Glass Lotus

"I need you to smile, darling," Adrian whispers, his fingers digging into Isabella's waist as cameras flash. "Your father's business empire depends on it." The champagne in her glass trembles as Isabella forces herself to play the perfect mafia bride. She hasn't told him about the baby yet. Hasn't mentioned the way his eyes linger on the judge's daughter, Elena. Hasn't revealed that she knows about the poison they've planned for her "tragic accident." But Isabella Romano isn't going down without a fight. "Please," she whispers to Santa Muerte as poison burns through her veins. "Give me a chance to make them pay." Death has a price. Isabella awakens in the body of Valentina Salvatore—wife to Adrian's greatest rival and mother to twin girls who somehow see through her deception. She has 150 days to either claim vengeance or find true love. The clock is ticking, and Nicolas Salvatore, her new "husband," is proving dangerously easy to fall for. "You're not really her, are you?" Nicolas murmurs one night, his fingers tracing her jaw. "My Valentina never looked at me the way you do." But as Isabella navigates the deadly waters of rival crime families, she discovers Valentina had secrets of her own—secrets worth dying for. Now, with her father plotting a takeover, Adrian suspicious of her resurrection, and her borrowed body slowly rejecting her soul, Isabella must choose: the revenge she died for, or the love she never expected to find. In this dangerous game of second chances, some fates are worse than death. And some loves are worth dying for twice.

I stepped closer. Close enough to smell his cologne—cedarwood, leather, and power. My hand moved. Smooth, practiced. The pistol slide from under the apron into my palm. I raised it fast. But before I could pull the trigger— BANG. Not my shot. A scream tore through the restaurant as another man launched himself toward Romano’s table, blade flashing. Another assassin. What the hell— Romano didn’t flinch. He shoved the table forward, knocking the attacker off balance. The blade scraped across wood, not skin. I ducked instinctively as the room erupted into chaos. Gunfire cracked. Glass exploded. People screamed and dove for cover. “Get him out—NOW!” one of the guards barked. I aimed for the second attacker. Didn’t even hesitate. One shot—head. Gone. The guard saw me. Confusion flashed in his eyes. Then rage. I ran. I weaved between overturned chairs, plates, and screaming bodies. The smell of blood was real now, thick in the air. One of the guards grabbed me. I slammed my elbow into his ribs, twisted, and brought the butt of my gun down on his skull. He dropped like a sack of bricks. Out. I had to get out. My boots pounded the floor as I tore through the narrow hallway. But then— “Elisa.” His voice stopped me cold. I turned. Antonio Romano stood in the middle of the carnage, suit untouched, blood spattered behind him like art. His eyes were on me. And he was smiling. It was darker. Slower. Like a hunter seeing something worth chasing. Somehow, he knew who I was. “Interesting,” he said softly, tilting his head. “They sent you.” I didn’t answer. I ran. But that voice followed me. He knew my name. And he let me go. This wasn’t over. It had just begun.

THE MIDNIGHT ROYALS SERIES- BOOK ONE “Another glass,” I rasped, placing my cup hard on the table. The bartender nodded, but eyed me curiously. “And what is a pretty lady doing all by herself on such a beautiful night as this?” A masculine voice said from beside me, forcing me to whirl my head around even though I’d resolved not to talk to anyone at the bar. “None of your fucking busin-” I began saying, but the words died on my lips when I met his gaze. Holy shit. He was hot. Hot enough to serve as my partner for the night. *** After stumbling in on her boyfriend having sex with another woman, popular cheerleader- Marguerite Kasper- ends up at a club in her quest to vent out her anger. In her brokenhearted haze, she has sex with a hot stranger at the club. She finds out soon enough after a new student joins the biking academy which she attended, that the stranger might be the fuel to her flame, and also her nemesis.

When Vynessa summons the demon Azaziel to exact revenge on those who wronged her, no one could have prepared her for the uproar that would become her life. She unknowingly unleashes a very powerful and very seductive force into her life that changes EVERYTHING. As Vynessa becomes more and more entwined with Azaziel, she must confront the darkness within herself and decide whether to wallow in her past and deep depression, or finally become what her name depicts; A glass of wine for a God.

"Don't waste your time doing those." I heard his deep voice behind me as l accidentally dropped the spoon in my hand. "I-I wanted to make you breakfast." I replied in a timid voice, a little higher than a whisper. "I'm not hungry." He grumbled as he walked past me to settle on a stool. "Okay." I mumbled as I stood there like a statue not knowing what to do next. "You look hot in that dress." He smirked as he poured some scotch into a glass cup before taking a sip. "it's a pity I don't see you as a woman." "what do you see me as then?" | asked as I blinked away the tears forming in my eyes. "Just a pet." he shrugged. "not my fault your parents sold you to me." "What are you talking about? I'm your wife." I say as l glared at him. "Really? who told you that?" "My parents told me you loved me that was why you married me." My voice broke as I remembered how my parents convinced me into agreeing to our marriage. "Well, your parents lied." *************** Priscilla williams was forced into an arranged marriage because of her parent's debt to powerful mafia king Alfonso de Luca. Alfonso is known to be a cold and powerful person who thinks love is a man's weakness but what happens when Priscilla slowly becomes his weakness.