins to spark with unexpected fire. They both want justice. They both want payback. But what if, in the process of destroying the people who broke them, they find something neither expected? Something dangerously close to love. But could anything happen between these two?

On the day of her wedding, Liliana Crawford’s life shatters when the church doors burst open and Dante Moretti, the ruthless head of the Italian mafia, claims her as his own. What should have been the start of a safe, predictable life with her fiancé turns into a nightmare of blood, betrayal, and chains. Dante doesn’t want her love—he wants her obedience. To him, Liliana is more than just leverage; she’s a weapon, a possession, a doll to break and reshape. But as days in his gilded cage stretch into nights filled with dangerous temptation, Liliana discovers that beneath his cruelty lies a twisted obsession that burns hotter than hatred. Torn between the man she was raised to marry and the devil who stole her, Liliana must survive a world of violence and power games where every touch is a threat, every kiss a battle, and every promise comes drenched in blood. Dark, intoxicating, and dangerously addictive, The Devil’s Claim is a mafia romance where love is war, passion is punishment, and surrender might be the only way to survive.

Her name, they say, is Bliss. Silent, radiant, and obedient, she’s the perfect bride for enigmatic billionaire Damon Gibson. Yet Bliss clings to fleeting fragments of a life before the wedding: a dream of red silk, a woman who mirrors her face, a voice whispering warnings in the shadows. Her past is a locked door, and Damon holds the key. When Bliss stumbles into a hidden wing of his sprawling mansion, she finds a room filled with relics of another woman. Photos, perfume, love letters, and a locket engraved with two names reveal a haunting truth. That woman, Ivana, was more than a stranger. She was identical to Bliss. As buried memories surface, the fairy tale Bliss believed in fractures into a web of obsession, deception, and danger. Damon’s charm hides secrets, and the love she thought she knew feels like a gilded cage. To survive, Bliss must unravel the mystery of who she was and what ties her to Ivana. In a world where love can be a trap and truth a weapon, remembering the bride she used to be is her only way out.

"You have the hands of a goddess," he rasped, his blood staining my operating table. Even with three bullets in his chest, his grey eyes held nothing but command. He was Damian Volkov, the Bratva's heir, and I was the off-the-grid surgeon who just saved his life. "And you have a bill to pay," I told him, tying the final suture. His laugh was a dark, dangerous sound. "Oh, Doctor. I don't deal in cash." His hand closed around my wrist, not with force, but with the chilling certainty of ownership. "You belong to me now." He dragged me from the shadows of my clinic to his gilded cage high above the Vegas Strip. He thinks he's claimed a simple doctor. He has no idea I'm Evelyn Reed, daughter of a murdered senator, hiding secrets that could burn his entire world to the ground. He wants my submission. My skills. My body. But in this game of secrets and seduction, the most dangerous weapon isn't the gun in his hand. It's the scalpel in mine.

His body collapses into mine as my back slams on the wall. “You were touching yourself because of me weren't you” his musky scent suffocating me. My core immediately picks up a heart beat with our proximity as he pins my hands above me on the wall. My bare nipples harden at his touch. I can only think of two words at this moment. Touch me. ***************************************************** Never in Ivy Carter's life did she ever think that she'd fall for a man she couldn't have,especially when the man was not only her professor but also her new step brother. Caden's heart has always been where his pack is, gilded by the pack's legacy but the minute he lays eyes on Ivy Carter his walls come crashing down. But he can't have her even though she's his mate. Their worlds collide with an irresistible force and it's only a matter of time till they cross the line, breaking all restraints with an unholy attraction.

Abandoned as a child, Andrea’s life was a script of hardship. Her mother, once an aspiring actress, left her poor father for a wealthy man, erasing them from her glamorous new life. Raised by a loving stepmother, Andrea harbors a burning desire to conquer the acting world and surpass her mother’s success. Now her world is shattered: her stepmother's cancer is in its third stage, her acting career crumbles due to a false accusation, and her boyfriend's betrayal leaves her heartbroken. A drunken night leads to an unexpected encounter with Niklas, a wealthy but arrogant heir. Desperate to save her family from financial ruin, Andrea reluctantly agrees to a marriage of convenience. However, this marriage intended as a lifeline, becomes a battlefield as Niklas's lover returns, threatening to destroy Andrea's already fragile existence. When a heartbreaking miscarriage leaves her reeling, she must confront a crucial decision: will she remain in the shadow of others, or break free from her gilded cage to reclaim her dreams and identity?

Layla, a shy nobody, dared to dream of the Alpha's son, Magnus. Yet, he belonged to Mia, a gilded beauty from another powerful pack. Mia was everything Layla was not. But on Layla's 18th birthday, fate throws her a bone: she's Magnus's fated mate. Whisked away to train as Luna, Layla's future glitters under the moon. She and Magnus are perfect, destined to ascend as Alpha and Luna. But the night before their coronation, Layla stumbles upon a truth that shatters her world. Magnus and Mia, never truly parted, lie in bed in betrayal. Layla's heart bleeds as she faces rejection, then vanishes, hunted by shadows. The Moon Goddess, however, has other plans. Reborn as the Duchess of a rival pack, Layla finds herself bound to Duke Carlisle, her former pack's sworn enemy. Now, vengeance burns in her veins, fueled by the ghosts of her past. But a forbidden spark ignites with the Duke, threatening to rewrite her destiny. Will Layla ignite a war for the man who shattered her heart? Can love bloom from the ashes of betrayal, or will duty condemn them to a cruel fate?